A Very Haitian Day

have quite the story from today, as I spent the ENTIRE day taking Samy Leo to see Dr. Nau at Healing Hands. We had an 8 am appointment, and when we arrived at HH, the gate was locked and it said the building had fallen down. After a few phone calls and asking a man walking on the road, we arrived at a small sign pointing to a smaller road for HH. We drove back into this jungle-like area, to find a tent right out of M*A*S*H. No kidding. Pierre told them we had an appt at 8, and they pretty much laughed and said the doctor comes sometime on Friday. So we sat down to wait. It was a lovely morning, cloudy, and way humid, but not hot. At 8:30 I asked Pierre where there was to go to the bathroom. He asked, and found out there wasn't one. Assuming the doctor would be there soon, I didn't worry about that too much. Pierre left around 10 to go get the car fixed, and Samy and I settled in to wait. Except it started raining. So everyone moved in under the tent. Half the tent was for physical therapy, and the other half was where we sat. Some waiting to see a VERY handsome (and good smelling!) Haitian doctor, who came over to talk to me :) and the rest of us who were there to see Dr. Nau.


I don't know what time it was, but I was getting really hungry, and had packed nothing to eat. I was avoiding drinking water because, well, I still had to go! A man came around selling these little pastries, and I bought them, to find there was some mystery meat concotion in them. The lady next to me informed me it was chicken. It was all I could do to swallow. So on we waited. It was at this point that a man asked me if I were married or had a boyfriend. I told him I have 65 children and don't have time for that. He said I need someone to kiss me all the time. He told the two Haitian men sitting by him that I was single, but then he informed me they had no money, and they know American women need money. Ahhh the life of being white in Haiti...

So finally at 1:30 the doctor arrived. Except he didn't come to the tent b/c it was raining. We all packed our stuff up, and hiked through the rain up a hill to see the doctor. I can't think of a more Haitian day. The doctor was very kind, and saw us first b/c the girl I met who spoke English had club foot and really wanted the doctor to help Samy. What a little blessing in the day! The doctor said he needs braces on his legs, and wrote the prescription for them. He wants them on for a few weeks, and then he wants to do surgery to lengthen the tendons in Samy's legs. We will call on Monday to make an appt. for the braces.

I called Pierre (with my cell phone dying b/c it didn't have any battery left) to tell him we were ready (it was 2) and he said he was on his way. The car had just been fninshed, and he would be there shortly. He called a bit later to say traffic was really bad, and it would be 15 more minutes. Then he called 20 minutes later to say he was still stuck. At 3:15 he arrived to pick us up, and he asked how I was doing. I said just fine, except I still need to go to the bathroom. His eyes got really big, and he said, I will find somewhere for you!

So we stopped at American Airlines.  I am a customer, after all.  The lady said no bathroom.  I said, I know you have one because you are in here all day.  I've been sitting in a clinic with a baby since 8 am, and I need to go.  Can you please help me?  She said no, she couldn't let me in that area.

This did not sit well with Pierre, so he began asking people in the parking lot.  I heard "pou peepee" (for peepee) and knew he was talking about me.  By the time we found a toilet, every single person knew I was doing the peepee dance.  We walked toward this dark corner outside the buildings.  Two men stood urinating in what looked like a shower stall, and a man pointed to a red metal door with the word 'toillette' scratched in the paint.  I waited while a man finished up, and then went in, only to discover that it was pitch black, and I couldn't see anything.  I quickly decided it was God's grace providing a way for me to not know what was in that room.  When I came out, Pierre said, "I know that was probably not a good experience for you."  I said, "It's something to blog about!"

By the time we fought traffic back to the orphanage, it was 4:30, and I was hot and tired, and I wanted to go home to the hotel.  The car had already left again to be fixed, and the only way back to the hotel was by tap-tap.  I LOVE riding tap-taps.  This time though, I had my huge computer bag (w/ 2 laptops) and a giant container of gatorade for my roommate Colleen, who thinks she has malaria.

I came home and jumped in the pool, to find that the trees had been all cut down around my apartment so that the rat (who visited at 3:30 this moning) can't climb in the window anymore.  Oh the adventures of living in Haiti...