We are here and safe

Well what an adventure so far!!   We have a great team here and we are currently at a very nice house that is "owned" by Church Wesleyn folks and Steve, founder of Starfysh, is partners with them so they were gracious enough to let us stay here until tomorrow when we hop on the boat and go to La Gonave.   But lets back up a little bit - flights were pretty uneventful getting to Haiti.  There were 2 notable observations - one being that many of the folks from Milwaukee to Florida were all excited about getting on cruises while the 8 of us were awaiting a new adventure with the people of Haiti.  Very surreal!!   On the flight from Florida to Haiti,  I did sat next to a lady from Haiti that told me about her life.  Very interesting, she kept telling me "you will love Haiti - its beautiful"  She told me about different classes and she said the only thing that she didnt like was that it was "not safe at all".....great honey thanks for the inspiring words!!  When we got off the plane, I stuck pretty close to Jim Lang (who could miss him with his Captain Adirondack backpack - he is packed like he is going to the jungle in Africa)  We got through customs pretty easy, got carts, found our luggage and Steve told us to stay pretty close to each other and just continue to say "no" very sternly to make sure that Haitians would not try to grab our carts and try to get money as being "helpful".   As we were walking through, Haitians surrounded us constantly trying to take over our carts.  I just stayed close and took pictures (as I normally do - its all about the pictures).  I only wish that I would truly express how crazy it was at the airport.
Once we got in the vehicle - steve had told us that we were changing plans and driving to the guesthouse today so that we could get out of Port-a- Prince.
NOW THE CAR RIDE - holy moly!!!!  what a ride!!!  6 of us were in one vehicle and Wes and one of Steve's partners were in another truck.  side note - their truck got a flat tire and they had to pull over....not a good thing to pull over on side of the road.  Words cannot express what we saw during this car ride - yes Kelsey we saw ladies with water buckets on their heads, the "shops" on the side of the road, bulls, chickens, pigs on the side of the road just wandering around.    As the 6 of us were in the vehicle, we had to try to make light of the madness that was surrounding us.  We laughed alot!!   The driving was INSANE!!!!  there are no rules, no speed limits no stop signs....motorcycles weaving in and out.  People crossing the street.  The sights around - poor upon poor.  "Tent Cities" were still prevalent around the area - meaning you would look to one side and see a large area with tents put up and that is what people are living in.  I cant even explain what I have seen already.    The car ride took approximately almost 2 hours to go 40 miles - the roads were not your typical roads.  AND MOUNTAINS ALL AROUND US!!
Once we got here (at the current house that we are at) it is like paradise - truly!!!  we are right on the water and I cant wait until it gets light out so we can enjoy the scenery.   The house is very nice.  We walked in to a house smelling delicious with dinner waiting for us, fresh clean water, and a nice COLD shower...there is no hot water from now until I return.   Dinner was great - fried chicken, rice and beans, fried plantain (delicious), piklis (spicy coleslaw),  and of course we had to have some birthday cake for our birthday girl that is with us - Susan!!  
According to Dan and Joy, owners of the house, the trucks and such driving by will wake us up bright and early tomorrow.
Sorry if this blog is kind of all over the place - just trying to get my thoughts down.

I know there are many reading this blog - rotarians, family members and friends.  We are all safe and sound, well fed and we are all feeling great about the next 6 days!!  Susan is sitting right next to me and we just laughed saying that we feel like we have already had the experience of a lifetime!!

Love you all!!