I'm now in the Port Au Prince airport waiting for a 10:50 am flight out to Miami. Last night we took the helicopter from the JAX beach base to the Global Outreach base flying 800ft in the air over the terrain and ocean. The GO base is a half hour from the airport, JAX beach is 2 hours. My stomach could appreciate not having a 2.5 hour ride in the car over bump after bump; however, after this trip I have decided nondrowsy Dramamine has to be a staple item in my travels.
Yesterday was our last day at the clinic. It was quite an eventful day. An I&D was done to a man's infected hand. A toddler gashed it's head open, so right there out in the open the doctor sewed her up. If you have FB all of my pictures will be there. The Haitians bought us food for lunch, which was quite the change since our lunch everyday has only been PB&J sandwiches. Of course with me being gluten free I usually took some yogurt from the kitchen in the mornings, and ate it along with my almonds and Bumble Bee bars. While in Africa they cooked with peanut sauce a lot. I can't stomach or smell it in any foods. The Haitians have something they cook with too! I taste the flavor in everything, their hamburger, pasta, rice, etc. I didn't mind it until I got car sick on some of it.
When I was 11 years old, one of our horses rared up, and flipped over on my little 90lb body. I was taken to the ER, and I walked away with a seriously bruised groin from the saddle horn. The next day my dad made me get back on a horse again, so that I wouldn't be scared of riding horses. I felt the same way again on Thursday. Wednesday we didn't drive by the accident site, but on Thursday and Friday we did. Wednesday we didn't go too far down the highway from base. We actually drove on a dirt path that day, but Thursday we took a highway trip again. I was actually fearing the ride after that accident on Tuesday. When we drove past the accident site all of the flour bags and spaghetti bundles were picked up. The only thing left is one of the trucks and flour dust on the side of the road. We were told that once they pulled the flour truck back up on its wheels that another dead body was found. The driver in the other truck who they guys worked hard to get out also died. I got a picture of that truck yesterday. I also videotaped our drive home yesterday. Just when I was trying to capture how unsafe it is to drive here is when all of the sudden everyone is driving slowly and safely. I'm not sure you will really be able to see in the video what my eyes saw! I forgot to mention that sometimes you will come around a corner and right there will be a car stopped right there in the lane, stalled and broke down. No one helps to get them to the shoulder of the road.
On this trip I felt as if I was able to speak the French, but not understand when it was spoken to me. The last time overseas I could understand, but they couldn't understand me. I didn't feel like it was that stressful of a trip. We had all the luxuries of home........air conditioning, beds, American food, etc. The only thing I'm missing is my hot shower, and soaking my fingernails until all of the dirt is gone. Heather and Brittany, from Denver are on a different flight to Miami, but we all have a layover there until 5:00ish. So we may have time to meet up for lunch! I still don't have a new job offer for my next assignment. My recruiter has me in for Houston, Dallas, and Tucson. So I will fly back to Dallas today, get my car, and drive back to the Midwest tomorrow.
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