cloud nine

It’s hard to choose what to tell you guys about. There is so much going on all the time, and so much of it unlike anything I’ve ever done.

Monday night I discovered I wasn’t on the manifest to get on a boat to go to Haiti as planned. I tried tracking down the right person to fix the problem, but couldn’t find her. I set my alarm for 5 am anyway and got up after deciding that I would figure something out.

I saw ‘Big Al’ on the MasDec where we ‘muster’ to go and asked him who I should talk to about getting on a boat. He told me I wasn’t going to be able to get on one since they were full. Instead, I should come up to the flight deck and catch a ride on the helicopter. Oh, if I have to. WHAT?! WOW.

Bird's eye of the busy market

The next 15 minutes were the longest because we were waiting to see if the other slated passengers would show up. They didn’t. Al asked if I had a long sleeve shirt in my pack. No, but I’ll get one. I’ve never made the trek up and down the 86 stairs so fast in my stay here on the Comfort.

I lucked out with a seat next to the door. We lifted off in the blink of an eye. One minute I'm watching the guys on the deck, the next we are way above the boat and turning on a dime. It wasn't until then that realized they were going to leave the doors open for us so we could have a clear view of the scenery below. I was told the trip would be a short one, but because the XO was with us and he was going to Haiti to look at the different medical sites and projects going on, we flew along the shoreline and did a few loops around the area. I didn’t mind the extended trip in the slightest.

I hadn’t lived until I rode in a helicopter! I took a ton of pictures {close to 200 total thruout the day} I had the time of my life and yesterday I had the thought, ‘How am I going to top this?’ It seems impossible.

The day was one of those days that everything is simply awesome. One of the humanitains here in Haiti needed to be escorted into the gated area where we landed. The pallets of donated goods are being stored there and she was there with two big trucks to take food to the people in need. This required a ride through a very crowded market place. I was taking it all in as much as I could because I knew it was rare glimpse of the city. Normal procedure is directly to and from the medical sites. How did I get so lucky to see so much of what makes Haiti so cool?

Next, we drove into town where the Seabees are working on fixing up a hospital. From there we were escorted by a guard on a short walk down the road to the Institute where I worked {or played} the rest of the day as ‘The Tooth’.

I walked the outdoor halls in my 7’ foam insulated costume in ‘hot as Haiti’ weather in between classes at a health fair for young nurses from different institutes. While they were in class I hung out on the balcony overlooking the busy street below drinking water and enjoying the constant flow of foot traffic below. The people walking by would smile and wave.

From the reports coming back all week from people coming back from the country I expected to not like Haiti, but I did. It is beautiful in a hectic, vibrant way. It is the most populated country in the world. Isn’t that crazy?

The other crazy thing is that I'm here in the lounge putting this post on the net and realized I didn't upload a picture of me in The Tooth getup. Goodness, that just won't do. I'll post it later.