Well. Here we are. And today is the first time I have a minute to write. On our arrival in Port Au Prince, official looking men wearing a variety of badges swarmed the uninitiated. One approached 3 of us, saying very authoritatively he was a supervisor, asked for our baggage claim tickets, and went off to locate our luggage. When he insisted on more of a tip than we gave him. we politely prevailed. A series of two greeters carrying signs with our names appeared and we eventually found ourselves in the car the senator had sent for us, accompanied by his driver and his "bodyguard" (who laughingly told us no, there had never been an incident in which his services were needed),and climbing high up in the hills to our first night's stay.
The senator is also the titular head of the University (UNOGA) and his Haiti residence the first stop for incoming guest (pro bono) faculty who must stay overnight because the one flight to Jeremie is in the morning. Unfortunately he was sick with Dengue fever and a 104 temperature so we didnt meet him. A nice dinner and wine were followed by a shower that was literally a trickle but did the job, just more slowly and economically than usual for the first world. Surprisingly, the night was chilly enough for a blanket.We had gotten two different messages about whether we were to leave at 5 or 6 the next morning so were up at 4:15. No one around at 5 but the chickens and rooster. Ended up rousing some poor chap who appeared at 5:30 and we arrived at the airport at 6:15 a.m. for the 8 a.m. flight which went out at 10. Apparently when there are more passengers that need to go to Cape, which is more lucrative for Tortug'Air, they use the one plane for that. So the 9 of us going to Jeremie had to wait.
It worked out well though because we met "Betty" whom we had heard of because her Haitian husband runs a "classy" B&B a mile from the guest house where we are staying. So we'll spend the coming weekend with wifi, pool, 2 meals, and massages and pedicures available, for $66 a night each. Betty's work is as the public health director (RN, MPH, PhD) of a charitable foundation here so she provided lots of useful information about Haitian life, including mental health and views on treatment.
Just recently, Jeremie has gained the luxury of electricity most of the time instead of the former two to four hours in the evening. The university's guest house where we are lodged is quite a place and a story for another day. Most of our spare time has been spent working on the course while sharing the one computer "stick" that permits the slow but welcome internet access among the house residents, one of whom lies sleeping with the university secretary's niece below..
Next entry you'll hear about the adaptive start to our course, the mechanical challenges, mosquito nettiquette, the dogs, and hopefully see some photos of the local town center and the scenic route to the university on which we pass the "bus depot" and the "car wash". The pictures above include our arrival in Jeremie and the two of us working outside on the veranda in the evening looking like miners in the headlamps that supplement the bulb I estimate to be about 10 watts. But, hey, it's electricity.
