Chappy and the nuns (or how to not pack for Haiti)

That's right folks, I'm living in what can best be described as a nunery. And its absolutely awesome! Ok, well its at least pretty cool, not many opportunities for getting myself into trouble, and they have beer. I arrived late last night after a 5 hour delay involving mechanical issues, lightening storms, irritated haitiens, and 100 or so pages of "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test".



I half-listened to the emergency evacuation instructions, looking up casually every once and again to see a life vest, then going back down to the 6-month old National Geographic, thumbing through it for the third time since I'd bought it. It was the 'Best of Adventure '09' issue, and I read it half-believing I'd one day be reading about my trips to dangerous, uncharted territories. Did I mention i'm staying with nuns?


As this is just an introductory post, I figured I'd save my more lucid attempts at humor for those inevitable bouts of malaria I'm fairly certain to contract. Which brings me to my first important point of this journal, airport security "detained" my only can of 40% DEET bug repellant in D.C. Yes, I'm an idiot and left it in my carry-on. Yes, I should have packed more than one can for two months in rural Haiti. And yes, I did beg. They weren't sympathetic. On a lighter note, I've been able to pawn off a couple dozen bottles of Ensure to the health clinic the sisters run just next door(literally). In return, they promised to pray I don't get malaria.


I guess I should give you guys a little more background to this trip.


For starters, up until yesterday evening I had no idea if anyone was going to pick me up at the airport when I arrived at Port-au-Prince, and I was even less certain of what, exactly, I was supposed to be doing once I got there. The first problem was solved with a quick call to an old friend of mine who translated for me last summer in Haiti, Wilkins. Ofcourse, the only ride he could find wanted to charge me $150 US for a three hour drive. I'm also now broke. The second dilemma remains, terrifyingly but quixotically, a mystery. Fondwa is a rural mountaintop community that's something of an oasis of development among a national population where 1 out of every 2 people live in extreme poverty. I'm here to plan some projects for next summer, talk to community leaders, and work on some reforestation projects. Still, I don't exactly have a schedule or clear-cut objectives. But I do have a neat title, "Project Leader/ Development Coordinator".


Here is a basic run-down of my supplies, or at least the one's worth mentioning (read: the ones I've taken the time to unpack and actually inventory)


-An old Pentax film camera lent to me by my good friend, Rob May. Some 400 film, and lenses.
-Malaria medication, always fun.
-A few books, mostly on Haitien Political Econmy and History...oh, and that one about dropping acid.
-Paper and pen.
-No clue how to use a film camera.


Wish me luck, send me prayers, send me bug spray, enjoy.

Chappy