N'a We Pita, Ayiti

Up at 4 AM to get the bus. We're taking the public air-conditioned bus to PAP. Costs just $10 US. This is a first for us and we're glad to learn how it works. Amoce knows the driver so he came to our house to pick us up, then we went to the bus station at the rotary. We arrived before 5 AM and waited there (with the engine running) till 6 AM while the bus filled up. Women were selling bags of cashews, men were selling phone cards (minutes) and one woman began sweeping the street with a hand-broom.[singlepic id=66 w=320 h=240 float=right] Yanie and Amoce are with us, on their way to the DR where she will, hopefully, receive her hip surgery. We read in the news this morning that the Haitian government is putting a plan in place in case they have to close the Haitian border because of the cholera outbreak, which is now officially an "epidemic" There's a little boy about 8 years old at the bus window, begging. He has a large tumor the size of a baseball on the right side of his face. Amoce said many people have tried to help him, but he doesn't want medical help because the tumor makes people sympathetic to his begging. 6:00 AM - the bus leaves the station. 6:45 AM the bus stops on the road because someone has brought food on the bus and the smell is making someone ill. The driver opens the door and that person gets off, then pretty soon 10 or 12 people have gotten off the bus and are standing around outside. Why? Because a little boy in the back of the bus has diarrhea and is vomiting. This trip may be more than we bargained for. 7:45 AM. We've had a pit stop at "Tiz Bar Resto"; it's quite a lot like a truck stop in the US -- gas, food, drinks, bathrooms. 10:00 AM. We have stopped in PAP just outside of Carrefour and most everyone has gotten off, but the bus is going to take us right to the airport. Door to door service -- it's nice that Amoce knows the driver. The roads here are a real mess from all the rain. 11:00. All checked in and at the departure lounge. UGH!!! No soap or paper towels, not even soap dispensers, in the bathrooms!! How can they contain an epidemic that way?????? Bye bye Haiti. See you in December. :)