Arriving in Haiti

i made it to haiti safe and sound. the plane was the biggest i've ever been in, but the air went out so the whole place was sweaty and stinky. i was one of the few white people on the plane. the view was crazy when we were flying in and there were a ton of people and soldiers everywhere when we got off the plane. It seemed like there were a million people crowded and pushing and speaking jibberish everywhere when i got off the plane. someone met me there and he helped me get through customs....he was haitian so he really knew what he was doing. we got special treatment so i think he was a bigshot. we rode in this jeep type thing through port au prince and i don't think there are possibly words to describe what i saw. It was like ten times worse than i've ever even seen on those save the children commercials. there were people everywhere....many of the "houses" are basically slabs of tin and sticks...the roads are fend-for-yourselves and there are kids everywhere half dressed in the filth. there are chickens and skinny goats and dogs and horses and wild boar running through the garbage. there are men with guns and broken down shanties everywhere...i felt like i was going to throw up the entire time and couldn't shake the lump in my throat. Fortunately, the mission compound is north of the city and is fenced off from the outside. The place where i'm staying is like a commune...a bunch of free-spirited people under one roof all sharing resources and pretty much being self sufficient. I'm one of 3 interns here and we work with all the groups that come through here. the other two girls are really nice and two more guys get here soon. i got a tour of the complex that we live in but it was too dark to do much else....i guess we only have power from like 8pm to 4am....something like that. it is unbelievably hot here. the housing area is kind of open so there are cockroaches and lizards and mice and plenty of spiders they've warned me about. fortunately i am on a top bunk. we had sloppy joes for dinner, they were really good. it was a long day flying and i am super sweaty and dirty but i might not be able to take a shower cuz we are running out of water...i will sleep really well tonight. i have breakfast at 7am and then dr. cheryl takes me out for a tour of the mission....i work in the clinic the next 3 days. the girls have warned me that construction is awful, but i'm really lucky bc i only have it 2 days the whole time i'm here. i really can't describe all the things i've seen on the trip f/ the airport to here, but it was pretty surreal. ok, well i'm pretty wiped out, but i wanted to let you know i was good...

ps- there was a tarantula in the shower.