Closing Thoughts

The last day in Bohoc started off a little shaky and to be honest, for most it went downhill fast.  The previous night, it rained very hard and the dirt roads were really rough.  We woke up at the same time as usual and had eggs and toast for breakfast, packed our bags and were out the door.  Zach, Sean and I got in the truck and the rest of the team got in the Coaster.  We left and everything went according to plan until we went up this slightly muddy hill behind the bus.  It got about halfway up and then started sliding right. This happened a few times until they finally got it in stuck by having people push.  Then after they got unstuck, this early 90's red Toyota Hilux full of people comes rolling down the hill at us after going around the bus. He was going a total of like 10 mph but he was coming right at us.  We weren't moving at all.  He stopped and started like 4 times until he hit the drivers side bumper and headlight.  Funky was pissed. He was sitting in the drivers seat with the three of us in the car. He crossed his arms for a second cocked his head to the side and then got out. The accident sounded pretty bad but he was sliding on the mud really slow so we didn't think it was too bad. All of a sudden there was a huge crowd. Angry Creole was being shouted all around in this big crowd outside of the drivers side. Ronald and Blake were there attempting to mediate but a few times the arguing reached a tipping point and people started shoving.  No punches were thrown but I think it was close.  I thought they were gonna throw down and just go for it.  It was totally the other drivers fault. He should have stopped and let us back up so I didn't really know what the argument was about.  Anyway they somehow got it settled and we were on our way.  The bus got stuck again and they pulled out tow straps.  They hooked it to the diesel Frontier and I thought that there was not a chance on God's beautiful green earth that we could pull this 6 ton behemoth out of the rut it was in. Then Funky put it in to 4 wheel drive.  They turned on the air locker that I didn't know the truck had and he got the revs up and dropped the clutch with smoking tires on the bus and a smelly transmission on the truck, it pulled it out easily.  I will have to show the video I took to the guys on the Frontier/Xterra forum that I am on.  This little thing was beast. Then we went to a water crossing. We got stuck in the ruts left by the bus.  About 5 minutes later we somehow pulled ourselves out.  The whole trip after that was just as beautiful as the first time. Some of the landscapes were suissian. the bus only got stuck one more time as far as I know because after we pulled it out we left them in a cloud of dirt and mud.  Our car and the coaster were smoking.  Tony put a rock behind one of the tires to give it traction but this proved to be a poor decision because it just tore the tire up. After we left them I got some absolutely stunning video of the landscape, it was breathtaking every time I turned around.

We got too far ahead of the bus a few times. So we would stop for video. Eventually we turned on to a bridge and the dirt road stopped. I only saw Funky put it in to 4 wheel drive 4 times, he was incredible and would have been a great driver... if he had an automatic.

We stopped for bathroom breaks on the side of the road a few times before we made it to pavement.  At about the half way point we stopped at the same house school thing that we stopped at the first day. The same kids were there and this time there was a dog and a kitten as well.  We played with all of them for a little bit while everyone used the bathroom, and then we took off again.

We again got ahead of the bus and got to see Funky's cousin's "campus" whatever that means.  It was a really cool place. It had a basketball hoop and a volleyball court as well as really nice trucks and houses on property. We left again when we saw the bus pass outside.

 This time we got way ahead of the bus.  Zach, Sean and I were talking about this supposed red bull in a bottle for a long time. Eventually when we stopped because Funky was hungry, we asked him to buy us some of these things with our money. (Un)Surprisingly it was a knock off Haitian red bull called Toro. It came in a clear-ish silver bottle with a blue and silver hatched wrapper with a red bull on the front.  It was made in Haiti and actually said drink responsibly on the wrapper in English. In Creole it had the American alcoholic drink warning but there was no alcohol in it as far as I know.  It tasted like carbonated apple juice and to be honest was not very good.  It was a little sketchy since it was presumably Haitian water in and I had no idea if it was filtered or not.  The ride in to PAP was just as pretty as when we left, words will never do this island justice.  We rode in behind the bus which had it's rear right dually tire smoking. It was only a matter of time before it blew, which it did in the middle of Port Au Prince. For some reason most of the girls were scared beyond all common sense and were in a complete panic. Another 410 Bridge truck came by and picked  them up and the one we were in did so as well.  I would have offered to help change the tire but there were a ton of people around and I figured there were already enough cooks in the kitchen. So I leaned against a pole and eventually we rode back to the guest house where we are staying tonight in the bus.  We watched the U.S. Peru soccer game on tv and ate more awesome Cajun food.

Apparently a bunch of us couldn't handle Haiti judging by everyone's reactions to today's ordeal. I thought it was fine though. It was an adventure that I wouldn't replace for anything.  This week has been the highlight of my summer and I discovered that I am built for this kind of thing.  I loved everything that like everyone else hated, the bumpy rides, the heat, the food, the slight air of sketchy about everything. I could honestly do this all the time.  I wouldn't want to do it for a living or something like that but I will definitely be going on the next mission trip and as many as the church and my wallet allow me to go on.  Hopefully I will find some wifi tomorrow to post this so I can blog about the trip back. The day after tomorrow will feel weird, going back to our real world. Hopefully I'll let it change me. Well hope to write again in Miami if the good Lord allows it, tomorrow we are homebound.