The airport in Port au Prince was closed (from reports I've read), as there were many demonstrations, etc. in the city, which made it unsafe (or perhaps not even possible!) for airport workers to get to the airport, nevermind for travellers to get around once they got off the plane. So, for safety reasons, the flight was postponed until this morning. Which meant going back to the cheap (albeit clean and quite adequate!) airport hotel (which was actually 11 km from the airport, and not 1km as it said somewhere on the website) with the shuttle bus. I was quite tired yesterday, since I had been up late the night before chatting on skype, on the phone, and checking news updates on the situation in Haiti to figure out if it was safe to go. So, I did a bit of work, actually managed to nap (yes, me!), had a nice bath, and went to bed early to do it all over again today.
This morning's line-up was quite long, but promising...until at 6:30 they announced that today's flight was cancelled (they said cancelled, not postponed). The climate in the line-up prior to the announcement was already a bit steamy, as many people had to incur taxi fare & hotel fees on their own (airline didn't cover this), so once the announcement was made, there was an uproar from the many disgruntled travellers. I mean, irate travellers who let them have it. Security folks moved in, kind of standing off to the side, but at the ready! (in true Canadian form, they came on mountain bikes!). While this is a mere inconvenience for me (staying in mediocre hotels, eating overly priced food in the airport), it's not like I was moving back home, as many folks in line were, or that I have family I am concerned about there, or don't have the funds for overnight accommodation. My minor displacement was but a blip, more of a disappointment than anything, but I'm aware of my good fortune, with a house of my own on my river, amazing friends & family who support me, and my health. All of those things!
I had some wonderful conversations with folks in the line-up- the first day, Emmanuel was helpful in explaining more about the culture & climate in Haiti. The language is a fascinating part of this adventure for me. Emmanuel & I conversed in regular french (regular to my ear), yet when speaking with other Haitians, he switched immediately to creole. Creole has many similar vocabulary words, but sentence structure can be completely different, and pronouns are different. I'm really looking forward to developing my ear!
The Haitian women in line were so beautiful- and the hats, oh! but the hats were formidable! I'm feeling waaaaaaayyyyyyy underdressed- I brought a ball cap! Some of them were wearing multiple hats piled high on their heads. I was most impressed!
But back to the flight situation- they are now saying that the flight has been rebooked for Sunday, Dec. 12 (although they aren't yet releasing a departure time)...so I will still be able to go, and hopefully, most of the more violent demonstrations will have abated by then.
I've been learning more about Haiti through this delay. The demonstrations occured (quite as was expected, actually) after the results of the elections were released on Tues. night. From all accounts, the elections seemed rigged and rife with fraud, and people are especially unhappy that one of the popular candidates won't advance to the next round. The government backed candidate made it, but not Michel Martelly (who is a pop singer, Sweet Micky- gotta like it!). In any case, tire fires & road blocades were all around the city, thus the delays. There is a process which could allow Martelly to contest results and possibly be included in the next round...time will tell.
So, I'll head off on the bus back to Ottawa at this point in time...enough time in the airport pour moi! Hopefully all goes well, things settle in Haiti, and the flight takes off on Sunday. My plan will be to take lots of photos, and write as much as possible, but I will be working while there, so not sure how much free time or energy I'll have.
No comments:
Post a Comment