Time to leave day. I had a nice breakfast, made some calls, took a shower and finished my packing. I didn’t make it to the gym, and I checked out a half hour late, but no one was counting. I finished up more of the survey, went to Farm and bought a gorgeous dress that I can’t wait to wear. I went back to the hotel to get some food and my love at the front desk suggested that I go to the tower to see the city (cause you can’t see as much from the top of the hotel, and I wanted to take some pics). So I walked to the tower (and j-walked over a 6 lane highway, by the way), up the elevator, and took some pics. This really is a weird city, I’m not sure what to say about it. Boring and business, but thankfully yummy. I was starving and decided to get some fast-food pizza, which took 15 minutes to cook, and I downed the small pizza and had to make a run for it. My flight was at 645 and it was already 510 and I had just run back to the hotel. I asked the taxi to make some pit stops so I could check out gas prices, and we had a communication barrier. First he went to the one that I already went to. Then he went to another one that I already went to. He was so confused when I kept asking him to go to another one, and another one. Finally, we arrived at a third and he got the gist of what I was doing and he rolled with it and I got 3 other gas stations before arriving at the airport at 6 PM (due to gas stations AND traffic). I freaked out when I saw the line was long. After waiting for 15 minutes (and only getting halfway through the line) I really started freaking out and went up to the desk, told them my destination, and they said they would help me next. But, I had all my bags on a cart in the middle of the line, so I really annoyingly maneuvered my way out with everyone wondering why the hell they were being cut. Oh well. The guy at the desk chatted me and everyone else around me up for 10 minutes before giving me my ticket and telling me to run. Thanks. I made it in at last call, once again. By some miracle my bag made it too.
My flight from Brazil to Miami was an 8 hour pain in my ass, but I sat next to a nice guy and we chatted. Before arriving in Miami, the captain told us that we were going to be flying through a string of thunderstorms so all the flight attendants had to be seated for the remainder of the 30 minute flight. I freaked out a little, I don’t think I have ever flown through thunderstorms. Surprisingly, turbulence was very minimal and we made it in just fine. The skies were clear as we approached Miami, and man it sure was a beautiful sight to see. I have flown to Miami more than once and I really don’t remember it being quite that beautiful.
Miami’s airport is much too large for my liking. I arrived in the terminal I had to leave from, but meanwhile had to walk across the whole damn airport just to get to customs before going back to the same terminal. Once I got there, I sat down and was easily pinpointed as one of the very few white people on the flight. Being a minority can be tough, man. And I was scared of Haiti. The people on the flight were a pain in my ass too. Pushy, aggressive, the flight attendants were throwing bags under empty first-class seats (including mine), and there was a man in my seat. When I tried to dismiss it and get into another one, the rightful owner of that seat came and so I had to tell the guy he was in my seat. He didn’t even wince at me but when someone else overheard me and asked him if he was going to move, he got very defensive and said he was already planning on moving. I tried to put my seat back and the guy behind me asked me to put it back up again. You just don’t do that. Anyways, I passed out on the flight on my tray table but had to move when someone needed to go to the bathroom and then the guy next to me started chatting me up. I just wanted to sleep, for once. This was the most annoying flight ever.
Then I made it to the airport and a guy in back of me kept saying “let’s keep it moving keep it moving” when we were in line for passport control when there was an inch in front of me. Ahhhhh I was sooooo annoyed. Then when I was waiting for the lady in front of me to finish with passport control (she was still standing there) he started yelling at me: “next. NEXT”. So I yelled back “she’s not done yet!” I was SOOO fed up. Then, despite an email and a phone call, the hotel wasn’t there to pick me up and I had to take a taxi which freaks me out cause it’s impossible to know who is legit and who isn’t. There are a bunch of people with plastic tags around their necks and a small sign placed in the window of the car. I almost didn’t care at this point. If I was going to be kidnapped, I was gonna be kidnapped and there wasn’t much that I could do about it.
But, I made it to the hotel. Haiti appeared to be similar to Africa – carrying baskets on their head, poverty, selling food and random items in the streets, streetkids begging for money on the side of your window, but the “buses” were adorable. They were all made up in lots of colors and cute sayings, and they were pickup trucks with a shell covering on top. I’ll have to get some pics of these. Also, randomly there would be a nice-looking building with western influence. It was strange. My taxi ride was $40, but the average Haitian makes $2 per day. These poor countries are ridiculous, I really fall short of understanding how this can actually be the case.
My hotel is beautiful. In the hills, overlooking the city, with lush vegetation and lots of outsideness all around. (Yes I know that’s not a word but it was the only one I could think of to describe what I wanted to say). A good restaurant, awesome hang out areas with great furniture, I love it. I’m happy here, so far. Tomorrow will be interesting. But, as soon as I got in I took a 6 hour nap. I woke up and couldn’t find my travel wallet. I looked EVERYWHERE, and then went down to the front desk to ask them if they had seen anything. Nothing. I re-traced my steps; I authorized my AMEX when I came in, I paid the bellboy 4 quarters when I got into my room. It HAD to be in here, unless someone came in my room when I was sleeping. This was freaking me out. After 30 minutes of complete freak-out, and about to call Tony (my boss) in freak-out mode, I found it; it was lodged between my mattress and the foot of the bedframe. Unbelievable.
I was gonna head out and survey a grocery store, but my freak-out set me back a little, so I decided just to do some work downstairs. I ended up meeting a nice older French man and we chatted a bit, then I did some work and had a pretty good dinner, did some more work and here I am. I think it’s really time for bed now. Night!
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