Jacmel Trip!

Last Friday was Haitian Flag Day.  In other words, a vacation weekend for most people here in Haiti.  My friends invited me along with them to Jacmel for the weekend.  Jacmel is know as a "tourist" city and its located on the southwestern part of the island.  It was my first time there and it was great!  Since we are all "vehicle-less" we took three tap-taps to get to the "bus station".  From there, we paid to ride in a 15 passenger van with 20 adults crammed in as tightly as you can possibly imagine.  After living in Haiti for almost 2 years, "Comfort zone" and "personal space" are no longer phrases in my vocabulary.

 

 While in Jacmel, we were hosted by doctors from Slovania.  We slept in part of their medical clinic on hospital beds.

  The best part was that they drove us to and from the beaches all weekend in a......drum roll.......AMBULANCE! 

Several of us rented surf boards for a day, and I tried my hand at surfing.  It was TONS of fun, but I definitely need more practice. 

Walking around Jacmel was lots of fun.  It is much more beautiful than the "concrete jungle" of Port-au-Prince.  However, it was sad to see such beautiful buildings slowly falling apart from lack of upkeep.  I can only imagine how beautiful Jacmel looked 20 or 30 years ago.  

The beaches were beautiful, the food was delicious, and the company was great!