After several flights and many long hours in the air, Dr. Garza, Jaime, Tammy and myself finally landed at the airport in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It was approximately 8:30 pm. The Santo Domingo airport was small and quaint. The walls plastered with pictures of Dominican children, and the many beautiful sights and vacation spots in the DR.
After a brief walk to customs, we found out that they were waiving the visa fee for anyone traveling through the DR to reach Haiti (hey, every little penny counts). We then proceeded to the baggage carousel to pick up our packs and medical supplies. I think our bags were the last to come off because it felt like we waited for a long time.
Leaving Austin, we had discovered that our team leader's (Bonnie) flight had been cancelled and she would not be able to meet us at the airport. The rest of our team wasn't going to come in until around 11:30 pm and we were instructed to take a taxi to the YWAM house in Santo Domingo. With Dr. Garza's handy Iphone we were able to access directions in Spanish for the taxi driver, since I was the most proficient Spanish speaker in the group and I can imagine how funny you all think this is.
So, after a short walk out to the taxi station outside the airport and about 10 taxi drivers seeking our business, we finally settled on a taxi that was an SUV to accomodate all four of us and our luggage. After struggling to negotiate a price for our taxi, we finally settled on $60. Two cab drivers then attempted to cram all of our luggage into the back storage space (which was quite a feat in itself and very funny).
There was a term that came up in Haiti that went something like, "There is always room for one more." And the cab drive with all of our luggage was no exception. I wish I had snapped a photo.
Along our drive I attempted to ask the driver if he lived in Santo Domingo and for how long? Did he have any kids? A wife? What were there names? After struggling with my broken spanish and driving for about 40 minutes I decided to ask him, "Cuanto tiempo a la casa?" He answered, "45 kilometres." Being so tired, and not being very proficient in Spanish, my mind started spinning. I was imagining 45 miles, and we had already been driving for 40 minutes. In my mind, he was definitely lost. Or kidnapping us. It is a terrible feeling to be at the mercy of someone you don't know in a foreign county, who speaks a totally different language, in an unmarked taxi and to not know their motives. And as a woman, it is easy to become quite paranoid about these kinds of things. I decided, at least for the time to remain silent.
After a very long cab ride, and our driver putting the car in reverse on the "shoulder" of a one way street and calling the YWAM house, we finally ran into a YWAM truck that led us to the house. What an adventure for our first day!
One big blessing straight from heaven was that when we got to the house, they had left over burritos from dinner. We were starving! We had the opportunity to sleep on the veranda of this beautiful (previously owned by a drug lord) house. :) There was a beautiful breeze and we were all so tired we went straight to sleep.
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