20 minutes in a Haitian's shoes

Yesterday Luke and I needed to go to the store to get some groceries. We decided that we were going to go on an adventure. Now just about every time you go out in Haiti you encounter an adventure, but this time we decided that we were going to tap-tap to the store! Yes, that is correct, I said tap-tap to the store! Now those of you who do not know what a tap-tap is; it is a truck or sometimes a van that has been converted in some creative way to hold WAY more people then it was ever intended to hold. Tap-tap's are the primary way of getting around in Haiti, (like a taxi) and they are every where!! Luke has been on them before, but since I have not I decided that I was up for the adventure!

First thing we had to do was walk up our road to the top (it is up hill the whole way). Once on the top, we waited with a group of people on the side of the road for a tap-tap to drive by and pick us up. This did not take long, and before we knew it I was having my first experience on a tap-tap. We went a few blocks then stopped. We had to walk up another road (hill) to catch another tap-tap that would bring us to the store. While waiting for this tap-tap there were several people around, and lets face it, when you are the only white people on the street you stick out a little! We were getting some weird looks, and a lot of second glances :) Finally there were some tap-taps that stopped, but no luck! Either everyone jumped in before we got to it, or it was full, and no matter how many times the driver told us he had room the people hanging (literally) out of the back made Luke and I think we could wait for the next one.

We did finally make it to the store and purchased what we needed, now it was time for the adventure back! We succeeded on getting our first tap-tap, and once on our second I felt pretty good. I have seen and heard stories about tap-tap adventures and how crowded and smelly they get, but so far I had not encountered any of that....until my faith was tested! We had to wait a little bit on our second tap-tap so it could fill up. When I saw that my row was full (I was on the end, so we could get off faster), and Luke's row was just about there I was ready to go. I was waiting for the driver to crank the engine and we would be on our way. The driver never started the truck, in fact, he was not even in the truck! He was off getting more people to fill his tap-tap even more! I already had five people on my row and I was squished! Then the driver came with two more people! One for my row and the other for Luke's! Once everyone was seated I realized that the only thing that was keeping me in the truck was a bar that all my weight was leaning on! My feet were in the way of the lady who was sitting next to me, so they were hanging out of the back of the truck! Once I lost the feeling in my left leg from being pressed up against my life saving bar, the tap-tap starting going up a hill, and there I noticed that I had not only the weight of me, but also the six other people in my row on this one bar that was now embedding itself into my leg! I was praying so hard that the bar would not break off!!

After a few minutes we were at our stop and walking back to our house! It was definitely an adventure, and I am excited to say that I have ridden on a tap-tap. I can also say that I am not excited to go on one again :)