it's a riot

Get comfortable because this is going to be a long blog.

At the request of my mother, I must blog about what happened on Tuesday.  First, let me say that Haiti is not  a scary place, and I don't want you to be worried about me after reading this post.  So maybe you can just skip this blog and catch up again next week.  =]

Tuesday we went to Williamson to do more surveys.  It's about an hour and a half away.  On our way over there, we ended up talking about death.  I wouldn't regret coming to Haiti, even if I died here.  Do you know what I mean?  God called me here, and I am not afraid.  No matter what happens, I worked really hard to get here, and I don't regret coming.  Emily agreed with me, but some of the other interns thought I was depressed and suicidal.  I am definitely not seeking out ways to die!  "For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."  It's a win win, ya know.  I win if I live, and I win if I die!  Anyway, this conversation seemed even more appropriate in the hours to come.

On our way back, I had been listening to music and enjoying the ride so much that I actually thought, "I don't care how long it takes us to get home.  I hope I get to enjoy this for hours."  Haha, way to go, Shelby.  Because then we got stuck.  There were miles and miles of cars going nowhere.  During things like this, there are a lot of people around, and information passes quickly by word of mouth.  The people of that community were having a demonstration (a riot) in hopes of getting electricity.  These are strong people, willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish their goals.  The first three or four hours were still very pleasant for me, in spite of some complaining.  I wasn't scared because we were pretty far away from the action.  We were able to hear the gunfire off in the distance, though.  I think that it was the first time I've ever heard a gun.  We found out shortly that three people died, including a kid.  At this point, a lot of people were turning around.  (By the way, there aren't a lot of roads here, so it's not like we could have just gone a different route home.  It would have been at least six hours to take a detour, and we didn't know the way or have money for that kind of gas.)  That's when I started to feel the gravity of the situation.  For me, it was hours and hours of just relaxing in the car, but for other people it was pain and frustration.  It might have been a good indication that we should leave when the police and the U.N. both deserted the situation.  Anyway, we waited in that traffic for a total of 6 hours.  We didn't want to be stuck out there in the dark, so we went to a restaurant nearby.  Apparently, a lot of people had that same idea because the restaurant was full of blancs.  We waited another hour or two around there to see if the riot would let up, but it didn't.  We tried to stay the night at Obama Beach Hotel, but they don't take credit cards.  We went to Wahoo Bay Beach, and they were booked.  I was mentally preparing myself for a nice little slumber party in the car.  Somehow, one of the other interns talked our way into staying into this room that they don't even normally rent out.  I think it might have been like a staff lounge that is also used for storage.  It didn't have any fans or A/C, but we didn't care too much at that point.  We finally got to sleep around midnight, and we woke up at 4 in the morning for part 2 of the adventure.  Here's the dilemma.  The electricity issue wasn't solved, so we anticipated that the rioting would begin as soon as the sun came up that morning.  I had a bad feeling that morning.  I really didn't want to try to drive through that area.  I didn't think we would actually die, but I did feel like God was asking me - "Are you really, really willing to die for Me?  Really, actually, literally willing to die right now?  Before you graduate college or get married or even finish your dream summer in Haiti?"  The half an hour drive back to that area where the riot was felt like a million years.  It was very eerie, and there were a lot of people awake and out (but it's Haiti and people get up early in the morning).  When we passed the entrance to the neighborhood without any trouble, we all rejoiced!  We were cheering!  Until we saw a couple of cars in the middle of the road that had been gutted and torched.  We were all quiet as we cautiously passed those cars, and we assumed it was just the remains of whatever happened the previous day.  A bit farther down the road, we came across a semi-truck that was perpendicular to the road, leaving just a very small space for us to squeeze by.  I thought, "wow, this isn't over yet.  We're not in the clear yet."  Then, farther down the road we saw the same thing.  With a blockade in front and behind, I felt so trapped.  It was still dark, and anything could have happened.  At this point, Emily and I were holding hands.  I kept hoping that if anything happened, it would happen to me.  I was prepared to die in that moment, but I was hoping that if I did, it would be able to be used as a witness to the other interns.  And then we made it past, all of us alive.  We drove and didn't see anything else.  We got back to the guest house at 5:30 in the morning, making our total travel time 18 hours.  We cancelled the rest of our work at Williamson this week, just in case.  We will probably be back that way next week, so I hope the issue will be resolved by then.

I was actually kind of glad to have the opportunity to do something hard.  We are so privileged and spoiled as Americans, even living here.  But being on the mission field has its challenges, and I came very aware of the possibilities.  I wasn't surprised by anything that has happened.

So anyway, like I said, don't worry about me.  =D