Our journey from the DR to Haiti!

Here is some randomness about our journey from the DR to Haiti........

• We had to be up at 3am and left the DR at 4;30am. Eleven of us, plus the driver, packed into a "mini" 15 passenger van, toting our lugging in a tiny trailer! Not quite the 30 passenger bus we were expecting.
• The driver, Julio, stopped for coffee about an hour later in a little town off the highway that had crazy bumpy roads. He just pulled over on the side of the road and bought coffee off some lady sitting on the side of the road.
• Julio had been falling asleep for quite some time, I couldn't sleep so I was praying for him and trying to talk to him periodically. Elizabeth was sitting in the last row of seats and was getting a little worried about Julio too. Then Emily W. started freaking out a bit too, (Her mom died in a car accident when she was 7) and she kept saying something to him.
• The mountains are beautiful and as the sun was coming up there were mountains on the right and the ocean on the left! So pretty!!!
• We went through a town and saw about 50 people standing in the back of a large truck by the police station, I wonder if they're illegal? They were squished in there like sardines. There were police checks and men with guns everywhere!
• Our driver stopped to go to the bathroom behind a trailer but wouldn't let us go! Ha ha....I was willing to drop drawers and go but he said "for men only"! :) we stooped at a gas station a few minutes later!
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• Several times we were passing a car when another is coming straight towards us, remember our driver was not fully awake! Good times!!! :)
• We stopped again for gas and bathroom around 7:30, I headed straight for the bathroom, having traveled so much, I've learned never to pass up the opportunity even if you don't have to go because you never know when it will come again! Well the door didn't close all the way and had no handle if it did so it was interesting to say the least!!
• If you remember previous posts, there are NO rules for driving which adds to the excitement! 
• There are speed bumps fairly regularly and we are driving thru a little town or in small windy roads which seems crazy at times! Now that I think about it, I don't recall and road signs! Oh, and the roads are not in the best of shape! Often there are random animals in the middle of the street too!
• Last night, Denine, from the DR told us about going through the boarder and keeping our mouths shut and letting our leader do all the talking! Crossing the border was like nothing I have ever experienced before and I have crossed a lot of borders in my life! The driver paid about 5 different people and we never showed our passports! Can you say "CORRUPT"?? 
• On the DR side of the border it was market day, Haitians cross over to the DR to buy stuff and cross back because it is cheaper. Let's just say "MASS MASS CHAOS"!!!!!!!! There were vehicles and people everywhere, going every way and some how no one got run over or crashed (that I saw).  

Crossing the border was such a crazy experience and such a mix of emotions, that I don't remember much about the rest of the journey!  Arriving in PAP (Port-au-prince) though was not nearly what I was expecting it. It wasn't as oppressed as I thought it would be.