Haiti, the reality of it.....

The men had a grueling day yesterday. This is going to be another one of those days where I'm not gonna lie to you.
They came in somewhere around 8:00pm. They said it takes them about 1 1/2 to 2 hours for their return trip. The roads are bad & they are sometimes dodgeing ruble in the roads left from buildings that have fallen during the earthquake. Some are even partially down, leaning towards the road looking like they are ready to fall at any given moment.
There is a portajohn, (sorry, I can't do spell check as my laptop is only giving me french now & I'm really not that good, although, I pull it off as if I am!) but it is so bad that the men come running out vomiting. It's that bad. There is no other place to go to the toilet except in the streets & surrounding areas. This is where all the people seem to be going & it smells like it too.
They don't want to eat much as they are in fear of having to "go" on the job. They're trying to work something else out for these issues.
They said the smell of dead bodies fill the air & is sickening. Over 300,000 had died & many have never been recovered. How sad. I imagine many had died waiting.
There are some language barriers here at the hotel. Sometimes amusing, sometimes not.
All I can say is I'm soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo glad I brought my own food, tylenol & toilet paper. It'll get us by. Today the men will be stopping at a food store on the way home & will be looking to supply their rooms with some items to get them through the nights when they return after a long day down there. One of the men's wives is sending a care package to him. Hopefully it arrives. I know somewhere along the way thru the airport, my food bags had been gone thru & I'm not positive, but it looks like some things are missing, I just can't say what. I had been packing for a month & a half. All in all for the most part, I'm still good.
Tomorrow I will go to work with the men against Billy's better judgement. He doesn't want me down there, but you know I have to go. Today he told me he doen't want me to be joining with the UN either that I'll only be recovering dead bodies. I don't know about that, but, it is the first time he's ever told me what to do. That's never been something that's been an issue between us. Ok, he wouldn't let me work for National Geographic either, but that's another story.....
He told me not to leave the gates of this hotel. I never did see any of the Un or Red Cross workers yesterday anyway.
I feel guilty being here all day in such an area that could use so much help. I do understand how dangerous it is though too. When they asked me what I did yesterday while they were away, I hated to tell them. I read a magazine, took a nap, went for a swim, slept again poolside in the rain, oh & I did get alot of work done that I brought wioth me. Thank God I've brought so much as I'm going to need alot to keep me going. The tv is in french & only has a couple channels. There is a tv in a bar downstairs that plays sports in english, but, that's about it. Radio is in french too. I'm glad I downloaded so many of my cd's before I left too. It's nice to be able to listen to music during the day while I work.
There is another side to the Haitians here as well. Last night there was quite the function here with about 100 people attending, all very well dressed. It looks as if there is another one here today for a different group. Of course they are held right here where the only internet service is & I continue working right in the middle of them all. And I fell so under dressed! I didn't bring any really nice clothes!
Oh well, I'll never see any of these people again anyway!
I'll try to keep you as informed as I can. Of course there will be many stories that only the men will be able to share with you.
Till next time.....stay safe, appreciate EVERYTHING & EVERYONE, for life can change in a heartbeat forever more.