Haiti Lesson #20... A Tap Tap is Not a Haitian Dance

You may notice a theme when the subject turns to transportation in Haiti. It is a little out of my comfort zone. We flew in a plane that was the size of a matchbox. We rode as passengers on the back of very tiny motorcycles called "taxis". Now it was Wednesday and time to learn about yet one more form of transportation that is WAY outside of my comfort zone!

After school was finished for the day, our team had a scheduled activity. We had all been looking forward to our visit to House of Hope, an orphanage located about 10 miles from the school. It was too far to take taxis and not quite far enough to board the matchbox plane so we moved on to our next form of transportation .... A tap tap!  This is a pick up truck with a bench built around the bed. The truck stops and you climb in. Everyone sits around the bed of the truck until it is completely full and then some! I have mentioned in previous updates that there are not traffic laws and the roads are up paved dirt roads filled with very deep ruts and holes. Balancing in the back of a packed pick up truck is quite an accomplishment.  The name tap tap comes from the gesture of tapping on the side of the truck when you want the driver to stop and let you out.  

Once I was over the initial nervousness, the tap tap was less scary for me than the taxis. I felt safer in the tap tap. Ours was comfortably full but we saw many that had so many people in the back that I wondered how after people fall out. Since I have been home I have viewed my own truck a little differently.