Luxurious? That depends.

I get a little tired every time I read an article about Haiti and there is mention of the luxurious Hotel Montana. Sometimes it is mentioned in such a condescending manner, as though everything about it was just so.... rich amid the extreme poverty! I lived in Haiti for twelve years, traveled there regularly for an additional six... so eighteen years of Haitian life. I can tell you that I have stayed in far more luxurious hotels in Indiana or Texas or Florida or Wyoming for that matter! The Montana was a very nice Caribbean hotel but it really wasn't "over the top" in luxury. It was the hilltop location with the incredible views that made it so desirable. And yes, if you compared the hotel to the life of most Haitian people, it would have to be considered extremely luxurious, as would my home in Haiti - a simple, 1960s, American-built, cement block rambler on a Bible College campus in Pétion-ville. It's okay... I do understand why journalists have a need to refer to it in this way. It is a way of saying that this quake spared no one, not the rich and certainly not the poor. But the people who stayed there were not wasting the budget money of their organization. They weren't being excessive. They were staying in a place where they could probably be assured of having filtered, potable water, good food, and a decent night's sleep. That is, until dinner time on January 12th. Some of the people who lost their lives in the Montana collapse were rich, no doubt. But many were not; they were just - unfortunate.