Saturday

We got to sleep in today, Saturday! However, the roosters made sure we weren’t taking advantage of this ‘sleep in time’ so we were all up by 8. We had another delicious breakfast by the best cook in the world, Germaine: Pancakes! Yummmm so good.

After breakfast we decided to try and make a nice little wall out of some cement bricks to try and stop potential rain from washing our tents right off the roof. We figured if we could get a wall up, we might not have to sweep the water off the roof again so we went for it! After Beate VERY carefully inspected the cement blocks for any crawly furry friends (cough cough tarantulas) we started loading up the blocks. We had two wheelbarrows and after a bit of help from Brad (Mr. Wheelbarrow Expert) we had quite the little system going, especially when JJ and Moise came to help. Then the wall was up!

One working,one touching the wheelbarrow and one supervisor

Trying desperately to keep the rain from the sleeping area

After building the wall, we had a super delicious lunch of kalalou (best word ever) sauce and rice. Then we ventured to the hospital tap-tap style and had a great tour from Karen. Hannah, me (Emily) and Kaeli rode in the back of the truck (soooo hot). (A sample of temperature can be seen from photos attached – 43 in the shade and well over 50 in the sun. Can’t get an accurate temperature as thermometer does not go that high. You can see that it is very wise to stay out of the sun.)

Temperature in the shade

Temperature in the sun

Lois, Beate, Kathleen and Karen were inside with that nice air-conditioning. When Hannah and I went inside the truck to get the tour from Karen, well that air-conditioning was just the best thing ever. We saw all the gorgeous stone houses built many years ago where the doctors and other employees of the hospital and their families lived when they had been here as well as where the pool was, the soccer field (my faaaavorite) and even a tennis court.

Earlier we had started some really cool drums that Beate had made with her kids at school before. They were so fun to make and such a great idea. Kaeli, Hannah, Ti Luc, Beate and I colored the boards to add some nice colors and designs to the drum. Then we wrapped them in clear duct-tape to make a spot to hit and nailed them together before heading up to Luckner’s. Best looking drums ever, and so simple to make! Ti-Luc loved his new drum and was so good at playing it… he has SUCH a great beat and couldn’t wait to show Papa! Once we got to Luckner’s, Ti-Luc showed Papa and Rose Lore how to play his drum and we all loved the excellent music.

Drum making

After Luckner’s the older kids went for a nice walk along the gorgeous canal. I stayed here with the little kiddies to play on the swing set and bike around the yard. Sandra was giggling away on the swing as usual, too cute. I’m thinking there must be a way to sneak her in my carry-on… When everyone was back we had a nice big plate of the world’s best spaghetti.

Now devotions were pretty exciting tonight. We sang and danced and had a great time as always but in the middle of one song Gemima spotted something in the driveway… Well at first, we had no clue what was going on. And then we saw it: This furry black tarantula had come out to say hello! Karen and Beate ran over with the camera (of course, pictures first!) and Beate wasn’t scared one bit to get VERY close (too close for me). Quite the thing to see. Of course everyone sees pictures but there’s nothing like seeing something up close and personal!

Lastly, we ventured up to the roof with the older kids. What a GREAT view. The sky was a mix of purple, dark swirly gray, light robin’s egg blue and rosy pink clouds. One half of the sky made us think the rain was seconds away from down pouring, while the other half couldn’t have been a clearer blue! It was kind of like we were in the middle of the world with the mix of clear and stormy weather in the air. It was beyond cool to see. You could also see all the tall leafy green palm trees and endless tall mountains in the distance.
Definitely post-card material. Good thing Kathleen was there with her amazing camera to snap the pics. We all loved it!

Finally after all the kiddies were tucked in to bed, Karen told us some more of her edge-of-the-seat stories. These stories… well they easily beat any movie or book I’ve ever seen or read. I’m going to miss her stories so much next week, I think they were one of the big highlights of this trip for me.

Sunday

Today was also, of course, so fun. We had a great church service. We had lots of singing and WOW everyone was so into it: clapping, jumping, dancing, using tambourines. And so happy! Everyone had a big smile on their face and it was so nice to listen to. We found even though we didn’t know Creole, it was a great service and we could definitely understand enough. Then we received an awesome message from Kathleen about integrity. She’s so good at speaking and I think she definitely got the message across (at least to me she did!). Karen was there translating so it was really great to listen to.

Drum making

Sunday morning service

Ti Luc playing his drum in church

Then there was some more singing from some little groups that was so beautiful and yes… the four of us went up and sang This Little Light of Mine! (I don’t think I would call it beautiful but… we did do it that counts for something!)

Beate’s singing group

Then “Maman Karen” announced the trip to Luckner’s. WELL there wasn’t one kid who didn’t have a smile stretched from ear to ear. We piled all the kiddies into the truck and rode up to Papa’s for cookies and juice. On the way, cutest thing ever, Anne says “I love you Maman!” and then Karena followed with another “I love you Maman!” and finally Jofky with another “I love you Maman!” This was repeated about 100 times over until we got to Luckner’s. Such sweet kiddies who love their awesome Maman! They all had a grand time with the cookies and juice. Another cute little episode from Sandra: She was eating her cookies and decided she only wanted the icing. So when told she had to eat the actual cookie part before having another one… she waited until she thought no one was looking and hid it in her dress! Absolutely adorable and quite the smart little cutie.

We came back and had some lunch followed by some delicious brownies from Kaeli that we all enjoyed. We told a few stories too… I think Kathleen was definitely #1 story teller today. She had everyone crying from laughter by the end of her crazy tales!

I can’t believe the week’s already over. So much fun and so many interesting experiences I will never ever forget. Karen put together such a terrific week for us all that we enjoyed so so so much. This is definitely going to be the biggest highlight of my summer. I’m going to miss these kiddies and everyone here SO much. I think I might just have to come back.

Off to play some soccer now!

Emily sure knows how to play soccer

The rain is not far away

Water coming down and water to drink

~Emily

Quick note from Karen here. A great game of soccer was enjoyed by our kids, and kids from outside as well. Emily is a good soccer player. Leica told me she wants to be able to play soccer some day as well as Emily and Mariah do. She has seen these two young ladies play soccer very well and she now has a goal for herself.

~Karen