We arrived yesterday just after 10 and cleared security within 20 minutes. WOW, huge improvements in the airport. The kids mentioned it’s ‘just like a normal airport’. What an incredible change from my first visit here 10 years ago!
Mom was there to greet us while Luckner was at the hospital with Vladimy. We waited in the van until after 3pm before heading for the compound. It could have been worse, at least we were out of the sun and protected. During that time Jared lost his iphone.Unfortunately it was still on airplane mode so we can’t trace it. He was only in the van and stepped out for a mere minute. We checked around outside and inside and it seems to have vanished!
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| Arrived and safely in the van. Waiting, waiting, waiting to head to the mission |
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| Ronel & Jared enjoying their drive from airport to mission |
The kids were all up and waiting when we arrived on the compound around 6:30pm, what a fabulous little swarm of hugs we experienced right away. Judel is again stuck to Jared, Dienuel to Ronel, Sandra to Alexa and of course JJ & Moise are so glad to have the distraction of my older boys to play with so they’re not concentrating on Vladimy not being here.
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| Alexa with Sandra |
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| Now what are they so interested in |
There are HUGE toads here that are nowhere to be seen in the day and appear, often bigger than my hand, after dark. Jared decided it would be fun to poke one in the bum to make him hop. They apparently don’t hop forward, the toad jumped right back onto his face, lol. Wish I’d seen it!
It’s always such a transition to the heat and humidity, thankfully it’s the colder season here so the temp is only in the mid-30’s with enough humidity that you’re damp all day long.
Our first night out in the tents we slept like logs despite the barking dogs and cock-a-doodle-doing roosters (NO, they don’t only do that at dawn – last night they had a rooster party at 10:40pm). We were so beat we slept right through devotions, kids playing, live happening around us and we meandered out at 9am – this is a LATE start to the day here in Haiti. The Haitians are up at dawn, around 5am. Every day except Saturday we must be up and in the devotion room by 7:30am to welcome the day.
At night the skeeters are bad here, so you don’t go out past dusk (5pm) without bug screen on. Jared is a skeeter magnet so listened asap when grammy told him to grab the green can of bug spray and coat himself. Later Jared wondered how come it wasn’t working and we discovered that the ‘other’ green can, that he’d put all over his body, was cockroach spray…. Oops!
We had a lovely walk on the canal tonight, me in my $7 pants! I have recently moved so during the packing I put aside all of Alexa and my summer clothes (and my US money from my last trip) and packed that separately so I’d have it at hand for this trip. Well the reno has gone sideways and we have very very little of our house unpacked and no sign of our summer clothes. A last minute trip (day before we left) resulted in clearance leftovers of 2 Capri’s and 2 shirts, all for $30. Not my normal style although cheap and summery. Lol
It’s fascinating to see the plantings here. We walked by newly planted rows of patat, (Sweet Potato). These lg chunks of tough earth were bigger than my hand and at home I’d never have thought to grow anything in them! Mixed amongst the chunks of earth was various garbage that was on the field. Each field would have been days and days of backbreaking earth as the men broke it the hard parched earth by hand!
Alexa is so happy here, due to our reno my moms house in Haiti is MUCH MUCH cleaner than my home and it’s much more relaxing too!
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| Alexa relaxed and enjoying Gramma’s house |
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| Dana keeping her promise – to rest a little |
~Dana
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