Hair Pin Turns & No Guard Rails!

And we are back – yup! After 5 months at home it was time to return to our other home at HATS in Haiti. We arrived on Tuesday to a wonderful warm welcome by the staff and kids. They were all surprised and pleased as Karen had not told anyone we were on our way. There were lots of hugs and broken Creole conversations and genuine glee from them and us that we are here.

A couple of times in the afternoon Joan and I were not sure we would see either home again! The main road to St. Marc was closed due to demonstrations related to this weekend’s Presidential elections. We had to take the back roads over the mountains which were narrow and some places unpaved and many hair-pin turns with no guard rails. Our driver thought he was James Bond or Jacques Villeneuve in a race car and not some dude in an old pickup truck. The scenery was fantastic (at least what I saw when my eyes were open) but I didn’t take any pictures because I was hanging on for dear life.

The kids thought we were glad to be here, but we were also glad to arrive at all.

We had a lot of baggage thanks to the generosity or friends and family. Five checked bags (275 pounds) and 2 carry-on bags. Basically no personal stuff as we left most of our things here in the spring. We brought clothes, shoes, sandals, diapers, food, hockey sticks, batteries, computer mice (or is that mouses?), books, school supplies, tools, painting supplies, toys, hardware, tape, screws etc. etc. Thank you one and all for your generosity.

Our dining room collection area

The five bags packed and the overflow stored for January.

We are taking our time getting used to the heat, unpacking and catching up on all the news from the summer. We also have 2 new little boys to get to know. We made a quick trip to St. Marc for groceries and get Joan’s phone activated. No road blockages today.

Joan, Magdala, Jonathan and Sandra at devotions

The kids have grown so much over the summer but it is still neat to see that personalities have not changed too much.

Jonathan leads the pre-schoolers (Magdala, Sandra and Sonson) in lessons.

Karen and Luckner are certainly pleased that we are back as well Luckner can now concentrate on the running of the school with nearly 500 students this year! Karen has a long list of jobs for Joan and I and we will start on Monday working through those in earnest. Job #1 is painting the HATS office. I think a bright red would be nice!! Suggestions?

Joan ignored the memo on not starting major jobs until Monday. She emptied out Carol’s wonderfully organized school supply cupboard and has a first coat of paint on already. I hope she puts everything back properly.