Living Haiti

Morning...

It seems to be better to blog in the morning. I can wake up a half hour or so before the crowd that is here and find a little time (and internet) to write.

We had a pretty big day in Haiti yesterday.

As I mentioned before, we have a team here in Haiti right now and it's a Haiti Mission Project team so I've been helping out with them quite a bit on top of my regular Haiti life. Yesterday we took them up to church at an English speaking congregation. It's interesting for me to see a place where there is a mixture of missionaries and haitians worshipping in the same place. It's also weird for me to be around so many white people. It's amazing how strange it feels. I'm not saying it's good or bad...just strange. I really very rarely hang out with Americans here in Haiti...so to be in a group that contains more than 50 people who resemble my physical characteristics, and speak the same language as me, is a bit to wrap my head around.

After church we took the group to Epidor which is like the Haitian equivalent to what we would call Fast Food. This can sometimes be a bit of a circus, and I am usually pretty vocal about my desire to take big groups there. The ordering process is different, the getting your food process is different, and it can be a bit confusing for 3 foreigners, not to mention 15. I have the help of 4 great Haitian guys yesterday and with my minor Kreyol abilities it was honestly the least high maintenance trip there I have ever had. And everyone ate until they were full.

After eating a ridiculous amount of pizza, sandwiches, and other assorted things, we headed up the mountain so the group could buy some souvenirs. It's one of my favorite places to go in Haiti, and this group did a great job negotiating prices and walked away with some pretty great things, at some pretty good prices.

We took them to see th Palace, and then we took them over to see Madame Venia's house. Madame Venia is the woman who cooks at the guesthouse and whose home the HMP has been trying to help rebuild. It's been great to watch that process, and so wonderful to see her big smiley face welcoming us into her not-quite-finished home. She still needs a roof...we'll see what we can do about that.

The day ended with a dance party at the orphanage. There is nothing more fun than watching a bunch of people love these kiddos. I also love watching the dancing...kids of all shapes and sizes and abilities get out and bounce around...pretty great to watch. It's easy to love this place.

Today I try the finishing steps of getting the paperwork necessary for the little girl to travel on her medical visa. I'm not taking a translator! Wish me luck.