This week has reminded me that "We do not remember days, we remember moments."
We have had some funny, odd, hilarous, and not so hilarous moments in Haiti this week:
- I almost hit a man wearing nothing but mud who was running across the road.
- Something that did not go over very well and I hesitate to even share. The other morning we woke up to machine gun fire. There is a house behind us that is huge and heavily protected: electric fence, etc. Anyways, apparently someone tried to break in and they were met with a machine gun. What was more concerning, however, was the fact that the shots were returned by what sounded like a shot gun. (I am not a gun expert, I just know it sounded different that the "normal" gunfire we hear.)
It was one of those "Is this really my life" moments.
- We had to fire Angelo. Sad and disappointing.
- We finally got our gun.
- We were without electricity again for 3 days. While Rachel's poor sister was here. She said it was okay, it was just like she was camping.
- We found worms in our water, not the drinking water, but still worms.
- CT found a tick on his chest, I found one in our bed.
- We went hiking to our normal spot and found out that apparently Sunday is bath day at our favorite hiking spot . It was a education for the kids. I fear for our babies who do not remember life any other way.
Some pictures;
I just have to post about public bathrooms. They seriously make me consider using the street like everone else. And I never hesitate to let my boys do this. This is actually a decent one. It had a toilet seat and a make shift door. Still no TP. The toilets never flush so the buckets sitting next to the toilets are full of water and you have to "gravity flush the toilet".
The sink which actually had running water, a huge plus. No soap and the water was then collected into that yellow bucket and I am sure recycled for I don't want to know what.
Rainy Season. We are in the thick of rainy season. Suddenly it is raining most evenings and even a few days, super lame.
With rainy season comes bug season. One night we were literally invaded by these flying ants. They all flew in one night, dropped their silly wings all over the house and went somewhere. Who knows?
Another new edition. Bug nets for all. FYI, the flying ants fit through the holes.
A picture of our house in the middle of one rainy day. I love huge, heavy rain storms that come in quick and get out quick. Or the ones that come in the night and cool everything off. Ones that stick around all day and make everything gloomy...I could do without those.
We do not have a washer and dryer. This is a huge problem in rainy season. Here are our clothes that sat out on the stairs for 4 days drying. Yuck!
And our family room which has also become a clothes drying area.
This was just too hilarous not to post. It is a box of corn flakes, the only cereal under $5, with a bottle of hot sauce taped to it. We bought it as a package. How great is that?
Some of these moments are hard here, some are frustrating. But they are just that, moments. They all pass.
Now the moments that make it all worth it! Actually, more than worth it. They literally help to melt away the frustration and dissapointment.
- We met one of the most amazing, fascinating couples ever. Steve and Heather, post to follow soon.
-BJ with a girl at the feeding clinic. I wish the babies would remember Haiti. I know I will never forget some of the moments they have had here.
- Rachel, Roselie, Johnny, and Rosana (Roselie's sister who stayed with us for a weekend). When we read scriptures at night, Roselie follows along in a Creole Book of Mormon we got her. She said this is the first time she has been able to read scriptures in Creole. It is great to watch her love it.
-The angels around us. These are some of the kids from the feeding clinic. I can not help but think they look like little angels. I feel so lucky to take part of this awesome experience rain, bugs, guns and all.
