Haiti Day 2...Spaghetti for Breakfast!

I woke up this morning to the sound of a rooster and the air conditioner shutting off at 6am, well-rested and refreshed for the new day. The team met on the roof for prayer and a devotion before heading down to breakfast. We could hear the city below already awake and hopping. At breakfast, I tried the Haitian coffee which was AMAZING…and if you knew me, I don’t normally like coffee. It isn’t as strong as normal coffee and doesn’t have that bitter “coffee” taste. I had a great chat with Tom, the Pastor from New River in Nashville about teaching at-risk kids, and Reading over coffee. He used to be a social worker and SpEd teacher and has a great idea for a Reading remedial program that he wants someone like me to collaborate with him on and publish it. It sounded interesting. I told him that we would talk about it more in-depth later. The meal served was spaghetti…I’m not kidding. I had spaghetti noodles with onions, ham and sugar mixed in with a sliced avocado and banana on the side. Again, it sounds disgusting, but it was actually very good, and after-the-fact, I was thankful for the carbs after the long day that would come…

After breakfast, we boarded 2 taptaps (See Day 1 for a definition) for the 1hour drive up the mountain to a church in one of the remote regions. The ride was the most extreme fun I have ever had! The scenery was beautiful...rolling lush green hillsides, the mountains leading down to the river which emptied into the ocean, but the road was ridiculous. I think it may have been paved back in the 1800’s but the years of rain and water running down the mountain have washed away parts and created ravines in the middle of the street. Too many of us have stories of almost bouncing out of the truck bed. Think of it as off-roading, but in a small Toyota pick-up that has ZERO suspension. In fact, I looked at the tires of our truck when we arrived to see that the tread had worn off most of the back tires. Luckily, they carry 2-3 spares at all times so it was changed before our journey back. Most of us have bruises all over our bodies and sore muscles after that ride. I took some video from the top of the truck before it became absolutely necessary to hold on with two hands. I will try and post it soon.

The final destination was the mountain church. This church was literally was on the top of a mountain. The building itself was 4 walls of cement bricks with a tin roof covering it. We were told that some people walk an hour to get there. It was like doing back in time. All of the men were in collard shirts and ties. The ladies had brightly colored dresses with scarves draping their heads. When we got to the church, we mingled with some of the locals while the guys set up the music and projection equipment. They are such warm and welcoming people. The ones who speak English are eager to use it and willing to translate for you if needed. It was at this point that I found my first Haitian baby to stuff in my suitcase! Her name was Alex. She was 6 months old and she was PRECIOUS! OK, I’m just kidding about taking her home, but she was super adorable. After what seemed like an hour of worship, Pastor gave a message in Creole and we all introduced ourselves and greeted the congregation through a translator. Lori gave her testimony which was touching and then we passed out juices and crackers to the congregation and mingled some more. It was an interesting experience. About 4 hours later, we boarded the taptaps and had some more fun going back down the mountain. Loved it!

We had about an hour to chill at the hotel before we headed to Pastor’s house again for dinner. His wife cooked us rice with a bean puree and some goat meat with onions. Goat has a real bite to it. It’s good stuff. Apparently, it is what the rich people of Haiti eat.

After dinner, we walked over the Pastor’s church. On the way, we passed the new church building that we will be working on later in the week…maybe. As we approached, we noticed some big red letters scribbled across one of the walls. Apparently the government had come by the day before and had put a stop on the building process for some bogus technicalities. Pastor said it was all an attempt to squeeze more money out of them and that they were meeting with the mayor to try and plead their case. Crazy. I had a good chat with Pastor on the way to the church. He said next year he is planning on coming to Chicago and we wants to go to my church. I think he might be a little overwhelmed by the size of Parkview…but wouldn’t that be waaayyyy cool for him to come?!?!?!

When we got to the temporary church building, many of the teenagers had already gathered. Tonight is the special Youth service night. We were showing some Cuba Gooding Jr and Beyonce movie for them. After a lot of technical difficulties, we finally got the movie up and running. Most of the teenagers stayed inside to watch it while I and some of the other team members stayed outside with the younger kids. I had so much fun playing with the kids. They all like to play that hand slap game where one person puts their hands on top of the other’s and you try to slap the top persons had before they pull away. A little later, I got some of the children to teach me how to count and say my ABC’s in Creole. I learned a few body parts and some random phrases too. One of our translaters has a daughter named Windelle who has been spending a lot of time with us. She is 12 years old which is exactly the age of my students at home. She speaks English well, and she and I had a little arm-in-arm walk and chat tonight getting to knew each other better. I have convinced her to speak on video for my kids back home…which I am super excited about. I’ve been getting lots of great footage, but for them to see a kid their own age telling how life is in Haiti…Let’s just say I’m a genius! As the night settled in, I got a chance to step away from the movie lights and take a look at the night sky. There is virtually no light pollution here. You can image how amazing the stars and sky look. I think I saw and Milky Way. I definitely saw several shooting starts tonight. Looking at the sky here reminds me of how insignificant we all really are compared to all of that…

I’m back at the hotel now writing this, all showered and clean. The dust here really is unreal. I have some pretty awesome Haitian buggers as evidence of it. Tomorrow we are hanging out with the kids again for the VBS activities in morning and early afternoon. Later in the afternoon we are holding a soccer practice. Apparently, Pastor entered us into some soccer tournament later in the week which should be interesting since only Christine has played organized, competitave soccer before. Tomorrow is our first night out on the town for dinner which should be an interesting experience…I’ll keep you all posted.

Joyful

Ps. The stomach issues are not longer an issue…thanks for the prayers = )

pss. I'll try and post pics and videos soon...this country really is AMAZING!