Strange Feelings

On Sunday Adam and I called his mom.  To call we usually like to go into an open area so our signal isn't disrupted and we don't drop our call.  We decided to stand in the playground area.  This happens to be Roxie (our guard dogs) favorite area, because geckos live on the equipment.  Roxie eats geckos, rats, and anything else she can hunt.  So while we are talking with his mom, Roxie chases a Gecko across the playground.  In fright the gecko mistaken my leg for equipment and scurried up my calf.  Everyone was alarmed when I began jumping, including Roxie so the gecko got away.   

Did I tell you about when the wolf spider climbed on me?  I will tell that story a different day.

The Things That Happen

When preparing to come to Haiti people would tell us about how random things would come up that would deter our plans. The other night, we were preparing to go to bible study and all of a sudden we heard a large bang. Then we hear Mateja coming down saying something is in the roof! We all ran to see and to our disbelief a ladder was stuck in the roof of the playhouse. Don't worry, no one was hurt.

(The ladder after falling 20 ft from on top of the roof.)

We then proceded to remove the ladder which was a 45 minute adventure. Luckily, it did not rain and we were able to patch up the roof the next day. But hey, it sure turned out to be an entertaining story. Miss you all!

Our First Baby Overnight

Last Tuesday night we were given the opportunity to watch a beautiful baby girl.  We have had her the last 4 nights and just loved it.  We are waking her up every 3 hours for her bottle.  Every time I have to wake her I feel so bad, because she looks so peaceful.  She will usually give a little yawn, then take the bottle.  She is a slow drinker, so she often falls asleep while feeding.  My mom told me to stimulate her by rubbing her feet, unfortunately she finds that relaxing as well.  Adam and I have felt blessed being able to watch and care for her.  Her newest development is holding on to fingers.  She started that yesterday.  Cute!

Camping Out in the Rain

Last week the baby house was given a new concrete floor.  But, in order to do that the old tile and cement below had to be removed.  Adam worked with the other men for 3 days on this task.  Haitian men are extremely hard workers and were not discouraged to have hammers as their tool for such a difficult job.  After all the flooring was removed they worked another long day to lay the cement.  Yet, the day wasn't done...

with over 40 displaced children there was much more work to be done.  About 15 of those children found refuge in the volunteer house.  But, the other 30 were camping out under the pavilion.  Mosquito nets were hung from the rafters in order to cover small groups of children. 

The kids thought this was great fun and would have been fine, but then the rain came.  Rain has come most nights since we arrived, but this was not like any other night.  I would venture to call this a monsoon.  All of the children camping out had to be transported to the volunteer house.  And,the camp out ceased.

With all that action we had some grumpy kiddos the next few days.

Note:  Adam and I did not help the volunteers or staff transfer the kids, because we woke up after the monsoon began.  I still feel really guilty.

Our New Roommate

This little guy was hanging out in our room this afternoon over the door.

Our New Home

After spending an incredible night in Ft. Lauderdale we awoke at 3:45am to catch our 6:30am flight to Cap Haitien.  Adam and I anxiously watched out the window awaiting of view of Haiti.  When Haiti finally came into view we were amazed with the beauty of the water and mountains.  This is our home! 

Nick picked us up from the airport which is a quick process and off we went to Children of the Promise (COTP).  Upon arival we were orintated and attempted to jump right in.  Unfortunately we had no idea what we were doing and provided more work then help.  The nannies were gracious with us.  Mostly we played with kids, but we were given a chance to do some other stuff as well.  We fed the children lunch, fed them snack, brushed their teeth, and joined the nannies in singing/praying.  These children are such a joy. 

One of my favorite parts of the day was shadowing Amy while she provided medical care to some community children and adults.  Adam and I would both love to make friends with the community members.  Therefore, we snuck away for a short walk through Lagossette.  The town isn't very big, so it was short.  This walk was incredible.  Everything is beautifully green and lush.  When we looked up into the mountains we had a great view of the Citadelle.  And, we were able to greet some people of Lagossette.  The people are kind.