Big Plans for Weekend

Activity and big plans are brewing this weekend for HATS. Plans are, by the end of the weekend, to have the girls moved into their new home;

Beautiful finished Girl's Home

To have the boys all spread out in theirs;

Boy's Home Bottom Level

To have our house completed and the move-in process begun.

Seth and Jessie's house second level

But 'This is Haiti' as Karen says a lot. We will see!!! There is lots, lots, lots of work to be done. And from the sounds I am hearing now (banging hammers and directions being given), it sounds as things are going well. Like usual, things have been busy around here!

Lets start with the last couple of days. Thursday was a whirlwind. Seth did some plumbing in the morning and we practiced our Creole lesson, as Karen taught English classes at the school. That afternoon the school boys had a soccer game. This was quite the experience for Seth and I. First of all because Seth is a soccer fanatic. He loves to play and anytime we are at a game, I can tell he longs to play. Second, Seth, Karen, and I were the only blans (White people) in a sea of about 500 Haitians. Now this isn't a special thing, it always happens. However, it is very interesting when the children have not seen white people very often. Throughout the whole game, the three of us had at least 30 people starring at us. The children were even more precious. I am use to having children hanging on me, but at one time during the game I had about 8 children touching me. They would move in slow and just stare, Next, they would touch with one finger to get your attention. Then, if you smiled at them, they were in. They would grab your hand so fast and would examine your arms and clothing. It was a blast. At the end of the soccer game, the HATS gang was wiped. Karen from the day of work, the children from the fun and games, Seth from soccer watching, and me from the hanging children. :)

Waiting for our school's soccer match to begin

Sidelines cheering for HATS school team

I feel like I keep saying, `Well, that was an experience.` And yes, the soccer game was quite the time, however, nothing so far tops what we experienced on Friday. The children had a holiday from school since is has been Carnival (Mardi Gras) down here. They were suppose to be off Monday-Wednesday. However, none of the other Haitian schools had school Thursday or Friday. HATS school operated but due to lack of children and teachers, they were let out early both days after their meal. This was a great thing for Karen, Seth, and I. Since Karen did not have to teach English in the morning, we were able to take off for Saint Marc to get much needed supplies for the orphanage and our new house! Upon arriving in Saint Marc, we were breathless due to the beauty of the ocean in one second and literally breathless due to the trash-filled drainage canal for water in another. Our first task was to find cutlery and dishes for the house. Now this would be a simple task in United states. You just drive to Wal-mart and pick out of the twenty choices which one you want. It is a tad different here. Let me just tell you the difficulties. You have to drive amongst a sea of mad drivers and try not to bump your head on the ceiling of the truck at every speed ``bump``, find parking in close spaces or on top of sidewalks, search through several dusty stores to find just one set of spoons or dishes, trudge through a packed market space with people begging you to buy things, and then try to keep up to Karen who wanted to get away from the meat section of the market, look through numerous items trying to find what the product is first and then how much it is in goudes, then Haitian dollars, and then US dollars. But, all-in-all, WE LOVED IT and can`t wait to go back! (Karen here. Sorry I forgot my camera for the St. Marc experience. Next time!)

When we got back from the market, work for the weekend started underway. Seth, Luckner, and 4 other men worked on the plumbing.

Seth and Luckner working on bathroom plumbing

Ti Luc watching Gwo Luc working on plumbing to Seth & Jessie's place

Finishing up plumbing to kitchen

I started to finish up on the painting in our house. Some wonderful nice woman (Karen Huxter), or so I thought, brought us all cold sodas for our hard work. However, she forgot to tell us that as she brought them over from the house that she accidentally?? shook them. So, when we all opened them they exploded all over us. We will get you back my lady! Work went late on Friday night and when we came in to rest, we found a surprise in the bathroom.

Jessie finishing up painting of their house

There was a krapo, meaning frog in Creole, in the room. Seth had to catch it and take it outside. During this time, Moise and Ti Luc were sitting in the living room as Seth brought it out and they instantly got terrified. Seth let the krapo go outside and brought in a new one that had been sitting outside for several nights. This was one of the biggest toads I had ever seen. You should have seen their faces then. J J walked in right when the toad was being put down and he was out the door in a second. We all had a good laugh.

Seth with his new friend - a toad

This morning, Seth and I woke up to the machine gun generator/rice mill. For those who have been here before, they will understand. However, for those of you who have not, I will explain. There are many type of generator sounds in Haiti. Some sound like tractors, other lawn mowers, other just a hum or buzz. But the neighbors next to the facility has quite the noise maker, which is the winner. His is the most inconsistent, loud, annoying machine that sounds like a machine gun going off. The first time Seth heard it he ducked because that's what he thought it was. Anyways, waking up to that on a Saturday morning brings us lots of joy (NOT). :)

But, our mood was soon fixed, as we came down the stairs, Ti Luc was returning from the children's home. He had just given Karena and Jofky his old moto (bicycle) and they were ecstatic. Seth and I were truly filled with joy this morning!

Happy Jofky on the bike from Ti Luc

Jofky - I don't want to get off and give Karena a turn

Jofky happy now - it is his turn again

Good Friends (Ti Luc and Leica) watching Jofky & Karena

I probably should get out of the office and head down to the house. The boys are working away and the paint is calling my name, as well as the children!