Eclectic Day

First of all--my prayers are extended to everyone affected by the bombings in Boston today.  I'm not getting much coverage here--just what I can read on CNN--but I've read/seen enough to know it was bad.  A big shout out again to first responders (trained and untrained) who stepped up to help others and give comfort.  

Speaking of prayers--they are answered with "yeses."  I heard from Dr. John today about Marie Claude's progress.  She is doing better, but is not out of the woods yet.  She has been on an ecmo maching (a bedside bypass machine) for the last three days.  During that time her heart as gradually become stronger, so tomorrow she goes in for another surgery to remove the ecmo "stuff" and to close up the heart.  Please continue to pray for her continued improved health.

My day started with opening birthday cards/presents that friends and my parents had thought to send back in March when Susan and Rhonda came to visit.  After that, I did a little bit of everything.  I worked on therapy this morning with a handful of the kids.  

Then I ran out to DHL to mail off sponsor letters/photos/drawings to England for the group People Against Poverty.  Through their organization about 11 of our children our sponsored.  It was quite the shock to have to pay $62 American to mail the stuff.  Nothing is cheap here in Haiti.  Then I had to run to the Star 2000, a grocery store.  I was looking for rat/mice poison.  Those are words that I do not know in Creole (or French for that matter).  So, I improvised. I asked where to find the "food that you give to mice so that they die."  It worked; they knew what I was looking for and took me right to it!

When I returned to Notre Maison, it was just about time to set up for our weekly Skype session with a group in Florida.  A Dr. Dan Devito, who teaches children with handicaps in the States to play percussion, is teaching our special-needs kids to play the drums!  We were able to purchase two drums last week with donated money from Dr. Devito, so today was our first lesson.  Cracks me up that I'm in charge of this because I have no rhythm, can't carry a tune, can't dance, and, to be honest, don't really like music all that much.  But, the kids love it; so, I fake that I know what I'm doing!

Then I headed out to visit my new little friend Chi Chi.  Each time I knock on the orphanage door I hear a chorus "Blanc!  Blanc!" as the kids let the nannies know that I have arrived.  

"Sewer" filled with water and garbage

After about 40 minutes with him, I headed back.  I stopped for my customary Prestige for my walk back.  I continued to explore the neighborhood by taking a different route home.  I figure the more I explore the less likely I will to ever be lost.  Besides, I like walking and seeing new areas.  Haitians don't seem to comprehend my desire to walk.  In their minds, why walk if you can ride?  The driver for the guesthouse, Sony, honked as he went by me and saw me buying my Prestige.  I waved him off and indicated that I would walk.  A lady asked me why I would walk when it was so hot.  I said that I liked to walk.  She looked at me as if I had three heads!

"Sewer" after the garbage has been taken out

There are parts of Port-au-Prince that are looking better.  There is occasionally trash pick up (especially on main routes), lots of new road construction, recycling efforts, etc.  But, there is still lots of garbage.  I took a couple of pictures of the equivalent of our sewers.  However, these "sewers" are open to the air and often get clogged with garbage.  Then the water becomes stagnant and smells.  I have seen people who live in the area shovel the garbage out of the sewer ditches to try to get the water moving, but the garbage is simply piled on the road.  The water might move, but the garbage is still there.  

The "piece de resistance" to my day was my first motorcycle driving lessons!  Yea for me!  Just like driving a manual transmission in my truck, getting started in first gear was the hardest.  Alexi, Gertrude's brother who was teaching me, wouldn't let me out of first gear.  I tried to explain to him that I understand the concept of a clutch and shifting, but he still didn't think it was safe for me to do anymore than first gear.  He was a big scaredy cat!  Actually, there's probably nothing wrong with starting out slow (literally and figuratively!).  Everyone kept staring at me (again).  I think it was a combination of seeing a white person driving a motorcycle and seeing a woman driving a motorcycle.  Whatever; they alternated being cheering me on and laughing when I made a mistake.

I couldn't get any pictures of my actually riding the bike, but I did take a picture of all the safety gear and other stuff that came with the bike.  In the coming days I'll try to get a picture or video of me riding!