A real adventure …

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Well I am still trying to catch up, so the update and story I have for you comes from last Saturday.  Last Saturday we were scheduled to have an interesting day and the good thing is that we were not disappointed.  Our plan was to get up at 8:30am and go downtown PdP with one of the fellow missionaries, and then after we returned we planned to go to one of the maids house and paint her doors for her.  This is itself was a very full plate for us, because up until this point we had not really left the street that we live on and that our school is on, so it was an adventure we were looking forward to.

So at 8:30 we hopped onto a taxi and headed downtown.  Now, I must explain something about the taxi system here.  Picture a taxi in your mind – there you have it – yeah it is nothing like that.  Now, picture a moped – you have it – OK, now place yourself on the back of one behind a person who speaks a foreign language on streets that are mostly unpaved.  (See what I mean by real adventure …)  As we are on our way downtown Lorraine, myself, and April are all riding on different taxis, and somehow Lorraine and I got separated from April (the only one of us who actually knew what she was doing).  We ended up at the store without her and neither us or the taxi drivers were that excited.  Things ended OK, though, and we had something to laugh a little bit about.  Downtown was definitely a different experience.  At no point did I ever feel endanger, but I for sure felt like a vast minority.  The poverty, though, that we encountered downtown and on our way downtown was immense.  There was an area with a stream, and instead of a stream running through it it was covered in trash.  It is very sad, but unfortunately hygiene in this way is not a concern to the people.  While we were downtown, we say some of our students, and that was refreshing, but we mostly just shopped for food and some supplies.  Lorraine started to feel a little ill, so we ducked into a store owned by one of the school’s largest families.  We grabbed a gatorade and chilled out.  It was quite nice actually.  After this, we started our way back to Rue Chalet, a.k.a the street we live on.  Now, I feel as if this is a good time to interject that Lorraine was quite frightened on her two taxi rides.  On the way there she said she was thinking, “this is crazy, this is crazy.”  (an exact quote so Lorraine will stop saying that I exaggerate)  On the way back she was thinking, “what am i doing with my life.” (once again an exact quote no hyperboles necessary)  On retrospect, though, she really enjoyed the experience, but she is still a little nervous about riding taxis.  I am too slightly, but I though it was a blast.  Just jump on the back and hold on for your life – now that’s a real adventure.

Now to the second part of our adventurous Saturday.  Our next bit of travel took us up to Madam Jean’s house, whom is Lenny and Allison’s housekeeper.  We walked up the hilly streets out into the country a little bit and found her house in a very beautiful and quiet location.  Our goal there was to paint her doors brown, because her doors were tore up and several different colors.  However, the work horses for this were Lenny and I; we primed, we painted, we conquered.  Lorraine, Allison, Warren, and Claudia visited with the newborn baby of Madam Jean’s.  Things went great and we all headed back feeling good that we had done good for a great lady and her family.

All in all it was a great day, and we for the first time fully realized that we were in Haiti, and a particularly poor part of Haiti at that.  My favorite part was hands down the taxi ride; I cannot speak for Lorraine on her favorite part, but I can guess that the taxi ride was not up there.  Anyways, I hope to put up another post tomorrow and maybe even some more pictures, because I took a bunch of photos of the scenery on our day off yesterday.  Every day is an adventure for us here in Haiti, but the truth of the matter is that we actually really like it, and we love the work we are doing here at the Academy and at the Bible College.  For now, though, blessings.

Kyle and Lorraine