We woke up to a message from Roby that he had found us a hotel with a pool to hang out at today! We had been talking about it most of the week just so we could get out a bit. He asked if we were ok taking a moto and we said, of course.
Now if you don't know, taking a motorcycle in Haiti is common place for Haitians, but there are some who refuse to take one because of how dangerous they are. On one of our very first trips to Haiti, we came across someone doing a piece for a television show about the most dangerous places to drive in the world and he was in Port au Prince...So, although we knew this, we also knew Roby wouldn't put us in danger and we trusted him.
After a quick breakfast of cow lung and plantains, we got ready to go. Roby came with a driver from up by his parents' home and trusted him to take us. We hopped on the back and started up Josie's road. Roby was walking behind us and would get on another moto up the road. We stopped just before the main road and our driver hollered at another driver and he went and picked Roby up. We were then off on what was one of the most exhilarating 30+ minutes of my life. We zipped in and out of traffic, came to complete stops in a pack of motorcycles, weaved our way in between "lanes" of vehicles, witnessed a small fender bender within arms reach, got pulled over by police to check our drivers credentials and eventually made our way into Petionville. Roby had scoped out several places that morning and this hotel had good security and was off the road a bit.
We pulled up along the curb and I proceeded to step off and let my leg hit the exhaust which was HOT! I moved it quickly, but not before I knew it was going to be a pretty substantial burn. Roby and his driver discussed when to come back and get us and we walked into the hotel property. It was STUNNING! Pristine white, gorgeous greenery and landscaping, and a beautiful pool. We found our way to the restaurant on site where we paid for the lunch buffet that would also allow us access to the pool. For $22/person we lounged for the day by the pool and had an INCREDIBLE buffet of Haitian food. The burn on my leg didn't hurt, but I knew it would eventually. I showed Roby and we found some cold water/paper towels to keep on it throughout the day. The lunch buffet was perfect and Roby got his picture taken with a famous Haitian musician who was also there. This was definitely a place that I felt underdressed! Next time, I'll bring some nicer clothes to change in to!
About mid-morning, Josie called wondering where we were! I had sent her a text letting her know, but she hadn't gotten it because she only has wifi at home. She had called to the house and Syl had said we weren't there so she came home so she could call us. I told her we were at a hotel and she asked how we got there. When I said moto, she said, "Oh no!" and then asked to talk to Roby. It was all ok, but she didn't love that we took one so she said she would pick us up in the afternoon so we didn't ride one back. The day was relaxing and a perfect way to enjoy some down time outside the house.
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
Sunday, February 23, 2020
Wednesday
Did you EVER think I was going to finish this story??
Good grief. These days are not slowing down. They are full and fulfilling, but this story needs to be finished so someday we can let them read this and have them fill us in on their perspectives and stories during this time. Ours is just part of the story...
Wednesday started much like Monday and Tuesday. Slow and relaxed. Today though we knew Josie would be coming back mid-morning to take us to Amessanitha and Dania's school to give a "presentation." Josie had asked us to talk about United States culture to the 7th and 8th grade classes. The US being as it is, doing a single cultural presentation, isn't possible. We, the land of multitudes. So we decided to do Kansas culture, which had us looking for things to share about this state we have called home. We decided to talk about agriculture, industries, school systems and extra curricular activities. Without a real game plan, we figured we'd just talk and then let them ask questions!
We woke up that morning having slept probably the best we had so far. I don't know if it was a quieter evening or we had just acclimated to the sounds. Both of our bodies just hurt though. Mostly joint pain and we didn't really know why except we had hardly moved for a week and our diet was pretty carb heavy each day. Speaking of the food...Josie and Sylvania were giving us EVERY GOOD THING! It was just awesome. I think we ate every authentic, traditional Haitian food that was.
Josie came back around 1030 and we were off to Margaret's school up the road. I had no idea that Margaret Bernard(Thomas's) wife had started this school 18 years ago! When Josie said she worked at Margaret's school, I just assumed that was the school associated with the church. Josie works at the 7/8th grade supervisor and we went to speak with the 8th grade class first. We shared a few things and then let them ask questions. It was great! Lots of good questions. We then went to the 7th grade class, which is Amessanitha's class! We gave our little talk and then the questions started and it was so fun! We told them we were married almost 20 years much to their surprise. One of the girls asked in creole if we had ever thought about divorce in all those years. HA! We all laughed! The look on everyone else's faces were so great. Once we were done, their next class was English and the teacher wasn't there yet so they asked if we could teach them. We were not prepared to do that, but just had them introduce themselves in English, did some vocab of colors and seasons and then did nouns around the room. So fun! We then took a tour of all the classrooms and went back to the office and chatted with Margaret for awhile. Amazing what she has done over 18 years! She started with 1 student the first year, 2 the 2nd year and then added from there! It's a "middle class" school so all the parents pay for tuition and uniforms, etc.
We headed back to the house, had a late lunch of fried okra, manba, crackers and fresh squeezed grapefruit juice. We laid down until Amessanitha came home and then proceeded to just observe them through what we now know is their routine. It is such a gift to us now that we are home to know what they do each night. I can see them in their space, doing their homework, eating dinner. Their schoolwork is intense. They basically memorize entire portions of textbooks. They work so hard and Haitian school is more challenging then any US school we have seen. It made us talk about where it will be best for them when they come. We shall see!
For dinner we had vegetables and beef with national rice and beans and Prestige.
What was going to be a lesson or two turned into hours of work for both Amessanitha and Nickson. We have some theories about why they work so hard. They can see very vividly what not having an education looks like. They see it every day outside their walls.
By 8:00, Amessanitha was in tears because she had so much to do and Nickson had finished and was playing with us. We felt badly, but no one else seemed to. Josie wasn't phased and I got up a few times and walked over to the talk to hug her while she kept working. Nickson, Chad and I played jenga and then started using them to do domino runs which he loved. He is creative! He built different structures, made numbers and letters with the blocks, made a stick person. It was so fun to see him do that! If I had had it my way, Amessanitha would have been with us playing, but we really didn't feel like we could rock the boat schedule and schooling wise. We didn't want her to get in trouble for not having her work done, but that was super tough to not just right a note to her teacher saying, "Hey, her mom and dad in town for a week and we just didn't do the homework because we were busy bonding."
We had devotions at 9:00 with songs, psalms and one of the kids sharing thoughts on a verse or two.
It's crazy to me that we were spending an ENTIRE day to maybe get a few hours of actual interaction with them and we LIVED for it. We soaked up every bit we could.
Thursday brought some real adventure!!!
Good grief. These days are not slowing down. They are full and fulfilling, but this story needs to be finished so someday we can let them read this and have them fill us in on their perspectives and stories during this time. Ours is just part of the story...
Wednesday started much like Monday and Tuesday. Slow and relaxed. Today though we knew Josie would be coming back mid-morning to take us to Amessanitha and Dania's school to give a "presentation." Josie had asked us to talk about United States culture to the 7th and 8th grade classes. The US being as it is, doing a single cultural presentation, isn't possible. We, the land of multitudes. So we decided to do Kansas culture, which had us looking for things to share about this state we have called home. We decided to talk about agriculture, industries, school systems and extra curricular activities. Without a real game plan, we figured we'd just talk and then let them ask questions!
We woke up that morning having slept probably the best we had so far. I don't know if it was a quieter evening or we had just acclimated to the sounds. Both of our bodies just hurt though. Mostly joint pain and we didn't really know why except we had hardly moved for a week and our diet was pretty carb heavy each day. Speaking of the food...Josie and Sylvania were giving us EVERY GOOD THING! It was just awesome. I think we ate every authentic, traditional Haitian food that was.
Josie came back around 1030 and we were off to Margaret's school up the road. I had no idea that Margaret Bernard(Thomas's) wife had started this school 18 years ago! When Josie said she worked at Margaret's school, I just assumed that was the school associated with the church. Josie works at the 7/8th grade supervisor and we went to speak with the 8th grade class first. We shared a few things and then let them ask questions. It was great! Lots of good questions. We then went to the 7th grade class, which is Amessanitha's class! We gave our little talk and then the questions started and it was so fun! We told them we were married almost 20 years much to their surprise. One of the girls asked in creole if we had ever thought about divorce in all those years. HA! We all laughed! The look on everyone else's faces were so great. Once we were done, their next class was English and the teacher wasn't there yet so they asked if we could teach them. We were not prepared to do that, but just had them introduce themselves in English, did some vocab of colors and seasons and then did nouns around the room. So fun! We then took a tour of all the classrooms and went back to the office and chatted with Margaret for awhile. Amazing what she has done over 18 years! She started with 1 student the first year, 2 the 2nd year and then added from there! It's a "middle class" school so all the parents pay for tuition and uniforms, etc.
We headed back to the house, had a late lunch of fried okra, manba, crackers and fresh squeezed grapefruit juice. We laid down until Amessanitha came home and then proceeded to just observe them through what we now know is their routine. It is such a gift to us now that we are home to know what they do each night. I can see them in their space, doing their homework, eating dinner. Their schoolwork is intense. They basically memorize entire portions of textbooks. They work so hard and Haitian school is more challenging then any US school we have seen. It made us talk about where it will be best for them when they come. We shall see!
For dinner we had vegetables and beef with national rice and beans and Prestige.
What was going to be a lesson or two turned into hours of work for both Amessanitha and Nickson. We have some theories about why they work so hard. They can see very vividly what not having an education looks like. They see it every day outside their walls.
By 8:00, Amessanitha was in tears because she had so much to do and Nickson had finished and was playing with us. We felt badly, but no one else seemed to. Josie wasn't phased and I got up a few times and walked over to the talk to hug her while she kept working. Nickson, Chad and I played jenga and then started using them to do domino runs which he loved. He is creative! He built different structures, made numbers and letters with the blocks, made a stick person. It was so fun to see him do that! If I had had it my way, Amessanitha would have been with us playing, but we really didn't feel like we could rock the boat schedule and schooling wise. We didn't want her to get in trouble for not having her work done, but that was super tough to not just right a note to her teacher saying, "Hey, her mom and dad in town for a week and we just didn't do the homework because we were busy bonding."
We had devotions at 9:00 with songs, psalms and one of the kids sharing thoughts on a verse or two.
It's crazy to me that we were spending an ENTIRE day to maybe get a few hours of actual interaction with them and we LIVED for it. We soaked up every bit we could.
Thursday brought some real adventure!!!
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