Day 5 - Traveling

Today began with the sound of the generator turning on because our cistern was out of water and the pump needed to be turned on in order to refill it.

I love the sights and sounds of Haiti in the morning.  The streets are busy with all kinds of activities as people move about.  Kids are heading to school - some parents to work.  Roosters are crowing, dogs are barking.  Large trucks rumble by sending an entirely new layer of dust to settle on absolutely everything around.  Nothing is immune.

At 8:00, every morning, the children in the school close by begin singing their Praise and Worship for today.  Today was "I Have Decided to Follow Jesus."

In Creole!  Awesome as usual.

The water is finally filled so I begin packing my suitcase to head to the beach for the weekend.  I'm so excited as I have never been outside of Port Au Prince toward the country side.  I head over to the artisan house to finish packing my other suitcase with new items for the Clay County Fair.

Ted shows up about 12:30 and it's time to head out!  We made a few stops along the way. (Not all were photographed.  I try really hard to be respectful of the Haitians.)  I try to be as discrete as possible in most areas.

This is the iron market.  Both inside and outside is filled with booth after booth selling just about anything you can imagine.  It's a lot of haggling and people following you around, "Please come see my booth"  It can be overwhelming but today was fun and I bought a few nice things.

We drove by the Cathedral but it is under construction now and we could only see it from a distance.

It was finally time to head towards the beach.  What should have taken us just under 2 hours - it actually took us more than 3.

We were up close and personal with this mess for over and hour and 15 minutes.  We just kept inching a long, often times just sitting, and could never really see a problem anywhere.  It was very fun to 'people watch' although it was most warm when we were stuck with a bus on one side and an huge dump truck on the other.

I've heard about traffic like this here but had never experienced.

Until today.

1.5 - 2 miles in an hour and 15 minutes!  I have now been initiated! No wonder you don't try and cram a bunch of stuff into your one day!  Nothing to do but sit and wait. 

Ya - no one is going anywhere for a while.

Sure - come on out dude.  Not sure where you are going to go.

This guy has THE best spot!!!!

Finally we broke away and drove along the coast and by the mountains.  So beautiful!

This may have been my favorite of the day.  Just how many Haitians can we fit in a Tap/Tap?  He was going FAST too!!!

Because of our delay - we arrived just as the sun was setting. 

We arrived and checked in with just enough time for me to take this photo from my room tonight.

I CANNOT wait to see it all in daylight!!!!

All 14 of us enjoyed a wonderful buffet dinner tonight and then most everyone went swimming in the pool.  Excited to see the Caribbean tomorrow!  I may just have to go snorkeling.......

Please continue to pray for us.  While this is meant to be a relaxing time away from everything, God is still working.  We are hoping to have lots of conversations and time to bond, and be real!  We must be unified.

Until next time.........

Day 4 - Building a Bridge

Day 3 - Journey to Croix des Bouquet

Day 2 -  A Dose of Perspective

Day 1 - Clear Signs That Lead the Way