Sèt

Today...where do I start? We headed off to the worksite at the same time this morning.  It rained a few times during the night and once very early in the morning (only Jan knew about that rain) so I woke up in a panic at 6am (partly from panic and partly from the rooster that had been squaking since who knows when) because I thought if it rained today we wouldn't be able to work and therefore wouldn't be able to see all of our friends again before we left.  But I was relieved to find out that we were indeed still going to work. It was a hot one, but we only worked until around 11 when we all started wrapping up each house to gather our gifts together.  My little guys were hanging around throughout the morning and I made sure to tell them to be there around 11:30 so that we could say goodbye.  A few of us who had made some very special relationships with the kids and young adults who hung out and helped us at the work site were able to get their information to pass along to Barb in order to set up a sponsorship for them.  DeeDee got the information for one of my little guys, Peter (yes, I'm claiming them all as my own), Pastor did the same for his little guy Evan, and my Dad did the same for his buddy Steevenson.  Throughout the morning while we were working however, my dad and I were frequently scanning the work site to see if Steevenson (first name Jean-Baptiste, but goes by his last name) would make it after returning from school.  We both kindof shrugged our shoulders as we got on the bus because we still had not seen him show up.  Dad made sure he talked to Nathan (the piano player at the church who said he knew Steevenson) and asked if he would get all the information needed for the sponsorship and email it to him so he could pass it along to Barb.  Just as we had both kindof given up on being able to see him one more time, Dad happened to look up and see Nathan waving wildly at him and pointing to Steevenson who had just made it in time.  I don't think I've ever seen my dad exit a vehicle faster than he did today.  While he got all of Steevenson's information (and at the same time forgot to mention to him that we wanted to sponsor him), I frantically dumped all of the contents of my backpack into DeeDee's bag.  I jumped off the bus and handed my backpack to Steevenson who kindof looked back at me with a blank look on his face.  I told him, "Take this for school." He didn't speak a lot of English but managed to tell us "Thank you very much, may God bless you" over and over again.  I don't think I've ever been happier.  Definitely one of the best highlights of the day.  I was able to give my shoes and gloves to Peter and Maxon, the brothers who I promised them to earlier in the week and handed over the majority of my suitcase to anyone who wanted it.  Roberto and Douge, my two Spanish-speaking friends that I met for the first time on Monday, were hard to say goodbye to.  The relationships that we all formed with them, especially Roberto who worked side-by-side with us from Monday afternoon on, are all so special and I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we will never forget them.  I believe that most of us are now packing lightly and have a lot of room in our suitcase for souvenirs.  After our tearful, but happy goodbyes we headed back to the clinic to change and leave again for lunch at a hotel right on the beach (...or right across the street, but close enough).  After lunch we traveled down the road a bit to a more lively beach complete with seashell salesmen (a.k.a. little boys who followed us all over), live music (via a car with all of its windows and doors open, but hey, I heard Justin Bieber so I was a happy camper), and beer and bottles of rum and whiskey galore for sale.  Once again, living the life here in Haiti.  Some of us took the plunge into the water despite seeing a few gentlemen relieve themselves right into the water (I guess if you gotta go, you gotta go) while others walked along the beach or hung out around a table in the shade.  We sped back to the clinic after the beach to enjoy our lobster dinner (rice and beans with a lobster stew on top, obviously delicious).  After dinner we ate cake with Sidney, her son Howard, Nathan, and Dona (the woman who Dave coordinated this trip with, from LCC) and her family.  After they left we all shared what was on our minds and had a great discussion within our little group.  I wish I could explain to you all the emotions that have been running through me today, but there really are no words to describe it, as are there really not enough words to describe what this trip has done for all of us.  

I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to come to this beautiful country and meet and form friendships with so many of the beautiful people here.  Shoutout to my mom again for encouraging me to create this blog for everyone's reading pleasure :) and also for my own journaling purposes.  Please still comment and ask questions if you feel the urge because I know that I, as well as everyone else on this trip, is itching to tell you all of the details of our experiences that we've had.  Thank you all for reading. 

More to come.