A Haitian Holiday

Dear Family and Friends,

It’s been a busy week here in Haiti, but I would much rather be busy than bored!

On Monday night, I joined the Gutweins and the well-drilling team for a little music and popcorn on their porch. Derek had found a baby bird, and we took turns holding it. I thought the tiny guy was awfully cute until he had a little accident on my napkin. After that, he was promptly returned to Derek’s diligent care. With three skilled guitar players, we had some very nice musical accompaniment to our hymns and praise songs. The Gutwein's porch is the perfect place to entertain a large crowd. They have comfortable air chairs and the breeze seems to flow right through their veranda. It’s a very pleasant place to pass an evening with new friends.

Tuesday was an adventure! It was a holiday here in Haiti, a remembrance of the last battle for Haitian independence from the French. The Childcare office was closed for the day, so I decided that I would take my 4-wheeler (quad) to Port Salute for some beach time. Port Salute is about 40 minutes away and I’d never taken my quad so far, but I wanted to try. The road is good all the way there, and I’ve been feeling more and more comfortable with the flow of traffic and the lack of road rules. Tess and Alisha decided to join me. Tess was going to take her motorcycle, but after dragging it around the compound behind my quad for 20 minutes, the engine still wouldn’t stay running. So, Tess hopped on my quad and Alisha took her smaller dirt bike, and off we went!

We made it about 15 minutes from home when we hear this gunshot pop. Alisha’s tire had blown out, but thankfully, she was able to control the bike and bring it to a stop safely. We called Jan to the rescue, and like the white knight he is, he came and picked up Alisha and the bike. We thought after all the engine troubles and tire issues, maybe we weren’t meant to go to Port Salute. But, it was a holiday and we really wanted to go to the beach, so we took off again, barreling toward our destination. When we got there, the beach was beautiful, and we had a great time in the sun and an awesome lunch Then...it was time to head back. We were making our way up a mountain when I went to downshift, and something went terribly wrong. I still don’t know what I did, but man...that engine sounded terrible! We had the pedal to the medal and we were barely moving. Our pride was a little wounded as we were being passed by bicycles! We made it as far as the LSM home in Torbeck where Joan, praise God, picked us up and got us home. So, the beach was great. It was just the getting there and back that was the problem.

On Friday after work, I went to the first Bible club of the season with Beth Newton at the Torbeck church. They had the biggest turnout in Bible club history, nearly 130 children. It was a blast! The lesson was on the miraculous catch of fish. We sang and played a game called Zonk. The kids loved it! It was girls against boys, and they had to answer questions about the lesson in order to draw points from a bag. They could draw as long as they wanted, but if you drew a Zonk card, you lost all your points. It was a great way to review and have a fun doing it. Of course, the girls won.

Friday night, I had a slumber party at my house for the older girls on the compound. We had an amazing array of food – Special K bars, little sausage sandwiches, cream cheese puffs, peanut M&Ms, sugar cookies, and homemade bread sticks with pizza sauce! Kara Wray taught us to crotchet hats. Mine turned out really well, although I don’t know that I’ll have an occasion to wear it here in Haiti. I prefer to let my body heat out down here, not contain it with a woolen hat! But, I will wear it when I get home. We watched movies and talked about all things girly. They stayed until about 10 the next morning. I spent the rest of my Saturday reading and putting my house back together. Saturday night, I had another great evening with the Gutwein women, as the men had left to explore and dominate the island of Ilavach.

Today, the Reinhards and Beth went to pick up Sheila from the village where she’d been studying Creole. The road to get there is pretty bad, and I wasn’t feeling up to be shaken around for four hours today. I listened to the Bluffton Country service and joined the Gutweins for lunch. Sheila made it back safe and sound with some great stories to tell and a better understanding of the language.

At Childcare, we've been working on getting all the children's Christmas letters ready for mailing in the States. I've been spending a lot of time on correspondence and bank statements. I made peanut butter cookies for the Pastors this week, and that was a big hit. I might have to bring something every week now that I'm enjoying baking so much. I'm sure the Pastors wouldn't mind eating my extras!

http://picasaweb.google.com/aheartforhaiti/Nov20084

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone of you! Enjoy your holiday, and please know that I am thankful to all of you who read this blog, pray, care, love and remember me in Haiti. May God richly bless you.

Abby