The Adventure of the Funny Shaped Tree

"Do you see that tree over there? By the dirt pile on the mountain?" Nicole
"...Which one?" Ashalee
"The one that is a stick with two branches, then a stick, then some more branches..." Nicole

Good morning everyone! It has now been just over 2 weeks here in Haiti. The time is going by so quickly I can't believe it. The past few days have been extremely HOT! Our faces are a little rosy, but it has been nice, we have had the kids pool out. The children really love it! They splashed water everywhere including on us, it was refreshing.

I guess we haven't blogged in awhile so we have a lot to talk about!

The first week we were here we were driven to the Main House because we didn't know how to get there from the Toddler House. Last week we started walking down. It has been quite an adventure because of the very interesting roads. The roads here are very, well lets say different, then the ones back home. They are very narrow with some very steep parts. There are also no street signs, no painted lines, and lots of weird intersections.  They also are filled with pot holes. Actually, more like a ditch in the middle of the road. They also have speed bumps. Which seems kind of foolish because people here don't actually slow down. They usually speed up. Some time last week when we were walking down to the Main House Nicole was distracted by the lovely goat that lives next door, and well, tripped over the speed bump. Who knew speed bumps weren't just for cars?  Nicole however was not the only one who fell. Janaya took a tumble and scrapped up her leg pretty bad. The Haitians were very worried about her. Ashalee also slipped on the hill, and thought she was going to get hit by a car! But she didn't, which we are very thankful for! Lets just say we really enjoy our walks in the morning.

Something that is quite common to see here are people walking their cows and goats down the street. On a leash non-the-less.

Last week during a very nice dinner we were all suddenly interrupted by a loud noise. It turns out that a rat started crawling up a wall. One of then older Haitian ladies took charge and started beating it with a broom. Hard. To say the least, it was very entertaining to watch! And the rat... well he didn't make it.

So we have mentioned that there are a lot of new volunteers here. Three of which we have become very good friends with and that we will miss a lot when we have to go home. There are also five new volunteers from Canada, two of which are from Alberta. We are having a great time getting to know them all.

The last few trips back to our house we have gotten the privilege to ride in what we call, 'the cattle truck'. Which in reality is a white truck with benches in the back. Oh and its all fenced in. We really enjoy riding in it! Despite the fact that when we are loading and unloading, we feel like a herd of cattle.

On Thursday we got the opportunity to go up to Fort Jacques which is a twenty five minute drive farther up the mountain. It is also the site where they are building a new Toddler House for the older kids. They are however having a difficult time due to the lack of water. They were expecting to find water on the land so that they would be able to have their own well. But unfortunately there was no water to be found. (If you guys have the time, you should pray for them to be able to find water.)
The older kids had a great time running around and playing with the dogs there. We also enjoyed the break from the Main House and playing with the kids.
Emma, Ashalee and Nicole were sitting up on a ledge overlooking a city... who would have guessed it was Port-Au-Prince! You see, driving up to the Main House took around two hours. It was a very long drive, and it felt like we were extremely far from the city. In reality, we were not far at all. We could see the airport from where we were sitting.

When we got back from Fort Jacques we were asked to sit in the nurseries while the Nannies attended a special service for the earthquake victims. While we were in there Nicole was holding her one little girl, when her one little boy started to have a fit... so now she had both of them on her lap. Then, her other little girl starting having a fit in her crib. To make all of them happy Nicole had to sit in a chair with her one little girl asleep in her arms, her little boy sitting on her knee, and holding the hand of her other little girl in her crib. She sure looked cute!
Also during that time, one of the girls that Ashalee was playing with needed to be changed. 20 minutes later, she needed to be changed, again. Then right before the Nannies returned, Ashalee felt something dripping down her leg. It turned out that the little girl had to pee yet again. This time on Ashalee.


So, as you may have guessed already, January 12 was the two year anniversary of the 2010 earthquake. In memory of the earthquake we had a service up on the balcony with the GLA staff. It was a very touching experience for all of us, and it was a good reminder of why we should be here. We got to watch a slideshow that one of the GLA staff had made. The slideshow was incredible. It showed pictures of the earthquake and some of the rebuilding that has been done since then. We recommend that you watch it!
http://godslittlestangelsinhaiti.org/2012/01/exactly-2-years-ago-this-minute/

On a happier note, we see lots of lizards. They are small and fast and can jump really far. There was even an albino one on the wall outside of our living room. They are pretty neat to watch. Maybe we will catch one...

It has been a pretty long week but there were for sure some great times during it! Nicole has been teaching one little girl to walk, which she can now do with only holding one finger. And her other little girl is starting to crawl! It is amazing to see how these kids are growing and improving with us here.

Ashalee and Rosie were sick Thursday and Friday, but are now feeling a lot better! There is only one girl left who has not been sick since she has been here. Please pray that she stays healthy, she is kinda paranoid that she will get sick.

Thank you for your prayers! Our team is doing excellent!

Love, Team Haiti.
See you in 12 days!"