Saturday, July 24th, 2010

At 6:15 Marty, Logan, Hilary, Hannah and I went walking. We walked through Pignon and to the bridge over the river. It was definitely an adventure walking through the ruts, around puddles, over trash and dodging dozens of honking motorcycles and a few trucks. But honestly I have never felt so conspicuous in my life. EVERYONE stared at us, many you could tell were talking about us. It was early morning, we were walking just because, and we were white. Five white people in the midst of hundreds of black ones. I've been different or stuck out before, but this was different than anything else I've ever experienced. At the bridge we saw two UN vehicles in the middle of the river getting washed. There were people bathing, swimming, washing clothes or bikes or wheelbarrows. The water is all muddy brown. There was corn planted up the side of almost cliff like banks along the river. The dirt banks are pretty amazing to look at. They look like cliff walls, but they are made entirely of orangish dirt! Coming back the gate was locked so we climbed over it! For breakfast we had cereal and toast. We spent the morning playing and hanging out. I took Jimmy to the swing and he sat on my lap while we swung really high. It's really fun swinging with them! Then Hilary played checkers with Wesley and lost. I played with him and I won, very surprising. He wasn't sure what to think of that, but Davenel thought it was funny. Otenel came and sat in my lap for awhile when we were outside. He just loves being held or being near you. He's one of those little guys who thrives on love. Lunch was rice w/ veggies and tuna patties w/ ketchup. After lunch Bill and I spent a long time talking about the home, Haiti, missions, government, the U.S., living your faith, etc. It was very enjoyable. After that I took a nap! That afternoon Bill took Logan, Hilary, Bethany, Dorene, Hannah and I to the market. Ronald and the cook rode in with us. The market was crowded, loud, and muddy. People cooking food, booths of canned goods, bullion, salts and seasonings. People sat on the ground with big bowls of rice and corn and other grains. There were rows and rows of sandals and flip-flops, some dress shoes too. There were shoes in many different places, some just laid out on a cloth in the mud. There was a booth full of raw meat chunks, I saw at least one whole goat head too. On the other side of the row from that were tubs of smelly, strange looking stuff. I could tell some were intestines but the other piles or slabs of stuff I didn't even want to guess at. There were tables and booths with clothing and all sorts of stuff. After we walked through, Bill took Logan back to get some chairs and such, so the girls stayed in the truck. While there some little boys stopped to watch us. The were really funny. They rapped a song in Creole (no idea what it was, of course) and then they were making all sorts of funny poses so Hannah would take pictures of them. Some teenage boys came over too, so Hannah asked them to go away. Back at the orphanage we sat around talking again. Davenel was holding a French/English dictionary and it gave me an idea. I asked the boys if the had a Creole/English dictionary. They did and brought it to me. So then I spent much of the afternoon trying to put together simple sentences and phrases in Creole. It was a lot of fun, plus it drove Hilary crazy not knowing what I was saying!!! Whenever I had trouble I just asked the kids and they told me what a word was or how to say it. I said stuff like: I like goat, I don't like oatmeal, sing for me, I like you (to 5 yr. Otenel), I said nothing, what should I say?, etc. The kids got a really big kick out of the fact that I was trying to do it. For dinner that night we had pizza casserole, garlic bread, and avocados!! We had our Bible study time, showers, and bed!