Whirlwind

Busybusybusybusybusy!

I'm really hoping and praying for some down time this weekend because I am going to NEED IT. That's why I haven't updated in a week! So much going on.

Anyway, the biggest announcement is that Robenson is almost completely healed! He's been around these past two days and he's back to his normal self which is SO GOOD to see. I have missed seeing his smiling face immensely. Thanks be to God!

As for other things, last Sunday we went to the beach with Oge and his family. It was so much fun to spend more time with little Laura again and get to know his wife, Josianne, better. We found a fun little beach called "Ocean View" and had a blast. It was small, but quite relaxing and laid-back. Great visit, and much needed. However, driving there and driving back we passed this HUGE tent city. It has always been there but it seems to be growing. Our tent city should disband in 5 days, but I'm guessing a lot of other tent cities are being forced to disband and many families are moving to this area as there's quite a bit of space. However, it was quite sad. I took some photos but it does not even truly begin to describe the scene there. PLEASE continue to pray for the people of Haiti living in tent cities - they are still here and still struggling.

Also, Davidson's last day with us was yesterday. Donette and Ablamy came back from vacation so we met them at the airport to drop off Davidson and transfer his stuff to their vehicle. I think he was very sad to go, but also very happy to see Donette and Ablamy at the same time. I'm sure he'll be happy once he gets to Les Cayes. I'm still so thrilled that he's not going to an orphanage.

Yesterday we also had a scare when we found out our friend working at UMCOR, Lauren, is severely ill. Doug went to the hospital to help out with that yesterday and they eventually decided to evacuate her back to the States. They believe she has malaria and kidney stones, but they weren't for sure. Please keep her in your prayers tonight as well.

As for today - well today was crazy. We've been off of city power for two and a half days now so our inverters completely ran out of power. Therefore, we were out of power for a while until we turned on the generator to juice everything up. That was pretty crazy. Also SUPER CRAZY is that our driver, Espana, got stopped by the police today... for a really stupid reason! While we were stopped in traffic a guy next to us rolled down his window and asked Espana a question, he responded and all the sudden these three police officers get out of their vehicle and demand to see Espana's license. He gives it to them and they take it from him saying he was "holding up traffic" because the vehicles in front of us moved literally seconds before they got out of the car. They told him he had to go wait for them at a gas station down the road if he wanted his license back.

So we went down the road and waited 20 minutes. They still hadn't come so Espana dropped us off at the Epid'or and then went back to the gas station to wait for them. He probably waited an hour total before they finally showed up and then do you know what they said? "You didn't really do anything wrong. We wanted to get the guy who was talking to you, but he drove away so we took yours instead. Here's your license back." Jigga whaaaat? It was just very strange.

I've been living in Haiti long enough to where very few things still surprise me, but that was just weird. I suppose that happens when there's corruption in the government, though. I'm glad that they didn't make Espana pay anything, though, and owned up to the fact that they took his license and yelled at him for no reason.

Also, just a heads up, I will probably be updating more this week. That is because we won't have as many teams come through this week, and Bryan isn't here as he went out with a team to Bainet. Therefore, I'll have very few distractions in the evening and might actually have time to blog and keep you all up to date on everything. Also, on Monday I will be taking the trip to Bainet and I hear it's quite the excursion. I'm sure I'll have a lot to say about it when I return. :)

Sending love, peace, and joy your way,
Beth