Saturday, September 8, 2007

Today, I got up real excited to go to Port-a-Licky, showered ate and was ready to go. As it turns out we had to go to St. Louis to pick up Erin and the boys, so Soni, Roland, and I caught a tap tap and headed for the mission. This tap tap was probably the most uncomfortable ride I have had so far, because they really broke the record on number of people you can fit in the bed of a pick-up truck. Most of these people had some kind of carry-on with them as well so that took up extra space. I am certain that the shocks on this truck were completely gone because of how rattled I was when the ride was over. Once we got to the mission we had to wait maybe a half hour for some of the guys to get ready and the truck needed gas, so I just sat and talked with Maureen and Erin while we waited. Maureen unfortunately, did not go with us because she is still working on organizing all the stuff from the boat and did not have the ability to take the day off. Finally, on the road we stopped at the Orphanage to pick up some more guys that wanted to go and I needed to drop off some Junior Church material and pick up a photo ID, which I did not need after all. I also changed into sandals because Maureen said we might be doing some swimming and I was not going to deal with wet socks and sneakers. We had to go past Miss Pats on our way there so we took out some supplies that she needed and dropped them off for her. She did not accompany us either because she said that there was not enough to do. After we left her house, we drove for about another hour on some of the most ridiculous dirt roads you can imagine. Roland was in the front navigating for Soni and missed a turn so we drove the wrong way for about 10 or 12 minutes. After we got turned around and were heading the right way, we came upon this huge stone wall with two swinging metal gates in the middle of it. This was the entrance to Port-a-Licky, which is where they thought we were going to need ID but I guess that because one of the guys with us knew the guy at the gate, we did not. Once through the gat the road got a lot better and for the first time I saw street lights. I found out Port-a-Licky is not a town or village at all, it is a 12 room hotel/resort that is going to become a HUGE residential area. The website for this project is www.nkfz.com. When we got parked and out of the truck, the manager of the facility gave us a very descriptive outlook on what is to come and how long it will take. He spoke both Creole and English, so Erin and I got to hear what was happing also. After he was done with his presentation we went to the restaurant and got some drinks and then walked around the grounds for a while taking pictures and enjoying the silence of the area. At the bottom of the grounds are cliffs that overlook the crystal blue water of the ocean. I REALL REALLY wanted to go cliff diving but I did not have sneakers to climb back up the rocks. L We were there for about an hour when this tiny rain cloud appeared and Soni said that we had to go. In Haiti rain clouds equal emergency evacuation, because when it rains, chances are you get stuck where you are at. He was in such a hurry on the way back that it was a very uncomfortable ride. On our way back to the mission, we stopped for ice cream and took a little detour to see some really huge upscale housing in La Pointe. Rogard, one of the interpreters, said they belonged to the owner of the Texaco gas station in La Pointe. Back at the mission we found Wisley was there because he had gone to the airport to pick up Larry Owens and his wife and a young lady named Melissa Curtis, who comes in 3 or 4 times a year for a month to help the doctors. We spent just about an hour there during which time, Larry and the Haitians had a meeting and Erin Maureen and I chatted and chilled and made dinner. By the time we got back to the Orphanage I was not feeling well and just wanted to take a shower and go to bed. That did not happen though until 930ish, because Roland and I spent some time going around to the families and telling the parents not to send the children to church in the morning. We also spent some time talking with some of the older kids about maybe helping us out with getting the little ones to listen and respect better. Once all that was settled I was really not feeling well so I took a shower and went to bed. Peace.