Haiti: Week Four.

Alright, here is the fourth and final week of Haiti!

Day 22 - June 10

Our final Sunday in Haiti.

Thankfully this week, 

we stayed and went to church in Boucan la Marre, 

instead of driving all the way to L'Anse a Galets. 

So we had church, 

lunch, 

and good ole chill time. 

There was the typical afternoon walk,

a touch a prank pulling,

but mostly just relaxing. 

That night started a week long revival at the church in Boucan la Marre. 

Some of the church members from Point Sable came for it. 

(Over a four hour hike through the mountains)

It was an unexpected surprise to get to see them again.

The revival was...interesting. 

Mostly it was just the young man who was preaching that night, 

he was only about 21, 

and he still has a lot to learn. 

After church was rather...eventful. 

Basically we saw a GIANT TARANTULA. 

And I had a hissy fit. 

(so did everyone else)

Kaiti was able to capture this moment on video,
hopefully it fully displays what we were feeling at this difficult time. 

Day 23 - June 11

This started our last full week in Haiti. 

Surreal. 

We started the day with the usual,

a few work,

and the rest try to find work. 

Some sifted sand, 

some carried water, 

some cleaned starfish, 

etc. 

Then we played with the kids at school. 

At the school I tended to sit along the wall and just kinda chill, 

I wasn't really down for playing soccer with 50 Haitians boys.

So I typically became the target of the little girls' favorite game,

"I dare you to touch the white person!"

That was always amusing!

She was my favorite, because she was the sweetest.

She would just sit there and rub my non hairy legs,

(they really surprised her, everyone is hairy there).

Day 24 - June 12

The day started out as usual. 

Work.

Sort of work.

Play.

Rest. 

Eat.

Rest.

Walk.

Eat.

Rest.

It would typically end with sleep,

except that this day did not end with sleep.

It ended with rain. 

Our first experience in the tents with a nice HARD rain. 

They held up for a little while, 

but not super long. 

The boys abandoned their tent pretty early,

(it was kinda sketch from the beginning).

And then the rest of us followed suit. 

One of the girls' tents held up pretty well,

(thanks to Kyle Johnson)

there wasn't any water in there and they slept in it all night. 

The other sleepers however, 

had to get creative. 

The boys went and joined Kefin (the guard) in his room,

and the girls (except Jill and Allie) commandeered the kitchen in Pastor Pierre's house. 

Day 25 - June 13

Well the night made for an interesting morning. 

Around 4 a.m. Jill came in and said she had a fever, 

she took Sarah's place in the house and Sarah went out to the tent. 

The next morning we went to survey the wreckage. 

I was surprised to find that it really wasn't that bad,

our tent had a few puddles, 

but nothing a mop couldn't handle. 

Nothing essential got wet, 

mostly just dirty clothes and a book or two. 

We didn't work in the morning. 

The rain had filled all the water drums,

and the sand was too wet to sift. 

So no work for us. 

Which was a good thing because everyone was exhausted.

But here's some pictures of what our carrying and sifting helped to accomplish over the two weeks there.

 These walls were all just cinderblock when we arrived.

Now they're smooth and ready for paint!

This room had no floor or interior walls.

Kevin, Jon and I did go and hang out during recess. 

I don't know what was going on that day,

but it was pure craziness. 

These two boys got into a fight about a soccer ball, 

and for whatever reason that lead to fights breaking out all across the schoolyard.

I felt like I was watching a prison riot, 

except I wasn't in a prison,

I was in a Haitian elementary school. 

It was crazy. 

Day 26 - June 14

We didn't work this morning either. 

There wasn't much for us to do and we only had a day or so until we left,

so we just took it easy.

I think everyone was still recovering from the rainy night too.

So we hung out.

We did take some bets,

(all in good fun),

Pastor Alfonso arrived today from the States,

and we took bets on what time he was going to get here,

(I won, I said 3:45 p.m. and he pulled in at 3:43 p.m. HOLLA)

and also on how many bags of alcohol wipes he would bring,

(I was way off, I said 4 and he showed up with 11!).

Later that afternoon, 

while Pastor Alfonso was resting,

we decided to pull another prank.

We took the dead tarantula from the other night, 

and placed it on his shoes.

He didn't react quite like we had hoped, 

but hey, it was still pretty good. 

Day 27 - June 15

Our last day in Boucan la Marre. 

Excuse me, WHAT?!?!

So our day was spent packing, 

sorting, 

resting, 

etc. 

We did make it interesting. 

We all voted on who was the weirdest.

We ranked everyone from weirdest to most normal,

9 being the weirdest, 

and 1 the most normal.

Here's how it went:

9. Hailey

8. Jillian

7. Kevin

6. Jonathan

5. Sarah

4. Chase

3. Allie

2. Me

1. Kaiti

That afternoon we also took our last hike around the mountain,

and went to all of our favorite spots.

Guillaume even joined us. 

We also spent some time with some of the church members. 

Day 28 - June 16

It was an early start at 4 a.m. 

We got up and packed up and started to head down the mountain. 

The taxi was supposed to meet us at 3 a.m., but he never showed, 

so we all had to pack it in the one truck,

in true Haitian fashion. 

The taxi eventually met us on the mountain, 

he was having truck trouble,

the trouble being that his truck didn't work.

We headed on down to L'Anse a Galets to catch a boat over to the mainland, 

where we would spend the next two nights at a resort. 

The boat ride was different from our past experiences,

it wasn't the slow pirate ship type, 

it was more of the fast treacherous type.

I don't know if I can fully describe it, 

but I would liken it to riding a mechanical bull,

while on a speedboat,

while people threw buckets of saltwater on me from all directions. 

We were able to document our experience with a short video

But we made it to the hotel where we were going to be staying, 

we all felt like feral children trying to be civilized. 

We all ate a delicious meal and went to our BEDS and slept. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent sleeping,

eating, 

or laying on the beach. 

It was awesome!

Day 29 - June 17

We got up and had some breakfast,

and we prepared to go into Port au Prince to do a little souvenir shopping.

It's not very safe for Americans to be in Port au Prince,

but we were in very capable hands,

Pastor Pierre had some friends on the police force. 

They were our ride into the city, 

the driver also called in some backup,

so there was a plethora of armed guards watching over us at the market. 

Legit, huh?

Day 30 - June 18

We got up nice and early and we went back to AMERICA!

It was sad to be leaving,

but it was also really nice to be going home! 

There really isn't any place quite like home.