September 14, 2011

We have been here a week today.  Sometimes it seems longer.  We are already running out of some things, especially the "American" food that we brought. It is difficult to have what you need for three meals a day, no running out for fast food or running back to the store.  We try to keep everthing in the refrigerator to keep little and big critters of it. However, since the power is only on a few hours a day, items that must stay cold, like the sliced ham we bought for sandwiches, goes bad quickly.  I put it all in a pan of beans so we managed not waste any.  The last two nights have been especially hot.  You lay in bed sweating because there is no breeze.  The fan helps some but when the power goes off there is no air moving. We've added avocado and tomato sandwiches and egg salad to our menu.  Breakfast rotates between pop tarts and powdered milk and cereal.  Those will only last about two more weeks then we might have to add a Haitian breakfast favorite, spaghetti!  Yesterday we worked cleaning the house we will move into.  Ken and a helper took out the shelves blocking the bedroom windows and replaced the screens. I took down curtains, washed them by hand, and hung them on the line.  As I took down one set and was pulling them off the rod, something crawled up my arm.  I thew everything down and saw a huge tarantula.  It ran inside the screen box but Ken got it out and killed it.  These are some of the things that make it seem like we've been here for a long time.
But on the other side it seems like a short time because...
I'm not learning the language very quickly, Ken is doing great!  I'm so dependent on Sara.  She had to help plan the menu for the teams with the cooks.  She wrote it out in Creole and will go with us to St. Marc to pick up groceries.  Ken had started to drive a little and may actually drive one way to St. Marc.  The Craigs have had us dinner twice and we've had them over twice.  Food preparation takes a lot of time but we are thankful we have food.  We are very thankful for Sara and Peter who have taught and continue to teach us so much...where to get water, soda, propane, diesel fuel for the generator, what to get from the market, what to get from the store, how to deal with the constant stream of people wanting to work on the compound, how to change money.  We have so much to learn and so few skills. 

But the thing I'm most thankful for is the loving spirit I see in Sara and Peter.  A love for the Haitian people, a desire to invest themselves in this country, in these people so that their lives might be better, not only physically but spiritually.  I admire their courage to bring their young sons to a place that is hard and to teach them that the Christian life, when lived as Christ taught us, will not be easy.  But the blessings are greater when you "walk in love" as he commanded us in II John 1:6.