Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Short Report



  • The photos above are looking out onto the Dominican border. This was a stop alone the way to Mirebelais. That lake sits between the two countries.
  • Troy went to Gonaives on Tuesday. Someday I will convince him to write about all that he saw and did. He got to spend 8 hours in the car with one of the most interesting guys we know in Haiti and he asked all sorts of questions. There are about 4 blog posts from that one day.
  • We're packing and trying to finish 100 things before Friday. We're tired. Someone might need to wheel us onto the airplane.
  • Today a visiting medical team is doing a clinic for all the women and children in our programs (Heartline) we'll all be there acting in support rolls. We're expecting a couple hundred people to come through.
  • Troy had his license taken yesterday because a cop told him you cannot talk on the phone and drive. We think that is a funny rule. You can drive like a total jerk and drive on the wrong side of the road and cut people off and pull out in front of traffic ... but they draw the lines at distractions - no cell phones. Troy talked and talked and talked until the guy said, "I will give you a chance" - and handed his license back.
  • It is "Spirit Week" at our kids' school. We (the parents) hate Spirit Week. Isaac tends to take things and make them quite a bit more important than they are. Fun things turn into assignments.He has been difficult this week. Each day the decision about WHAT to wear and HOW to best be spirit-filled has driven us to the point of zero patience. Today he wanted to be Batman for whatever the assignment is -- wanna be day or something -- but of course the batman cape cannot be located. That was almost enough to push him over the edge. I am the Mom that says "suck it up kid" "move on" so I just suggested wearing something comfortable (non-uniform this week) and not worrying about it. He went into melt down / zombie mode. I sent him to eat breakfast and ignored it. Troy is the nicer parent so he searched and searched until he came up with a better idea for Isaac. He helped Isaac create a "Baseball Player" look and that met Isaac's expectations ... sort of... then Troy shook his fist in the air at Spirit Week. Tomorrow wraps up spirit week with Purple and Gold day. We left Mn and the Vikings behind almost three years ago. We are fresh out of purple and gold clothing. We'll see how Isaac copes with that news.
  • An older Haitian gentleman once told us that "October 21 it cools off in Haiti" ... yesterday came and went and I am currently dripping in sweat at 7am. I wish he was right, I am just not seeing the proof. Forecasted high of 95 today. The 30 degree MN temps are going to shock our systems.