My First Day at Dorothy's

This was typed last night, but I couldn't post it because the internet was not working.

Life in Haiti has been good so far, and I think I am adjusting pretty well. I know most of you don't know what it is like here so I will try to be detailed and explain everything as I learn. Today was my first full day here. I woke up around 6:30 and the house was starting to come alive. Babies were crying, the “big kids” were getting out of bed, and Dorothy and the nannies were in the kitchen gearing up for the day. Today Youvendy had to go the the TB clinic at the hospital. There is always a long wait to see the doctor, so you must get there as early as possible. Dorothy took Youvendjy, Jesula,(a nanny) and Elizianne to the hospital and dropped them off. While she was gone, I had the small task of washing a wheelchair that was given to us for Sonson, a boy with severe scoliosis and clubbed feet. I'm still learning where everything is, so I asked Mich (pronounced Mish) and Richardson aka Chacha (pronounced Shasha) to help me find a bucket. Chacha is pretty good at English because he is in 1st grade at TLC Barefoot school where they teach in English, but Mich sometimes has a little trouble understanding. They led me outside to where the clothes get washed and showed me a huge tub of water. I laughed and said, “No no a smaller bucket.” A few minutes later Mich found a plastic bucket for me to use. Next I asked for a wash rag, after a few more minutes of explaining what I wanted they were able to find one for me hanging on a clothesline outside. Then, I asked them for soap. They had to think a while on that one. They led me back over to the wash area and opened a big bucket of powered clothing detergent. I laughed and explained that I wanted it for scrubbing and cleaning. They were all out of ideas and tried asking the Haitian nannies for me. The nannies do not speak English, so it can be a little tricky for me to communicate. It took a few minutes but I was finally able to communicate what I was looking for. So, one of the nannies went into the pantry and came out with a cup full of the same powered detergent that they boys had showed me outside, haha! I laughed to myself as I took the detergent and put it in my bucket...it did the job. That whole endeavor took at least 15-20 minutes to get what I need to wash the wheelchair. I really need to work on my Creole, ha!

Dorothy has a Haitian cook that comes each day to make breakfast and lunch for everyone. For breakfast we had a dish (I can't remember what it was called) that was made of corn meal, flour, water, sugar, and vanilla. It was cooked over the stove. It looked like baby food, and it basically is because the babies eat it too. It wasn't too bad, and I try not to be picky. It's all just different and will take a lot of getting used to.

There are 28 kids currently living with us, so there is always someone to play with. :) A missionary from a rural area, close to the Dominican Republic border, stopped by to play with the babies. She was 26 and has been in Haiti for a year or so. She works as a house mom in an orphanage where they have about 100 kids. She plans to stay in Haiti permanently She was staying at Dottie's guesthouse down the road so that she could apply for her permanent residence card here in Port au Prince (PAP). She had to take a plane here. Although it is only a 30 minute flight, because of the mountains and conditions of the roads, it would take 8 hours or longer to drive.

After she left, I made myself useful by cleaning. Dorothy does not have a housekeeper on staff right now, so it is in need of some TLC and cleaning. I swept and mopped the floors in the hall and living room. When I put the mop into the water, some little roaches came running up the handle...that was a surprise, haha! As I was mopping around an indoor flower bed, I saw an enormous spider (probably about 2.5 or 3 inches wide) sitting on a rock...another thing I will need to get used to...eek! Later I saw a HUGE roach come scurrying out of the kitchen. Luckily, Rose (a nanny) smashed it with her shoe before it got too far. Apparently, there is a roach problem in the kitchen so we leave the lights on all the time and try not to keep anything laying out.

We had rice and beans for lunch.  After lunch, I ventured down to the basement for the first time. That is where all of the toddlers aka “big babies” stay most of the time. There are like 18 or so “big babies”. As soon as I got to the bottom of the steps, I was bombarded...and I mean bombarded, haha! The all came running over (or in Sonson's case, scooting) with their arms outstretched shouting, “Mama mama!” I immediately had a baby in each arm, one somehow climbed onto my back and was hanging off my neck, and there were at least ten pulling on my legs and surrounding me. I literally almost fell over! Thankfully the nannies helped get them under control so that I could sit down. The kids are so precious...I just don't have a big enough lap! Dorothy said one thing I can work on while I am here is teaching them manners, because they are a little overwhelming. While I was downstairs, I got to meet Diana. She is the 12 year old daughter of Claudia, a nanny. She comes along with her mother to help and play with the kids. She is such a sweetheart! She knows a tiny bit of English, and immediately complimented me on my painted finger nails and my ring. I would love to teach her some English in exchange for her helping me with my Creole. She helped me learn some of the kids' names (a big job, ha!).

Around 1pm or so, Dorothy and I left to pick Jesula and Youvendjy at the TB clinic. They had been waiting all morning and had still not seen a doctor. So, Dorothy drove me around to see some of the area. She showed me one of the UN camps, where they have nice air conditioned buildings. I asked her what exactly they help with in Haiti, and she laughed and said she isn't really sure. She said they spend most of the time working on projects for themselves in their camp and “peace keeping”. She told me of a story where friends of hers were about to be kidnapped and a UN police drove right by. They called out for help and the police did not even stop! There are so many stories and things I am learning about life here...if you can look past some things, it really is a beautiful country.

Finally after almost 2 hours of waiting, Youvendjy was finished at the hospital, and we were able to drive home. Unfortunately it was Haitian “rush hour”. Let me tell you...Haitian rush hour is unlike ANY rush hour in the US. I think I held my breath the entire time. It is insane...cars just driving all over, motor cycles weaving in between cars, people walking out in front of you. I only saw one stop sign, but no one stopped, ha! Words cannot describe how crazy it is. On top of that, I have no idea how Dorothy can find her way around...no roads are marked. There are random holes (big deep holes) in the road, and rubble and rocks. We got stuck trying to go down one road because it was blocked by a pile of rubble. It was so narrow we could not turn around. Dorothy had to back out with cars and people literally giving her inches of space. We actually hit a truck trying to get out, but around here, that is common, ha! All the cars are filled with dents. Dorothy has a standard shift truck and she rarely gets out of 2nd gear, haha! After we dropped Youvendjy off at home, Dorothy offered to give Jesula a ride home. She is pregnant, and was unhappy that she had to work late because the hospital was so slow. So, Dorothy was trying to make amends. Mich and Chacha wanted to come along for the ride. It was a LONG ride. She lives quite far away and the traffic was very heavy. We passed many tent cities and tin shacks along the way. It was 7pm and dark by the time we finally got home from all the driving. Poor Dorothy was exhausted from all the stress of driving, and the long day. So we each made a sandwich for dinner and retreated to our rooms to unwind and relax.

Honestly, I can't believe it was only my first full day here. It seems like so much longer, and that I've already learned so much. It is so different, so intense here. I like it, and I'm eager to learn about the culture and language. Please pray for me to adjust to the flow of life here and fit into the routine at Dorothy's.