Youvendjy's Machin Journey

Many of you probably remember me writing about Youvendjy.  He is from Jubilee, but he lived with me at Dorothy's infant rescue because he was very malnourished and sick.   My friend Lala is now his mama and legal guardian.  That means that I get to spend time with this awesome little five year old everyday!

Youv and Lala

If you met Youvendjy, it wouldn't take you long to figure out that he LOVES cars, trucks, tractors, boats, and all things with engines.  In Creole "machin" means truck, therefore, it is Youv's favorite thing to say.

As you saw in my previous two posts, Youvendjy came along on our vacation to Cap Haitian.  Lala made sure to bring several things along to keep him entertained, but the only thing he really cared about was his little orange matchbox machin.  During the tap-tap ride there, Lala tied a little white string to his machin.  That was the best idea ever.  Youv was able to pull it all over Cap Haitian, our hotel, and the citadel.

It really came in handy because we could always tell where he was by the sound of his car being pulled along behind him.

Can you spot Youv's orange machin in these pictures??  You will have to look closely in some, but it's in every picture, I promise!

At the restaurant.....

At breakfast....

By the ocean....

While ballroom dancing with Becca....

While checking out the well at the hotel....

Playing outside of our hotel room....

While getting our picture taken at the hotel....

All over the citadel...

Although we had a few close calls, I'm surprised that we didn't lose his machin during the trip.  He kept a tight grip on it.  That little truck put on a lot of miles during those three days!

Citadelle Laferrière

We would have been perfectly content to never leave the hotel during the three day trip to Cap Haitian, but the main reason that I wanted to go there was to see the Citadelle Laferrière.  It is a mountain top fortress that is in a little town called Milot, about 17 miles away from Cap.  

It is five miles from the town of Milot up the mountain to the citadel.  Because we had a five year old with us, and because our main goal of the trip was rest and relaxation, instead of hiking, we decided to take the lazy man's way up the mountain....mules.

The view at the top was possibly one of the most impressive that I've ever seen.

The citadel was built by Henri Christolphe and about 20,000 workers after the slave revolt against the French.  It was built as protection in case the French decided to attack the newly independent country.  It took twenty years to build and was finished in 1820, however the French never attacked.  The walls are 130 feet high and the citadel is roughly 100,000 square feet.

There are still piles of cannon balls and cannons all throughout the citadel.  

I read that the Haitians placed over 300 cannons within the citadel.  On many of the cannons, you can still clearly see the crests of the 18th century monarchs. 

We spent a couple hours exploring all over the fortress.  It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen.  Part of that might be because unlike historical things/places in the states, we were free to explore almost the entire citadel as we pleased.

I am so thankful that I was able to see this incredible iconic Haitian structure.  I can now cross that off my bucket list!

Spring Break 2013

This week is our spring break at school so we have five days off!!  Last week, I was physically and mentally exhausted.  I had been suffering from insomnia and was in major need of a break.  I decided that the best thing to do would be to take a little trip away from Gonaives/Jubilee.

I recruited Beaver and Kathy's 14 year old daughter, Rebecca, and my friend, Lala and her 5 year old Haitian son to come along.  I have always wanted to visit Cap Haitian, the second largest city in Haiti.  So we decided to take off for a two night vacation.

You can see on the map above where we traveled.  It doesn't look too far and really it isn't.  But, for someone who gets motion sickness very easily it was not a pleasant journey.  We had a three hour ride in the back of a tap-tap to get there.  Pictured below is a tap-tap.  It is a small pick-up truck with a cap and small uncomfortable benches welded on the inside.

We realized AFTER we got on our tap-tap that it was named "Golgotha".  I thought that was very fitting considering that it was Palm Sunday and the fact that we very well might meet our death at some point during the treacherous drive to Cap Haitian.  There were 13 adults crammed in the back so tightly that I could not even move my arms.  Not to mention, there were three grown men sitting on top of the roof.  I ride tap-taps all the time.  I'm accustomed to being crammed in like a sardine.  But, there is a huge difference between riding one for ten or twenty minutes on a flat road vs. riding for three hours over mountains and hair pin turns without guardrails.  Our driver took some of the turns so fast that I felt like if I leaned my body in the slightest bit we'd just flip right over.

I was seated second from the end.  I started to feel very car sick about an hour into the drive.  All I could think about was, "How in the world am I going to be able to throw up when I can't even move?!"  I closed my eyes and repeated in my head "don't throw up, don't throw up, don't throw up" over and over again for about twenty minutes until I realized that I was definitely going to puke.  Thankfully, the  Haitian man seated next to me was very gracious as I dove across his lap and hung my head out the back of the moving truck so that I could toss my cookies.  He even held onto me to make sure I didn't go flying out the back.  That was the third time in my three years in Haiti that I've puked off the back of a moving vehicle.  Correct me if I'm wrong but that doesn't happen to normal people very often.  Needless to say it was NOT a fun ride there. 

As soon as we arrived at our hotel, Hotel Roi du Christolphe, I realized it was all worth it.  I instantly started feeling rested and relaxed just by looking at the hotel.

The grounds had lots of lush plants and a lovely pool that we took advantage of everyday.

We had adventures planned, but as soon as we set foot in our hotel room, we barely wanted to leave.  We immediately turned on the air conditioning.  None of us knew degrees Celcius so we set it to 16 degrees.  Turns out, that is 60 degrees Fahrenheit!!  For the first time all winter we were able to bundle up with long sleeves and blankets.  Then, we all took hot showers.  It was my first hot shower in three months and it was quite possibly my favorite part of the entire trip.   I managed to take 6 nice long hot showers in the three days that we were there.  We also loved relaxing and watching American TV!  We had five stations all in English.  I'm sure to most of you, that sounds quite boring, but when you don't have TV, ac, or hot water for ten months out of the year, it is a big deal.

Aside from those three things, we enjoyed other parts about our trip, too.  In the mornings, we enjoyed complimentary breakfast.

We had turtles that lived right outside of our hotel room door.  

We found a great little outdoor restaurant beside the ocean for dinner.  We filled our bellies with delicious food while we talked and laughed.

making a fool of myself and making Youvendjy laugh

We stopped at a tiny grocery store for snacks and found Becca in doll form.

I loved seeing different styles of architecture than what we are used to in Gonaives.

One thing that we noticed and greatly appreciated about Cap Haitian was that everyone there was so much friendlier and more polite than what I am used to.  It was so peaceful.

We joked, laughed, rested, ate, and had a fabulous time!  A perfect three day vacay.  

I can't thank the Lord enough for the precious time of rejuvenation.  Check back tomorrow for another post about our other vacation adventures!