The jewish girl goes to Church!! LOL

I am sure everyone is amazed that each day can continue to push my boundaries and make me say "oh my gosh, I really cant believe we are here.  But today was one of those days, and its only 4:30pm.  I cant even explain how much emotion was wrapped up in this day but I will try.  I certainly dont want you to think that we are not having fun because we are certainly laughing ALOT and enjoying the new friendships that are building. Last night Steve even brought a pretend rat and planted it in my bed - yes freaked me out!!  and then of course we had to plant it in Susan's way to make her have slight heart palpitations (good thing we have 3 doctors with us).   And of course, Gauthier always has some comment to make, although Jim White is making a strong showing in the inappropriate comments.  I have to make a shout out (because there are so many reading this blog) that Jim Lang became a grandpa while we were down here - welcome to the world Caden Nicholas!!!  Very exciting!!
So this morning we got up and went to Church.  We walked along the rocked infested roads in the heat and went to 7:30am service.
We had 3 interpreters with us - Aldo, Jean Marie, and Peter...
It was amazing - same struggles that parents have in church getting their children to sit in the pews, kids squirming around, parents bribing their children with candy (blowpops) in order to stay quiet.  I played peek-a-boo (completely universal) with a little girl two rows ahead of me...they are the same as us.  A little boy in front of me ate a blow pop and was playing with his fingers that were stuck together....they are the same as us.  A girl that about 12 was in front of me and I took pictures of her and showed her - "bell" means beautiful...I kept calling her. She just smiled.  everyone likes to be complimented....they are the same as us.  Peter's phone actually went off during service (he is about 16)....they are the same as us.  Yes they have phones down here - and they use them.  Not all have the ability to have phones, it is more for the affluent or if they can work for phones.  But we saw someone on a motorcycle today....on the phone....they are the same as us.   They are just living in a much harder life!!    The service was very nice - lots of singing and the children overall were VERY good.  Three of our people from our group got up and spoke, with a translator.  I was extremely proud to call those three part of my team.  We stuck out like a sore thumb.
On the way back, I walked with Aldo.  He is 23 and we bonded immediately, laughing and ribbing each other all the way back.  His english was very good.  I asked him how old he was  - "23 is that old or young?"  I said "young"  he said "how old are you?"  I said "41  is that old or young?" and as I was elbowing him I said "at this point Aldo, you should say young!!"  we laughed so hard.  He just loved it. He lives alone and wants to become a pastor.  I asked him about a wife or a girlfriend - he just laughed...."no no no wife pastor is my calling".    I have met yet another friend here.
Sunday on Lagonave is a day of rest so no water filter installation today - we just assembled them so they are ready to go tomorrow.
Lunch was uneventful - steve wanted to show us around the island, show us the landing strip, show us Jeantini's garden, and show us the hospital.  So we hopped again on the 4 wheelers and off we went.  We added a couple more people to our group - Michael and Peter - 2 young men that were different translators.
Our first stop was the landing strip - all along we are on a 4 wheelers (three on each and one on a motorcycle).  The landing strip was just a dirt road along the water...
We tooled around some more - we went to Jeantini's garden where he showed us how he grew moringa - a tree that produces leaves that Jeantini then turns into a powder form that he gives to the hospitals  or he will give to people as a spice.   The process was amazing.  He picks the leaves, lets them dry for 3 days and then placed them in a morter and pestal where he would grind them up into a powder mix.  While we were looking at the garden, a gentlemen from somewhere(not sure where he came from) told us that there had been an accident in the mountains and there were many injured.  Our three doctors jumped right to help.  We finished our tour and headed over to the hospital.  Michael continued to talk to me and tell me bits and pieces of what he thought was going on.  When we got to the hospital (and I use that term loosely) there were many haitians around, some waiting to hear anything about the accident.  After many rumors of it being 23 people injured, it came to find out there were 11 - 4 of them pretty serious.  They were up in the mountains, they were a mission group from Boston and with the roads being worse up in the hills their truck rolled pinning a couple under the truck.  It was very surreal and emotional for me.  I just kept thinking, "this could have been us"  I really struggled today to see these people that were just trying to do good for this country have an accident like this and have to be airlifted home.  My heart broke for them and still does.  Not sure if we will ever find out if they are ok.  The doctors have since told us that there were a couple with possible internal injuries.    They were airlifted out of haiti to Florida by the United Nations...if that gives you any indication as to how serious it was.  Steve said in all his years he has never seen the helicopter from the United Nations help.  Its amazing what happens when americans are involved.  Makes you think.  We took a tour of the hospital when things settled down.  I cant even explain it.  We saw conditions you wouldnt wish upon your worst enemy or anyone walking on this planet.  We saw the Cholera area - thank god it was empty, no one is suffering from Cholera at this time, well no one is being treated for it I should say.  Only the pictures will tell the true story of this adventure.  It was truly an emotional day for me.  Thank god I live where I live with the facilities and the amenities.    Until tomorrow - installation and going into the home....WE ARE READY!!!
Love
Hugs and kisses to the kids and my husband!!!