Friday afternoon, after a good day of flying, Erin and Meghan and lots of suitcases arrived in Haiti! We were overjoyed when we saw them and their brothers were downright giddy to hug them and spend time with them after weeks apart. All of our joy was of course tempered by our experiencing this stage of our time in Haiti without Kristin as she departs Monday for her semester in Winnipeg, learning such courses as "A Theology of Peace and Justice," "Introductory Sociology," "Anabaptist Beginnings," "Worship Team" and "Choir." It will be a year of learning for all of us, even if in different ways. We all look forward to seeing & hugging Kristin in December.
Unlike the trip Carol and I and the boys had with lots of chaos at the airport and unpacking suitcases, the girls had a smooth day, having come to the airport the day before and confirmed their luggage so that they could know they would be able to check all six 70 lb suitcases. They spent their Thursday, the day before flying, running from store to store in Cambridge, picking up shoes, cleaning products, kitchen utensils, a new phone and laptop for John, and a host of other things and pressing them into their computers. Their flights, including the landings, went smoothly, and they were out of the airport and on the road within 75 minutes of landing.
The ride from the airport to our home -- about 5 kilometres or 20 minutes (because traffic was good :)), was an eye-opener, as they took in the sights of stray dogs, chaotic traffic, endless street vendors, and roads, buildings, and vehicles in various states of disrepair. Though they didn't say so in so many words, it was palpable that their arrival inside our compound and into what will be their home for the next eight months was a physical and emotional relief.
We showed them the home we will be sharing and they were eager to see it and to get unpacked, but not before a trip to the roof to see the views which include being able to see the Gulf of Gonaive (Atlantic Ocean/Caribbean Sea) and the mountain range just north of Port-au-Prince, as well as the neighbourhoods just down the hill from us and dotting the ravines, and scads of tropical plants and trees. It was breathtaking for them -- both climbing onto the roof and seeing the views -- and for us to see their smiling faces together. It warms a parent's heart.
(of course, now that Meghan is here, expect all video and picture quality to go up :))
Our first day together was a Saturday and since the girls were keen on resting up from their trip and all the gathering and packing that preceded it, we enjoyed a nice slow morning. Top on the list was celebrating Nathan's birthday complete with presents and our family tradition of pancakes, one of which is shaped like the number of the person's birthday. While our normal tradition includes strawberries, a small package of strawberries here (the kind Zehrs often has on for 3 for $5) are approximately $17.50 each! So this year the pancakes are topped with a local favourite and cheap alternative: pineapple! One of the many little adjustments to living on a tropical island.
We took the girls up the mountain to the grocery store and on the way they could take in the sights: see the tap-taps (local "buses" converted from miniature pick-up trucks with a cover and benches in the back), roadside vendors of everything from dogs to socks to mangos to leather shoes to baskets to raw meat, and of course the crazed and snarlingly slow traffic. Again, although the grocery store is only a few kilometres away, we invested nearly 30 minutes in driving to it. At the grocery store, while Carol selected some breads and vegetables, I made my way over to the dog food section, picking out a 50 pound bag that set me back nearly $50, but that is a small price to pay for a month's security since they are guard dogs, so I like to think of it as part of my utility bill. I then went looking for a surge protector for the girls' room so that they can plug in a few things. Apparently, the grocery store is not the place to buy them, as what would have cost me $12.00 at Home Depot is here on sale for $55.00. Again, part of getting used to living here is knowing where to buy what to get the better price. Thankfully, and this is just one of the many ways we are reading that God is with us in the details, just then our new friends Randy and Karen Lodder (from Ontario) showed up in the grocery store and he advised me to buy surge protectors at the Office Star store on Route Delmas (which, surprisingly, I know where that is :)).
The day ended with a viewing by Nathan, the girls, and I, of "The Hunger Games," a movie based on the book which Nathan and I had read aloud together in our first week here (the theme was a little too intense for Stephen, so he and Carol sat it out). If you have seen the movie or read the book, you know the basic plot that the wealthy and powerful 'Capital' enforces an annual 'hunger games' on the inhabitants of the 12 districts who must each send one boy and one girl to fight to the death, but that the districts are ridiculously poorer than the Capital and its nearer neighbours, districts 1 and 2. Nathan quickly picked up on the powerlessness of the districts and the opulence and power of the Capital and how they function as a metaphor of the real world, noting that Haiti is District 12.
The difference between "The Hunger Games" and real life, as it relates to Haiti, in our experience, is that people from the Capital, benevolent, other-centered people, have sent us to be here on their behalf, not to collect tributes for a fight to the death, but to be their tributes here for a fight for life. We grin at the irony of the way that God works, counter-intuitive to the death-struggle Suzanne Collins wrote about in her book. We also grin at the way God not only uses agencies who bear his name but also works his power and grace through a host of other agencies whose trucks and people we see all over this pock-marked nation: UN, MINUSTAH, Red Cross, and others.
We are glad that now 6 of the 7 of us are here and we are eager to see ways in which we can help. We start our language training three mornings a week for the next four weeks, and hope to be able to become conversant in Creole by the end of the month. It is our hope that as we continue to learn our way around, that we will be increasingly helpful in the overall effort of renewal in this country. As I think about the amount of joy I had in seeing two of my daughters arrive at the airport, I can only imagine the joy of my heavenly Father who cares about every one of the 10,000,000 people who aren't just visiting this nation, but call it home.
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