Hello Everyone!
Sorry for not updating the blog for the last couple of days! The internet in Haiti decided to not support blogspot.com for some reason. I will get down to what went on in those final days cherished in that beautiful country.
Day #8
Cassie woke up feeling sick, so she didn't eat breakfast or come to the depot with us. While us women/girls sorted through the cockroach infested boxes and bins, we were joined by another creature. A GIANT spider! It was about the size of the palm of my hand. So gross! Feeling rather brave, I decided to poke it. Luckily, it had a billion legs to run the opposite direction when I touched it lol. Not only did a spider accompany us, but a hen decided to join the club as well. We'll just put it this way...we were never lonely lol.
After sorting through a bunch of boxes and the men sifted sand, we headed back to the guest house for lunch. There is nothing quite like the taste of freshly squeezed, fresh grapefruit juice. Yum!
Some of us went to tour a nearby school. I was not one of those members...so I can't share what went on there. Sorry. I joined the group back at the depot to sort out some more bins. I needed some time to think and rest my sore feet lol. Anyways, we worked until about 5pm and then called it a day.
The boy living next door to the guest house, Joseph, took Jenn, my mom, Carson, and I to the university soccer field. Carson had fun playing with a little group of boys his age playing frisbee. On the walk back to the guest house, Jenn was given a bunch of flowers and leaves by a cute little boy lol.
We ate a dinner of cookies, cinnamon buns, and hot chocolate that the wonderful cooks prepared for us. Carson was more than pleased lol. We ended the evening with playing cards and visiting.
Day #9
Everyone started the day off with a delicious breakfast of fresh pineapple, papaya, bananas and porridge. The thought of 'This is our final day' (insert sad face here lol) dwelled in the back of our minds the entire day, but we made it count. Cassie was feeling better now so we headed off to the clinic to work in the depot and sift sand. We sorted through more supplies and labelled them while Jenn took inventory. Cliff joined us to help sort through some boxes. He was lucky enough (or not haha) to get a box filled with creepy crawly cockroaches. They scattered and we all had fun squishing them lol. Pretty quickly after that, a little chick came in and ate all of the dead and dying cockroaches off the cement. Sadly, that entertained quite a few of us. On that note, we headed back for lunch. After lunch, we worked in the depot more. My mother was the chosen candidate to have a rat run across her feet while she disturbed it's supply box. That rat knew how to clear a room and make the toughest people, squeal like little girls =)! We finished as much as possible in there. Out of 6 walls of stacked supplies, we managed to sort through 5 1/4. Everything is now labelled, sorted, and written down. Hopefully it helps. Once we finished up in the depot and said good-bye to the dark room we had worked in for the past week, we headed off to help at the Kids Club again. While all the kids were off doing the activities, my parents and I snuck off to climb the mountain again. We met Terence and Carson on the top and travelled a bit further along the top with them. On the way back down, I decided to take my own path instead of going back the same way we came up. My parents decided it was a good idea to follow me (not sure what made them think that haha). We got almost lost a few times and met a guy who helped us find out way back to the familiar path again where we met up with Carson and Terence and walked the rest of the way back with. I managed to get stung by something on that little journey too. Nice work. Even with a sore leg, it was the perfect way to end the trip. There is nothing like standing on a mountain top with the wind in your face and looking down over a God's creation. Such a beautiful sight. In the evening, we ate dinner and then packed our bags for our departure back to the freezer (aka Canada) in the morning.
Day #10
We awoke at 6am, got ready, packed last minute items, and then joined as a group for breakfast one final time. The cooks were amazing and we are all so grateful for the meals they provided for us. After double checking our luggage and making sure all was packed, we piled into the truck and van and headed off to CAP Haitian to fly out to Ft. Lauderdale, FL. We made it through customs and said good-bye to Janelle and Cal. We are so thankful to have had the opportunity to experience Haiti. We can't thank you enough.
We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale safe and sound. My parents rented a Dodge Charger to head to Miami the next morning with. We all spent the day either at the beach or shopping. We got back late to the hotel and headed to bed after sorting through luggage.
Day #11
We started the day off with a yummy breakfast, and then either headed to the pool or off to go shopping. At 12:30pm, we made it out of the hotel and headed off to the airport. We did a little shopping after clearing customs and then boarded our plane to Chicago. Once in Chicago, we did a little more shopping and then were off to Edmonton. Special thanks to Ali and Vera for making a special trip to take us all home. We are so blessed!! Everyone arrived home safe and sound after an amazing journey and experience. We all have many stories and pictures to show and tell. Take care!
