More Adventures in Haiti

Each day is bringing new blessings to me. I spent the morning back at Guess What the school I am supporting in Haiti. I then went over to the Temple of Faith Church. I preached for the first time in Haiti in this church. Originally it had no roof just shade cloth covering the building. Today just the center of the church was without a roof. There was a school going on and several pictures were taken with me and the children. Then the pastor and Jean Rony sat down and talked about the church they are in the process of buying the land and I discovered many times businesses do not own their land but they are allowed to build on it. Then the owner can come in and take the land back with all the improvements if they so desire.
The pastor explained they have been able to put a down payment on the land and make some improvements but they need to finish paying off the property. Then they plan to put up an ironwork railing over the open space with an arched roof covering. There are also plans to expand the school. We then went to eat at five coins and it was a good Hatian mean with chiken and fried plantains.
The I rode over to Conaspeh for my second class. Time flew by as questions and discussion on questions ensued.
Then back to Walls for the evening. My arms are not as sore today I guess I am going with the flow better on the bike. It is a faster more adventuresome way to get around the city.
Tormorrow will bring some new adventures,

Ron

Another Adventure in Haiti

I need to begin with a confession: I have always been more than a little on the cautious side of life or to put it in everyday language I have always been a chicken when it comes to adventure. So when I said yes to hire a moto taxi in Haiti to get me from place to place, I had to be thinking I must be out of my mind. But that is what I did. This is not the first time I have ridden a motorcycle, I even had a small one for a while and I have always thought they were fun, with the exception of my son in law's scooter I have not been on a motorcycle in 25 years.

So about half way to CONASPEH today I was beginning to wonder did I really make the right choice. As we were weaving in and out of traffic and as I was shifting to get comfortable and as the driver told me not to hang on to him but to hold onto the rack behind me I was second guessing myself all over the place.

The road back was a different route because my driver told me he did not like to travel by the heavily traveled routes with white people on the back in the afternoon. Now it was an adventure and I have a couple more days of them. It was a longer ride but a much better ride. Traffic was still heavy but the biggest adventure was when we came to a closed street and Daniel my driver said cars can't get through but we can. We did. The part of me most exhausted after the ride was my arms from gripping the bike so tight.

BTW I did bring a helmet.

It was a good day I went to CONASPEH and taught my first class and the response was a good one. I had lunch with Katie and Frenaud at Epidor the McDonalds of Haiti. I had a good conversation with our new missionary in Haiti and had a very good night’s rest.

It is a challenging class with great questions and I am grateful for the people in the class who are so eager to learn.

The adventure continues tomorrow.

New Kind of Tired

Getting to Haiti is an adventure. Getting around Haiti is an adventure. Communicating in Haiti is also an adventure. I am getting my share of adventures and it is only day 1. I knew my fifth trip to Haiti was going to be be different but I guess I did not know how different. This is the first time I have dared to venture here alone. So I knew it would really be different. With no group members to talk with in the common area in the evening or at mid-day for that matter I would have to find different ways to entertain myself. If I forgot something I could not depend on someone else to cover me and borrow theirs. So i had to make sure I remembered to pack everything.
When I hit the Dallas airport and discovered my connecting flight was going to be late I though it would be a good time to charge all my stuff. I looked for my cell phone charger and not being able to find it I knew I needed one so I bought one at inflated airport prices.
My plane finally landed in Ft. Lauderdale and the airport was empty and since it was 1:00 am and my flight was leaving before 7 I found a nice quiet place to relax only about 30 minutes later hear, "sir, the concourse is closed you need to go beyond security. Out side the concourse because the cleaning crew was hard at work. I finally found a place to lie down and did manage a couple of hours of sleep.
When my plane arrived in Haiti early no one was there to pick me up so I ended up taking a cab to the guest house. It was a good thing I knew where it was because the driver did not.
I was greeted warmly at Walls and got my stuff unpacked since I was meeting with some folk at noon I decided not eat try to grab some lunch after we met. But as always people are late things don;t work out so my 2 oclock meeting ended up being a 3 oclock trip to a school. Which took an hour due to detours and heavy traffic. We left the school at five which happens to be dinner time at Walls and due to the lack of food and the lack of sleep. When I arrived back at Walls at 6 there was still some casserole and now I am fighting this trying to stay awake at 7 PM.
You are probably thinking my day was horrible but it wasn't. Got all the stuff delivered as promised. Spoke to some students about the importance of school. Saw some old friends and got the surprise of my life.
But more tormorrow. I am really tired.
Ron