Day 7: June 18, 2011

Before our hike up!

Day 7- Today we are hiking! It really was less of a hike and more of a walk especially since they drove us half way to give us more time. There were kids outside the mission waiting to go with us, but since we were in the bus we would get there way before them (so we thought…). When we crossed the river to where the hike begins the children were waiting for us, the combination of them running and the shortcuts they knew allowed them to get there before us. They latched on to us and we hiked up to the waterfall. When we got there we had to cross another river which was a little difficult as the water flow was stronger and the rocks more slippery, but the Haitian children were more than willing to help us get across. Once to the waterfall some of the boys in our group got brave and climbed some of the rocks, but most of us stayed low to the ground, taking in the beauty of God’s creation and playing with the children.



The small but still beautiful waterfall!




The group on the lower rock - I'm in the tie dye



After we finished at the waterfall we crossed back over the second river and there was an opening to swim. We swam, played with the children, and some of the older boys even sang songs for us (they were all American songs and they always had the beat right just not always the words haha). Then we skipped rocks and sat on the rocky riverside playing and taking pictures with the kids. Our bus was not where it had dropped us off so we started walking back (it wasn’t super far from the market to the mission) and we walked through the market and got Icee Pops (or that’s what I imagine it would be called in America) and it was good to have something cold to cool us off in the hot sun. When the bus picked us up and we made it back to the mission we had lunch and then went to the jailhouse (which is something our intern suggested we should do).



These little girls were adorable, they said my name
as KRIS-TAAAH




They were finding us rocks!




She followed me the whole trip - so sweet!




Watching the boys sing Rhianna :)




This little girl was wearing a flannel spongebob shirt in
90 degree weather, and I thought I was hot in my skirt.



View from the jailhouse.



There was a beautiful view from the jailhouse, but we were shocked to find out that if your family or friends don’t bring you food and water while you’re in jail you don’t get any. We brought some dried chicken and dried plantains and water to the three men in the jail that day and since our group was kind of big we split up and talked with them. They thought we were celebrities. They wanted us to sing and dance for them. They specifically pointed out a girl in our group to sing for them and she sang Billy Jean by Michael Jackson (he was one of their requests). Then they pointed at me and wanted me to dance. The translator said that they thought we were celebrities and that we knew how to sing and dance, but the whole group danced and they seemed to be amused. We prayed with them as they all said they had a relationship with God, and then we headed back to the mission.



A policecar at the station



Today I am thankful that I got to have this experience I am learning so many things, and even though things get tough at times; I love it. I feel like I could stay here forever when I say that some people in my group say well what about air conditioning, what about cars, what about your cell phone? Those things just don’t seem important here, I don’t really miss them because I realize I don’t need them.

Part of the market we walked through.



The part of the river we swam in :)