Upon further examination of the Tina truck, we realized that Tina is not actually a premium quality product after all. But it is a premUIm product. We also learned that Tina is a brand of Haitian Ketchup, we're sending a bottle back to MN with dad to give to the real Tina.Yesterday was a 10 hour day of Port au Prince. My love for the city does not grow on days like that. We checked out a new store called Mega mart and did lots and lots of shopping for the big convention Lifeline is hosting and for the team coming early next week. We made a critical error in our planning. We wanted Britt and Paige to get their full day of school work completed. To make that possible we decided we should take Phoebe and Jack-Jack along with us. Bad idea. At one point Troy and I both had two carts while holding a kid. Two carts, one kid, two arms. Even if you're bad at math you recognize the dilemma. Then an employee at Mega-mart thought he should show Jack the toy aisle. Thanks for that Mr employee-of-the-week. We got out of there for $2.00 with a rubbery ball that has a light inside, it could have been much worse. When we got home Jack did exactly what we asked him not to do and paraded around with it lording it over Hope and Isaac. Nice kid Troy's got there.
Mega mart is not carrying a lot of the stuff we traditionally buy for teams so we needed to go to Caribbean Market too. As it turns out Caribbean market was not carrying ground beef or cheese again yesterday. A grocery store without cheese and beef. That happens all the time where you are, right?
We met with a Social Worker from IBESR to start our homestudy. He was a nice guy and liked that Troy spoke Creole and I tried to speak tiny-cruddy-little amounts of Creole. He asked a lot of the expected questions and it was basically painless. We meet with a psychologist next week. I'm not sure how that will look, but if they are gauging our sanity - we will not have Jack with us for that appointment. He hurt himself once in front of the IBESR guy then disappeared, only to scream for help as he was suspended in air hanging from very high monkey bars. I got to him right before his massive pipes gave out. Crisis averted.
We were telling John McHoul and his assistant Junior about our Mega mart experience. A new store is big news among missionaries. The word spreads fast and everybody wants to know what it is like. How is the service, how are the prices, and what about the selection? Troy told Junior that the service was super. He went on to tell him about things that have never happened to us here. Like when the guy searched the warehouse for more paper plates and when the guy went to get a flat-bed cart because clearly we were not managing our kids and merchandise very well. Troy said "They are really pretty fast there. It was great." Junior, a life-long resident of this great land said "Oh, don't worry, that will change. They are fast now but it won't last."
At 2pm we finally found time to stop for lunch. We met Zach and Sharon at Dominoes Pizza. I think Dominoes might be the singular chain business from the USA that exists and is still operational here. You can search high and low and never find a McDonald's, a Starbucks, or a Applebees. Sigh. Zach had been running around Port too. He had this amazing guy with him. If you've read Lori's blog you might be familiar with his story. He walks on his hands and knees because his legs won't extend, they're working on finding a surgeon to help him. He is 22 years old and has never walked. He is a really neat guy and you can tell Zach loves him. Noah just could not believe what he was seeing as we watched the way he left the pizza place on all fours and got into the truck. He moves every bit as fast as us even without being upright.
It rained a lot last night. We're anxious to enter into rainy season. Everything smells like urine this morning, which is not the part we're anxious for but at least it means that the next rain might smell a little better.
Today is my niece's 14th Birthday. I have not seen her since she was about five days old. It is a day that (as I wrote here last year) I find myself praying for my sister and both of the Birth-moms of our Haitian kids. It is kind of like our unofficial Birth-Mom day.
Tina, you are brave and premuim quality. February 23rd is a day that reminds me to thank God for brave women like you. Praying for you and for Syd today. May God give you comfort and peace today. I miss you and am so excited for April!
Go here to read last years thoughts. A lot has changed regarding our birth-moms since then.
Dad will show up here this afternoon Si Bondye Vle. We're currently in negotiations over who gets to go along to pick him up.
