Saturday

Today we took a road trip around Port-au-Prince and some surrounding areas. I was very happy just to be a passenger and not driving. There are only a few rules. Try not to hit another car. Try not to hit pedestrians. Anything else is a bonus. We drove by the Presidential Palace grounds. The fence is still up but the remains of the Palace have been cleared away. Driving around you can still earthquake damage that hasn't been repaired. Later we traveled by what remains the national Cathedral. I had seen pictures after the earthquake but it was much different seeing it first hand.







We drove through Petionville which was the epicenter of the quake. Eveline told us that this town recovered quickly then became a large, more prosperous, place. In Petionville we saw a few large supermarkets. Although they are smaller than what we are used to, they are the largest commercial buildings I have seen in Haiti. They come complete with well dressed security toting shotguns. We also drove by a Best Western, which also had pistol wearing security standing around the outside of the building.

Shotgun toting store security

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Toward the end of the drive we stopped at a natural park and walked around. It was a very nice place. There were a variety of different trees and plants. Even had a turtle. Ben and Simon spotted a couple of big lizards lurking around. These guys were 10-12 inches long.  We also encountered a man wearing a Cub Scout uniform.  Don't know exactly why but he was from Den 5.

We brought a Kreyol to English picture dictionary from home to help Petoucheka learn some English words and phrases. Shelby was working with Petoucheka and some of the other children. She had a couple of younger children hanging out with her who were more interested in looking at pictures than learning anything. Petoucheka was pulled away for bath time so we relocated to another area where we ran into one of my favorite older boys, Enoch, who knows a little English that he learned in school. He was interested at looking over our book. Soon I found myself under the instruction of Professor Enoch who was teaching me Kreyol words then harshly grilling me quiz style. Unfortunately for me the subject at hand was words and phrases used in the classroom. I was quizzed on things such as " 3 ring binder", "LCD projector", and "pencil sharpener". He was relentless in his quizzing. I now know that my pronunciation is lousy. I think that I am in for another lesson tomorrow. This time I'll try to find a page with more useful day to day conversation.

Eveline might come visit us at our home this summer. I think that would be a nice visit now that we are family.  Right now she is thinking sometime in July.  Unfortunately, I don't think that we will have Petoucheka by then but we would still enjoy Eveline's visit.  I'm guessing that she will continue to visit after Petoucheka is here.

Saturday (and a few from Friday) afternoon-ish

Another adventurous day!

We got up and had our breakfast - fresh pineapple this time!!!!  Dennis was as happy as Simon was with the watermelon!  After that, I got the kids "Mug Shots" up on the blog... and even took a few that I missed yesterday! 

Oh - and while doing that we got into a long discussion about what grade the kids are in and how many grades I took.  I think it blew their minds when I told them I was in school for 19 years plus three years training at the hospital.  The length of my schooling alone was older than any of them!  The conversation ended with Heidi showing them her ballet recital dance and Petouchka and Anita dancing to Haitian music for us.  It was fun!!!

Eveline then took us all (including Petoucheka) on a tour of PAP and Petionville (the epicenter of the earthquake of 2010).  We saw a lot of neat sights and I will make a separate post for those pictures.  We saw where the palace had been (it was only torn down perhaps 3 months ago... 3 years after the earthquake) and the cathedral which is still in ruins. I had never been to Petionville... it is Beautiful!! I guess it was only a small village before the earthquake but afterwards it was rebuilt to a major city with real markets and banks and hotels.  Wow!  Amazing how one city is devastated after such a disaster yet another climbs to better itself.

Petoucheka fell asleep with her ams around my neck and after I pried them loose I saw she was asleep and snapped a picture... too cute!
 

After we returned, Dennis caught a quick nap while Ben, Simon, and Heidi updated their journals while we waited for lunch.  Again, Eveline joined our family for lunch!  It was nice!  We had pumpkin soup and spaghetti (with sausage and onions) and bread.  Yummy!!!  Petoucheka had rice and chicken (bones included).  The Haitian eat the bones (well, crunch them up and suck out the marrow before they spit out the pieces).  I think we will soon have a draw for who is the pickiest eater in the family!!!  Simon weasled (yes, this is a verb in our family) some 7up from Eveline and so she promised Ben Coca cola for dinner time... then Simon weasled that into the fruity Haitian cola!!  Funny!

Now, Dennis is out back with the boys playing frisbee and the girls and I are going to go join them!!  :)  Ooops... nevermind, just like at home - Simon threw it over the fence.  Oh well... it's a charitable donation.  LOL!

Oh - and I found a few photos than reminded me of stories to catch up from yesterday as well....

To appreciate this first one you need to read Dennis' post about the kids taking our cameras and shooting random photos...  These (just like that post of Dennis') are Petoucheka's but now with her new shoes... :)

My silly girls....  Guess which one is Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer...

The 4 kids plus Son Son playing on the playground

 

Recognize the Camera Weasel  (yes, this word is also a term of endearment in our family as well)

I caught them wandering around together....

Notice the hair on the Strawberry Shortcake doll...  it's been Haitianized... 

 

Ok.... enough rambling!  I will work on "The Rogers Family Tour" photos later...!  :)

Bondye beni ou! (God bless you)
Shelby

Creche Notre Dame de la Nativite

Here are photos of the creche where we are staying and where Petoucheka lives.
It is run by Eveline Louis Jacques and her husband with several people who help out.
Currently she has about 25 children with her ranging from 10 months to 17 years old.
It is a very safe and comfortable place with plenty of space for the kids to play and explore.

Thank you, Eveline, for making us feel at home!!