Saturday

It is almost as if we haven’t left. The only noticeable change is the children. The ones who were here before are bigger and more grown up. There are some new faces with new names to learn. There are some children who have gone to new homes. I am still a human jungle gym. I have carried, lifted, and hauled kids for the better part of the afternoon. At one point some of them would ask if I was “fatigue” or tired. I say “Wi”. They say “OK” then immediately jump on me for another ride. The word I really needed was “fini” or finished.

Yesterday’s unusual topic was belly buttons. I had asked Shelby if Petouchca had an umbilical hernia that would need fixed when we took her home. Shelby checked it out and decided that it wasn’t anything to be concerned about. This of course meant that all the other children had to show us there bellies too. All the kids have “outties” or “lambreet pa entrie” in Kreyol. Apparently the “I’ll show you mine, you show me yours” rules applies to showing your belly button. They were fascinated by ours because we all have “innies”. Guess we are just some type of mutants.

I’m picking up more Kreyol. In my duties of carrying kids around on my back and being commanded like a horse, I now know the words for: stand; sit; walk; faster; and go. Of course like any normal horse, I don’t always follow directions so I heard these words many, many times. I’m slowly building up vocabulary and grammar skills but I still have a long ways to go.

I also find it amusing when the kids are wearing clothes that we gave them last time. I have seen some of Simon’s old shirts and Heidi’s pajamas hanging out to dry. It is more fun when one of our kids notice someone wearing clothes that they once wore.

Looking at pictures still draws the mob of kids. I always have Petoucheka and one other sitting on my lap and several others crowding around looking. Petoucheka approves of dogs, cats, turtles and horses. She doesn’t like opossums. Frogs are out. Frogs are “cover your face and advert your eyes until the picture is gone” critters.

 NOTE: THIS IS A NORTH CAROLINA FROG AND NOT A PICTURE FROM HAITI

The most important thing we learned is that “Petoucheka” is her real first name. The copy of her birth certificate wasn’t completely clear on first and last name so we were under the impression that “Petoucheka” was her last name.

We had another interesting encounter here at the crèche.  A young man, Jameson, who is albino and a savant was here. If you give him any date in the past or the future, he is able to instantly give you the day of the week. Shelby gave him birthdays for the kids and he was correct on every single one. I have never met anyone like that before. It was amazing to watch.

Today should be exciting. We get to distribute some of the gifts and toys to the children. More next time.
--Dennis