So, I had to pay another 50$ today (I got a little bit of a discount) to drive the three miles to the Embassy. The drive took almost 2 hours. We took a little different road than yesterday too, because we had to cut down a lot of side roads to circumvent the stand still traffic. The car wouldn’t stay started either, so we had to keep popping the clutch, and even had to be pushed once to get it started again.
And even after the 110$ price and a full day of embassy travel (between yesterday and today) and waiting we cannot file our I600a this time. Christella’s parent’s are both dead, and DHS told Chris to have her Uncle make out her name with his last name instead of her father’s last name. But the Embassy said that just won’t work. So now we have to redo a bunch of Christella’s paperwork over, and we also have to get an amendment to our Homestudy stating that we can adopt a child with a disability (Heart Arrhythmia is considered a disability). So we’re not close to being done – and I will probably have to find the money to come back down to Haiti to file sometime very soon in the future. I guess, on the upside, we now know these things before we get our papers into the legal system; it should help us in the long run.
Anyone who is reading this blog, please pray for our little girl that the Arrhythmia isn’t very bad, or perhaps not even there. She is going for an echo cardiogram next week, and will see a cardiologist in June.
David is one amazing little boy, he is so full of laughs and talks he doesn’t complain at all except when he is hungry or he wants to be held – otherwise, he is content with everything! Not like an American children we’re used to spending time with, they have almost no complaints at all, most of them are just happy to have a belly full and a place to sleep…
Christella seems to be coming out of her shell, just as we’re getting ready to leave (in 3 days) – today she kept asking to hold my hand, she wanted to sit with me; we even had a couple short conversations. This morning she even laughed when I tickled her, although she hid her smiles, she didn’t want me to see it.
And yet, her happiness is clouded with tears. At least once a day she breaks down into full shoulder-shaking sobs. We don’t know why, she won’t tell us. She has gotten used to us now, so we wonder if she is remembering her parents. Christella lost her mom at 2.5 years old, and lost her father a year later at 3.5 years old, and she came to the orphanage starving, at 4.5 years old and 24 pounds. She has had a unbelievably rough life. I hope the time for healing has begun, I hope she can come home as soon as humanly possible, and pray that God will reach down and have mercy on her and bring her into our family rapide.
On another note, Haiti continues to amaze me in the things I learn. As we were driving down the road today I saw two firsts… first first was a traffic light – in fact there are a couple of them in Port-Au-Prince. While the driving is still crazy (someone hit us today on their motorcycle) there are actually traffic lights once in a while.
Second first was a trash truck. Yesterday while driving through the town I saw trash ‘cans’ that were at one time full of trash, but all the trash had been pulled out and strewn all over the ground, and there were people with plastic bags picking through the trash and filling up their plastic bags – I can only assume that is where they got their meals from, and we’re not talking about a few people; there were so many people picking through the trash. And all around them where people with small blankets spread on the ground with corn and onions and mangos trying to sell them.
We went to the Baptist mission today, Donnie was quite perturbed at the street vendors that were down the road that we went to visit. They were so pushy, they wanted us to buy from them, they asked, and basically begged, they wanted nothing more to sell something. We bought quite a few carvings (Have I mentioned how AMAZING the Haitian people are in their crafts and arts); but we only had so much money to spend, and there were so many people that we didn’t buy from, but they continued to follow us back into the compound, asking over and over for us to buy from them.
I had to explain to Donnie that they have families to feed, and this is the only way they have to do it. On the way back down he saw people climbing up the mountain with huge baskets on their head full of artisan products to sell, for what little money they make, they do this day in and day out… not a very simple life, but they do what they have to do.
While at the mission it started a torrential down pouring, and we ended up getting stuck inside of an unused monkey cage for almost 30 minutes. I drove back in the trunk of the jeep – the trunk leaked… What a day.
Tomorrow we should be spending a little time with one of the compassion boys we sponsor. I’m also looking forward to staying put for a day.
While here I fixed one desktop, donated one laptop that I brought with me, and picked up two laptops to bring back to the states to try and fix. I guess even my skills can be useful to help in Haiti.
Another day, another 30 minutes past. I miss my Brae Brae and Bella, but I’m starting to to feel the sadness that is going to be overwhelming having to leave my two beautiful and wonderful Haitian children, and having no idea when we will be back again, and how they will fare in our absence.
Signing off once again from the town of Pètion-Ville. Bondye Beni Ou, Bondye Beni la Haitians.