We went to the beach today – I’m happy to be alive! LoL
We drove on some roads that had recently been reopened after the kidnappings slowed way down, we drove through a street called ambush alley. We drove on the highway at 60-70 mph, without seat belts, crammed to the point of not being able to move into a vehicle, where there are no dividers in the road, no laws except the law of survival; it was indeed an adventure. Above and beyond that, the beauty of the country is marred by the destruction of last years’ hurricane, poverty, trash piles everywhere, on everything – covered in shanty shacks, and the constant smell of poisonous burning plastic. We bought some fried bananas from the many street vendors that were all over the streets everywhere….
Christella was sick on the ride over, so we all got bathed in half digested pineapple (5 times) – poor Fabienne was covered, but she didn’t make a fuss at all, while she squirmed a little bit, she put up with it! It was gross – I almost lost it – but I held in my breakfast!
The ocean was beautiful, and there were no bad smells there (except the men’s room, but I’ll spare you the description of that)! The water was so salty that you would float – we picked up tons of amazing shells, and coconuts. Fabienne was scared to death of the waves, and most everything else – it has been a week of wonders for this little girl that has been in the orphanage since she was a tiny baby – but she warmed up to the idea, and was having a great time with Christella. Christella was going around picking up shells and sea glass for Amanda.
The girls had a blast when we got home tonight. We got to see Fabienne playing for the first time – giggling, laughing, running around and screaming like a little girl! She is so amazingly sweet, cuddly, she LOVES Amanda, followers her around, loves to play with her hair. Christella continues to be amazing, she tries to please us, she shares everything she is given even coming from a place where she had nothing (that is such a blessing to see). She is such a SMART little girl, and she eats like a horse! Tonight, however, she got really grumpy and started to pout when she got really tired… she was using the “I don’t understand you” card – ignoring what we asked her to do – even though we knew all well she could understand us!
Anyway, here is a picture Amanda took of our visit to the beach today… it was amazing – although I can still smell burning plastic!
