{"id":159,"date":"2009-05-23T01:15:59","date_gmt":"2009-05-23T01:15:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/darthjedi.logiodice.com\/2009\/05\/23\/FirstTimeForManyThings.aspx"},"modified":"2009-05-23T01:15:59","modified_gmt":"2009-05-23T01:15:59","slug":"first-time-for-many-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/darthjedi.logiodice.com\/?p=159","title":{"rendered":"First time for many things\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today we started out with a standard typical Friday in Haiti \u2013 we were not going anywhere, we were just sitting around the Hotel, we swam a little, ate a little, etc.<\/p>\n

Then this afternoon, we all decided to take a crazy trip.  I took my family out the guarded gate (big shot guns standing by the gates), down the street, around the main road, and way up the hill to a \u2018fast-food\u2019 restaurant.   Apart from the smells of sweat and rotten trash, and the murky water flowing by on the streets, and the crazy cars that would speed by and honk their horns to let you know that if you get hit, it\u2019s your fault for not paying attention (that\u2019s the way it works in Haiti, as long as a driver honks, it\u2019s the pedestrians fault for getting hit), apart from all that, we made it safe out and back an hour or so later.<\/p>\n

We had a lot of stares, ALOT of stares, some smiles, and a few requests for \u2018dollar\u2019.  One lady it was very hard to say no too; she was very, very skinny and was carrying a baby, on the way up, she said she was hungry, \u201cMwen grangou, Mwen dw\u00e8 f\u00e8 manje, Mwen grangou\u201d, but we knew there was no way that we could hand her money; if we pulled out money and handed it to her, we ran the big risk of being overwhelmed with people, perhaps creating a pretty scary incident; and I had my wife and three little children to watch out for on the way there (on the way back, we had about 10 women, twice as many children, and one other guy besides myself).<\/p>\n

On the way back out; she was still there, and she pulled out medical papers showing what looked to be a prescription and asking for money; I have no idea if the prescription was real, but I\u2019m sure she could have used some money for her and her baby, but there was just no way I could risk handing her some. <\/p>\n

We also got to spend some time with Ralph, one of the little boys we sponsor through Compassion.  He came with his mother and two compassion representatives.  He was so excited to meet us; and he had a blast playing fotb\u00f4ul with Donovan and loved playing in the pool, although I asked him \u201cRalph, Ou nage byen?\u201d, Ralph reponn, \u201cWi, mwen nage byen\u201d he then proceeded to slip and fall into the pool and go under, we had to scramble to get him, he was down there for a good 15-20 seconds.  That\u2019s the third child that has fallen into the pool so far this week, my daughter was the first\u2026 funny though, these children clear out their nostrils and climb right back in\u2026 they\u2019re not scared at all.<\/p>\n

Speaking of which, it\u2019s also funny how the Haitian children are cold in 90 degree weather when they go swimming, they actually shiver\u2026  Christella has been warming up to me over the last two days, today she wanted me to hold her, she wanted me to cuddle her, she wanted me to play with her, she talked with me a little too.  I\u2019m so happy.  I miss my children at home, but I also have a growing sadness welling up as I look to our trip home next week, once again leaving my beautiful children behind for who knows how long.  <\/p>\n

Anyway, we took so many pictures and printed out a whole bunch for Ralph and his mother.  I\u2019ve decided to post some pictures tonight.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0163\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Donnie LOVES his little brother <\/p>\n

 \"DSC_0168\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Ralph and his mother Mary<\/p>\n

 \"DSC_0170\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Our baby girl Christella \u2013 she is Christella B\u00e8l La!<\/p>\n

 \"DSC_0184\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Ralph loved the bubbles!<\/p>\n

 \"DSC_0202\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Donnie decided today that he could like football.<\/p>\n

 \"DSC_0212\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Baby goats and tons of fruit trees out near the hotel.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0225\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Ralph and his Mother<\/p>\n

 \"DSC_0226\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Our family that is in Haiti right now<\/p>\n

 \"DSC_0229\"<\/a>\"DSC_0231\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Donnie and Ralph the Football players!<\/p>\n

 \"DSC_0232\"<\/a> \"DSC_0234\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Me and Ralph together<\/p>\n

 \"DSC_0286\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Christella would not let me put her down tonight<\/p>\n

 \"DSC_0300\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Christella and Manman Christella<\/p>\n

 \"DSC_0330\"<\/a> \"DSC_0009\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 \"DSC_0044\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This was us stuck in the monkey cage during the down pour in the mountains at the Baptist Mission.<\/p>\n

 \"DSC_0083\"<\/a> \"DSC_0095\"<\/a> \"DSC_0097\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Pictures of our little man!<\/p>\n

 \"DSC_0103\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Donnie & Christella<\/p>\n

 \"DSC_0140\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Amanda and Ralph in the pool<\/p>\n

 \"DSC_0149\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today we started out with a standard typical Friday in Haiti \u2013 we were not going anywhere, we were just sitting around the Hotel, we swam a little, ate a little, etc. Then this afternoon, we all decided to take a crazy trip.  I took my family out the guarded gate (big shot guns standing … Continue reading “First time for many things\u2026”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6,7,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adoption","category-diary","category-family","category-friends"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/darthjedi.logiodice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/darthjedi.logiodice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/darthjedi.logiodice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darthjedi.logiodice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darthjedi.logiodice.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/darthjedi.logiodice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/darthjedi.logiodice.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darthjedi.logiodice.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darthjedi.logiodice.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}