Moving to Haiti

We finally have some reliable internet, so I am trying to catch up on September happenings, starting with the big move. We decided to spend the night before the airplane flight to Haiti in an airport hotel. That worked out well for us. I drove Robin to the airport with all of our hockey bags and then drove back to the hotel. I woke up the kids and when we were ready we took the shuttle. Allison is storing the van for us, so he drove up to Halifax later on and picked up the van and drove it back to Yarmouth. I love when plans come together.

Robin had no problem getting our bags checked but we did have some issues with our carry on. We had been living out of a suitcase for 6 weeks, so all of our hygiene products were full size. In the bustle of getting our checked bags to be 50 pounds exactly, we sort of forgot about the carry on restrictions. Anyway, security gave us a little grief but we finally got on the plane. 

Our plane landed in Montreal and we caught up with Jim, from Norton, NB. He was on his way down to work on the Breezy Sea, as he is a mechanic. When we arrived in the Port au Prince airport, we had a bit of a wait for our luggage. We think it had something to do with a dignitary who also flew in. It looked like they were searching for his luggage and so wouldn't let any of our luggage in until he was in his car and out of the airport. Just be patient. 

The big truck picked us up from the airport and we didn't have any problems with the drive to the guest house. The week before there were several demonstrations and so travel was difficult. We're thankful that it was smooth for us.

We had a great night at Ortlip Guest House and were supposed to leave on the boat first thing Wednesday morning. It was a bit late, so we had a bit of time to swim. It was so warm.

The crossing was good and a couple of the boys on the boat spent some time talking with Peter. In this case, he was trying to read Peter's book. 

Beth and Barry Gould were on hand to greet us and get us all situated. They had been in country for a week and so were all ready to pass things over to us. All of our lunch meals were spent at the guest house with meals cooked by Madame Foglas. It was a treat to have all of that taken care of.

We are all doing well with the heat but it is hot. There is a thermometer in the house and it is never below 90. There have been days that it is 95. Gaëlle does seem to mind the heat more than the rest of us. Or at least she voices it more than the rest of us.

For the first week Peter was out in the yard doing something active. Here they are throwing the ball around. He was also playing soccer with some of the workers. Robin asked him to stop that until the work day was over, at least. 

We had already celebrated the 10th birthday but we did have a cake for her on Sept 11. She's always up for cake.

I have discovered how much I like cold coffee. I take strong coffee and add ice, milk powder, and sweetened condensed milk. Then put it in a blender and it's nice and cool. 

In the front of the guest house there is a tire swing. Gaëlle is spending lots of time on that which is nice. And she's always up for a photo and a smile.