Dusting Off the Old Bible

Another day. Kids off to school and coffee in hand I sit down to deal with the myriad of thoughts swimming. Happy thoughts. Heavy thoughts. How to make sense of it all? I reached for my Bible and dusted it off smiling. That is the only time I have ever smiled at dust. I thought to myself, the phrase “dusting off the old Bible” sure has a whole new meaning around these parts! You can dust and dust some more. Then a truck drives by and within 5 minutes there is another film of dust. I detest the big trucks that drive through here. The noise and dust they bring always sets me on edge. They represent anything but peace to my little world. As I ran my hand over my dust covered Bible I was reminded how much I need it. Then. Now. Always. I need it. I need it before the dust starts flying and wrecking havoc on my day. I need it before the dust has a chance to settle. But oh how quickly the dust settles and stays and discourages! It stares at me standing for everything neglected, everything ugly and unreconciled and wrong with this world. I brush it away and in a moment another truckload of dust barrels into my day and sends me reeling, searching for peace.

It is these IN YOUR FACE reminders that also remind me why I love Haiti so much. There is no forgetting the dust. It is always there. I sweep it away and then another truck comes. And I know that the dusting will never end. Inside. Outside. All around. The truckload of issues is ever present, coming this way, already here. It screeches and halts and completely unnerves me. It makes me feel dirty and sad. Sad that nothing will ever stay clean for long enough to enjoy it. There is this constant longing to feel clean, to experience lasting peace. There is SO. Much. Injustice. There is so much to be done. The dust mockingly reminds us that we can never get ahead. The dust is overwhelming. There is always more to do. Someone needs help. We need help. I need help. Where will our help come from? 

"MY help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth!" 

-Psalm 121:2 

"OUR help is in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth."

-Psalm 124:8

“He will bring forth justice for truth. 

He will not fail nor be discouraged, 

Till He has established justice in the earth; 

And the coastlands shall wait for His law.”

Thus says God the Lord, 

Who created the heavens and stretched them out, 

Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, 

Who gives breath to the people on it, 

And spirit to those who walk in it: 

“I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, 

And I will hold Your hand…”

 –Isaiah 42:3-6

How thankful I am for these words this morning. How thankful I am for His calling. How thankful I am that He holds my hand. How thankful I am to know that this earth and the injustice in it is passing away. One day the dust will settle once and for all. It will be swept away forever! Peace will reign! Thinking about it makes me so happy! I can't wait for that day! Can you?

House # 4...the best saved for last!

House #4

 We spent Easter Sunday with missionary friends in our area. Our friends Al and Bev picked us up and took us to the English church in Montrouis. On the way to church Al mentioned that there was a house for rent in their neighborhood that might be a good fit for us but he did not know the price. I somewhat dismissed the idea of looking at another house and especially one that was not within a few miles of the school. After church we went over to our friends Chris and Leslie's house in Pierre Payen. Montrouis and Pierre Payen are small towns you pass through on the way to St. Marc where we live. We had a great time of fellowship, food and the kids had a blast swimming and hunting eggs. Leslie asked me how the house hunt was coming along. I mentioned that Al had said their was a House #4 in his neighborhood. Leslie perked up and said she thought we should strongly consider that. I respect her opinion. They have struggled through housing situations in Haiti for years longer than we have and she understands the complexities of living here with a family. So I said, "Ok, I will ask Al to check it out for us", but it is still too far from the school and we don't have a car. Leslie offered to pick us up on the way to drop their daughter (who goes to our school) in the morning.

We asked Al. The very next day Eric and I hopped on motorcyle taxis to go check it out. That ride let us know that if this house was an option that we did not want our kids riding this far on motorcycles (usually driven by unlicensed and unexperienced drivers that have to dodge other crazy moto drivers, big trucks, dogs, pigs, chickens, goats, donkeys, etc). Another friend of our was recently in a moto accident. Every time we hear about an accident we know there is a high probability we could be next. I remembered Leslie saying they could help us out with a ride to school and that the school bus brings kids home to that neighborhood too. Otherwise, I would have ruled out House #4 before we got there.

Then we got there. Al introduced us to Gabriel who is the community leader for the district. Gabriel was recently elected "President for life" because the people love him so much. We have discovered why and now love him too! Al and Gabriel went with us to meet with the landlord of the house. No one had yet been given a price. We have learned not to ever get our hopes up until we get a price. We decided we liked the house enough to ask about the price after we were done looking around. The house is new and mostly finished but still has quite a bit of work to be done. Therefore, we were not super excited then that this was THE HOUSE.

House #4 Starting/Asking Price: $15,000 per year. We said, "no can do" and the landlord came down to $12,000. We told him that we really did not want to pay more than $6,000 for a house and that this house was not even finished. He said he would finish it. We said we absolutely had to move in 3 weeks. He said he could finish it in 3 weeks if we gave him the money. We said we do not have $12,000 and would not be ok with paying that even if we did. He did not budge and we turned to go. Gabriel asked us to give him some time to talk to the landlord privately. We said ok and that we were going to go on a walk with Al. Al took us to the beach.

We turned left from the house and walked down the road a short way. The road dead ends into a trash pile. But if you don't have issue with walking over and through that trash pile you will come to a trail on the other side. Surrounding that trail is the most beautiful ocean as far as the eye can see. We walked to the end of the trail and found a nice private (meaning not covered in trash and poop) soft sandy beach! Al told us the price to hang out at this beach is 75 gourde (under $2). It is difficult to find a nice beach with water you are not afraid to swim in unless you go to an expensive resort for the day. We have been blessed by friends who have resort access getting us in from time to time, but if we just want to go to the beach without contacts and prearrangements we have to pay around $20-$35 per person (depending on day of the week). Our large family cannot afford or justify spending that except on very special occassions (like when we are celebrating 4 family birthdays at once or if family/friends we haven't seen in years come to Haiti). The beach is really the only thing to do around here for fun outside home and work. And yet all we ever get to do is look out at the beach from our balcony (which often makes us feel worse that we hardly ever get to go there). The possibility of a beach for family and friends made our spirits soar with hope that maybe God was working in our behalf back at the house. He was.

When we returned to the house Gabriel had talked the landlord down to $8,000 per year. We had asked Al on our walk how much he would pay for that house and he said, "not more than $7,000". So we were close. Mind you when you divide $8,000 by 12 months you get $667 per month (which would be difficult to find even a small appartment in Port au Prince or even in the states for that). Also mind you VERY few houses in Haiti are equipped with such things (or sometimes even the capability to have such things) as electricity, air conditioning, water heater, dish washer, washing machine, dryer, closets, any appliances besides toilets and sinks (if you are lucky), etc...all the things we would take for granted in the states that would be built into the price. But I'm pretty sure you can't get the ocean a stones throw away from your door for $667 per month many places in the world! We had already noted that the house had nice lighting and fans (in all bedrooms) already as well as sinks, toilets, and showers, but none of the other ammenities listed above. We looked around again with new eyes (especially with the beach in mind) and allowed ourselves to imagine our family and friends in this house. It wasn't hard to imagine. This house has all the major things we have been praying for (we have learned to live without dishwashers, washing machines, hot water, and air conditioning so those didn't factor in). The downstairs has a kitchen with adjoining dining and living areas, master bed and bath (for Genise and fam), and two nice guest bedrooms with a nice full bathroom in between. The upstairs also includes a master bed and bath (for Eric and I), 2 bedrooms for our kids with a bathroom in between and a 4th room that could be another guestroom, office, Haiti shop, schoolroom, family room, etc. There is a dining area AND second kitchen upstairs with adjoining porch that looks out into the backyard. Yes. I said "backyard". 

Half the yard

The yard does need some serious TLC but it already has a few fruit trees and once we clean out the brush I think it will be a great space for dogs, kids, and maybe even a little garden (oh and the kids are hoping for a trampoline which I'm sure would be popular with the neighborhood kids as well)! If I wasn't already sold on the two kitchens I would have been sold on the yard. Eric was already sold on swimming and snorkeling so I wasn't worried about any disagreement from him other than paying the highest we said we could go. The sound of the ocean waves coming through the opened glass paned windows made us practically powerless to say anything but, "Yes!"

We talked to the landlord about what was still left unfinished on the house. Such things include the stairway, railings for balconies, installation of kitchen cabinets, installation of some bedroom and security doors, door trims and paint, the roof area above the stairs, purchase of a water cistern, removal of rock and debris in driveway and a few other small things that I can't remember from the list. It was a BIG list. Although the bedrooms, bathrooms and living areas are pretty much move in ready we knew things like stairs, roof over stairs, and not having a water cistern are very big issues.

We asked Al again what he thought. He said "after looking at the house closely a second time I think it is worth $8,000 and I think they will spend most of that amount just fixing what needs to be fixed without much profit". That's what we were thinking too. Then we told the landlord that we don't have $8,000 right now. Our next questions were... could the work be done before we need to move out of our current house in 3 weeks and would he take less than all the money now and give us time to get the rest to him later?

After long deliberations between both parties with Al and Gabriel interceding we came to the agreement that we would pay $5,000 now (which is everything we had raised for the house to date) and that they would use this money to fix what absolutely had to be fixed before we needed to move (stairs, roof, water cistern, hooking up water, installing upstairs kitchen cabinets, and security doors). A finishing date was set for April 24th and a move date set for April 26th. We will have until August the 2nd to pay the remaining $3,000, but none of the other work will be completed until we have paid this balance. The sooner we pay it the better!

Gabriel agreed to write up the contract exactly as we had specified to make sure the work would be completed and payments were agreed upon. Eric and I came home soaking wet (it rained hard on our motorcycle ride home) to hungry kids who said they thought we had died because we had been gone so long. We were thankful to report to them we had finally found our house! We were also very thankful that Genise had gone ahead and cooked dinner. Our moto driver friend came in from the rain and would only let us pay him in spaghetti.

Tuesday we transferred money, wrote a check, had a friend going to Port au Prince cash the check (no place here will cash a $5,000 check the same day) and after school caught a ride with Carolyn and Rose May to the house where Rose May looked over the contract written in French to tell me what it said. Then the kids and I hung out with the orphanage kids at Al and Bev's. Al and Bev are American missionaries that run a children's home (with 6 girls in one building and 6 boys in the building next door) on the same street of our #4 House. The children's home was started by Touch Ministries that also runs the school where we serve. Al is always doing chores over at the school and often comes over to help us out with chores as well. Al and Bev are well loved in the community. There are also 3 other missionaries in the community that we are getting to know and have made headway with the neighbors. So we already have friends in the neighborhood and the neighbors are a little more used to white people. A huge blessing!

We were waiting for the meeting to happen at 4pm, for Eric to arrive after teaching his after school English class, for Gabriel to print the contract, and for the landlord to arrive as well. In the mean time Al walked us to the beach. The kids were so excited! 

Ethan cannot wait to get into that blue!

Of course Evan was aleady wet before I could catch up to him!

The girls are not super excited about the beach as they firmly believe that it is the salt and not the sun that makes their skin darker and therefore prefer swimming in a pool. However they do love to go shell hunting with their brothers (and I love shell hunting too)! 

My good little Haitian carrying her shells on her head.

E.M. found some great treasures!

Here is my find!

We waited some more when we got back to Al and Bev's and finally the landlord arrived. There were 5 witnesses to read and sign the contract. After a few more negotiations over liabilities and resposibilities were discussed, all witnesses signed. Whohoo! We had us a house! Nope. Wait. Nothing in Haiti could possibly go that smoothly now could it? The landlord opened the envelope with the payment in cash and said, "this is no good". WHAT? What now? The landlord (who has POA for the owner in the states) said that he wanted the money in U.S. dollars and not Haitian gourdes. We reminded him that we had just negotiated the night before and that to even get that amount of cash on hand in gourde by the next day was quite troublesome for us. We told him that there is nowhere we know of in all of Haiti that would have $5,000 in U.S. cash immediately available. Everyone else agreed and no one could figure out why the landlord would have an issue with being paid in gourde if he was really going to use the money to fix the house as he said. After all this is Haiti and Haiti takes gourdes! Money is emotional and emotions started to fly. The next hour was not very fun. 

Waiting kids took a picture of the unwanted gourde and said, "we'll take it!"

We had already been waiting to settle this for hours, had 4 hungry and tired kids at our heels, Al (who was a needed witness) needed to take us home and get back to the company waiting for him, and Gabriel looked like he might have a panic attack (which Al later told us he was afraid of because Gabriel has a heart condition). Eventually we got down to the bottom of why the landlord was so upset about the money being in gourde after Gabriel talked to him. The landlord said that he would be losing quite a bit of money to exchange the money from Haitian gourde back to U.S. dollar. We asked why in the world he would need to exchange it back? He said it was because he needed to send it to the owner in the states. Then we caught him. We asked why he would need to do that if he was going to use the money to fix the house as he promised? He stumbled over his words as he said that the landlord would be sending supplies from the states to fix the house. We told him we knew that was a lie because all the imported items in the house were already there. Fixing the stairs, roof, cabinets, and water cistern in the next 3 weeks would not happen from anything coming from stateside. Then he just got mad. Then we got to the bottom of it. Landlord promised owner that he would send the money so the owner could buy himself a plane ticket to visit Haiti and they would use the rest of the money for the house. We were SO not ok with that. I think the landlord was embarrassed that he was caught in the middle between us and the owner and had to fess up to both. The discrepancy of the exchange rate kept coming up and they were giving us a ridiculous rate that we have never been charged anywhere in Haiti. The landlord kept saying he was losing all that money and that it did not equal the agreed upon amount (but it did if he didn't exchange it for purposes we had not agreed to). Like I said, nothing can ever be easy in Haiti! We almost had to walk away. Gabriel almost asked us to pay for the exchange rate or at least split it. But we did not feel right about any of that because paying up front for them to finish the house was generous on our part in the first place. We explained that and that there was nothing else we could do but that we could try to pay in U.S. dollars in the future. We told them we really needed to leave. Gabriel asked for a few minutes to talk to the owner over the phone and explain the situation. I uttered another desperate prayer. About 30 minutes later he came to us and said, "everything is ok now". The owner agreed to take the gourdes without exchange rate fees and agreed with terms already set in the contract. They will have to stick to their word because they know Gabriel (as the community head) will hold them to that. The landlord (who is the nephew of the owner) was fuming as he counted the money and kept saying that it wasn't ok that he had lost so much (we are fairly certain that he did lose whatever money he was going to make from his uncle for not being honest with both parties). We walked away relieved and thankful. It is very rare for Haitians to not take the side of another Haitian. Gabriel listened to both parties and understood both sides. But he felt it would be unjust to make us pay more for reasons that were dishonest. He therefore acted as judge on our behalf. I can count on one hand the # of Haitians we feel like we can trust with much. Gabriel is now one of them.

There was one point that Eric played the game and acted like he was ready to just forget the whole thing. But we would have had to go through something similar with any house we chose and at least we had Al and Gabriel standing by our side in this situation. We also had God on our side and we give Him all the praise and glory for saving the best house for last!

I didn't take good pics of the inside of the house because of all the work still being done and stuff being stored there. I promise to post some pics when we get settled! Big prayer request right now are for the remaining $3,000, the purchase of a generator (for consistent electricity), and the purchase of a vehicle! 

Thank you for being part of this journey so far! It's just beginning!

House Hunters Haiti Edition

Conundrums continued. Over the weekend we looked at several more houses and out of those have added a third possibility to the list. Each member of our house has personal likes and dislikes with each. I personally want the kitchen and open floor plan from one house, the rooftop patio with cooler breeze, built in closets, and my own bathroom from another, the two house layout and convenient closeness to the school of another, and the list goes on. If only we could pick and choose and conglomerate. But we can't. Someday life will be perfect and everything will come together just as it should. But in the unbalanced broken present I find it quite amazing that the Lord has shown us three possible affordable options all within 100 yards-1 mile of where we currently work and live. Honestly, we do not want this just to be about our personal preferences. We want to choose the house that is not only a good fit for our family but also a place of hospitality that will be a good fit for others to come and stay. We will have to deal with issues of transportation, electricity, laundry, and personal space in any of the three houses we choose. This is just part of living in Haiti. Our problem is that we can't decide which issues we would rather deal with over others. What we want to know is if you came to visit us which of the following would be your preference? We would like to hear from those who have experienced Haiti and plan to return, those who plan to visit Haiti (us?) in the future, and friends already living in Haiti whom we hope will come stay with us when they come this way to go to the beach. Your votes would really help us make a decision. At least I hope. I really hope we don't end up with equal # of votes for all houses. If we do, we will probably draw a # out of a hat!

House #1.

Starting/asking price =$8,000/yr. 
Negotiated price=$6,000/yr. (we think they will take $5,000)

Side of house that is on our current street.
Stairway leads to roof with lovely view.

Other side of house.
Genise quarters top left.
Guest quarters top right.
Common area in the middle.
Ream family quarters on the bottom.

Bottom half of house entry way.

This is the first house we found that we deemed a possible good fit. I talked about it already and posted pics HERE. 

Positives for House #1: 

House #1 is the closest to the school we work with. It is literally across the street from the elementary building where our children attend. This is not only a convenience for us but also for teams coming to work with the school and staying with us.

House #1 has 7 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 2 separate kitchens, and 2 separate common living areas. It is essentially two separate appartments. Our family would use the apartment on the bottom floor that has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, living, dining and kitchen areas. The top floor would be for guest and Genise (our Haitian friend who lives and works with us). One side (that can be partitioned off from the main living areas) has two bedrooms and a bathroom in between. Genise would be using these rooms and would have access to upstairs kitchen where she would help prepare food for visitors. There are two additional guest rooms on the other side of the upstairs with a bathroom in between and another room where we could put extra bunk beds if we need more room for guests. There is an entry way room upstairs that I would plan to use as a souvenir shop. We want to be able to help local artisans and also give support to other great organizations in Haiti. We would have items for sale from different ministries and artisans we know from different parts of Haiti. St. Marc does not have anywhere good to shop where we can send teams who want to take things home from Haiti, and there is usually not time or a way to get people around to shop in other cities. So we would like to have Haitian made items available to support our Haitian friends and ministries. I plan to have a Haiti shop in whichever house is chosen, but House #1 and House #3 actually have entry way rooms that would be specifically suited for this purpose. In summary for this part, having two kitchens and separate living quarters is a VERY BIG POSITIVE. This is the only house that has two kitchens though House #3 does have separate floors of bedrooms and living quarters. The layout of House #1 gives the most privacy to everyone.

House #1 has easy access stairs to a flat roof with a beautiful ocean view. The roof would also be a perfect spot for a rooftop gardening project. Anyone staying here will definitely experience what it is like to live in a neighborhood in Haiti. I'm not promising all those experiences will be pleasant, but there will be people observed and perspectives gained that we think should be counted as positives.

Negatives for House #1:

House #1 needs repair work. Some of this the landlord has agreed to do before we move in such as: fix the concrete on driveway, raise security walls, and patch and paint over wall areas in disrepair. The things we would have to fix ourselves include installing kitchen cabinets and preferably new countertops in the upstairs kitchen, reparing tiles and fixing up at least two of the bathrooms, installing concrete or metal railing along rooftop (for safety reasons), installing lights and/or ceiling fans, installing some form of closets in bedrooms, making sure windows are screened and secure, and installing good locks on all gates outside. We are not handy enough nor do we have the tools necessary to complete these kind of projects on our own. We would need help. Any volunteers?

House #1 biggest negative at this point is that we do not have a decent electricity source. The other two houses have their own transformers/meters that plug into EDH (Electricite d' Haiti)/city power which is not very reliable, will give power more often than one without a transformer. Transformers and/or wiring to a transformer are expensive. We already have an inverter and batteries that can be charged whenever EDH is given, but we would need to purchase a generator asap as well. We do realize that we will need to purchase a generator eventually no matter where we are, especially if we have a lot of people living in or visiting the house that use up electricity. The generator we need costs $10,000. We were hoping to purchase a car for about the same amount. :( Never again will I complain about air conditioning bills in the U.S. What I am talking about here is just to keep power on so we can have lights and fans. 

House #1 is on the same busy dusty road where we currently live. It will be dusty. It will be loud though I think not as loud as our current house. There will be mosquitoes. It will be hot though I think not as hot as House #2.

Eric says that it is not a fair that I did not take any pictures of the inside of House #1 (hence the previous long explanation). There is a reason for that. The inside has been filthy each of the 5 times we have looked at it. I will admit that pics from the inside of this house would not look like pics from the other two houses. However, this house has good bones and I think once we moved in, I got busy cleaning and decorating and we got some help to fix the things that need fixing, it would be a great house. This house represents more of what I feel a home should look and feel like. My imagination transcends the dust, peeling paint, bare bones bedrooms, and kitchen cabinets in need of repair. What I see is potential. I see curtains on the windows. I see cute. Eric's imagination does not work that way at all. It is for this reason that I showed him house #2. 

House #2

Starting/asking price =$12,000/yr.
Negotiated price=$8,400/yr.

Behind that graffiti is...

A very pretty house.

See that door. It is the entry point from an actual garage that has an actual garage door and doesn't take up the entire rest of the driveway outside play space.

Even though there are 3 fewer bedrooms in this house (as opposed to house options #1 and #3), there is lots more open floor space to accompany lots of people!

The reason it will be hard to not choose this house. 

The 3 existing bathrooms are all nice and clean.
There is one bathroom upstairs that is completely unfinished.
Anyone want to volunteer to tackle that?

Built in bookshelves under stairs.
This house has many great features.

The upstairs boast a spacious floorplan as well.
This room at the top of the stairs would be a family/movie/game/hangout room.

Part of one of the bedrooms.
The upstairs bedrooms have very high ceilings but no closets.
Pretty, but hot because heat rises.
The very large downstairs master/guest room has a large built in closet and its own bathroom.
All 4 bedrooms are large and light and clean feeling.

Back porch area is nice but small.
This house has a few trees the other houses do not have.

Positives for House #2:

House #2 as you can see from the pictures is beautiful, clean and other than (if deemed necessary) installing the upstairs bathroom, has no repair work that we can see.

House #2 has its own transformer (electricity meter) on a pole that is inside the gate of the house. 

House # 2 seems safer (though we have not experienced any safety problems in our current neighborhood). Eric thinks he would feel more comfortable leaving us here when he goes on trips to other areas in Haiti and if he has to travel to the states for speaking engagements.

House #2 has A GORGEOUS KITCHEN with hookups in an enclosed cabinet for a washing machine!

House #2 has a hot water heater (though we would probably rarely use it more than 1 month out of the year).

House #2 does not have much space around the house for playing and for dogs, but it does have more than House #1 and House #3.

House #2 is on the corner of two paved streets. This will help with dust.

House #2 puts a distance between home and work. This could be a good thing. It is also a hardship as mentioned in negatives.

Negatives for House #2:

House #2 is more expensive (though we can justify that we could spend this much or more for house #1 in repairs).

House #2 is on the corner of a very busy street in town. Because the street is paved it will help with dust. It will not help with noise. 

House #2 will be loud even with windows closed and louder with them open.

House #2 has 3 less bedrooms that the other 2 houses. We think it would still work well for guests, but not for Genise (and family) to live with us. Because it is such an open floorplan there would be much less privacy. We have decided that if we move to this house Genise and Evangeline will not be able to live with us much longer. That thought makes us sad, though we have talked to her about it and she is ok with it. It will just put a different (not necessarily bad) spin on life for everyone.

House #2 is the farthest away from our school. We have arranged a ride coming that way to take Eric and the kids to school in the mornings and possibly bring them home in the afternoons. But we know there will be times when we have to take/pay for multiple motorcycle rides. It would be very difficult for Genise to run her snackshop business at the school if she is not within walking distance of the school. It will be harder for me to watch her nursing baby if she is not close by. It will be harder for me to go back and forth to the school to help out and teach my reading classes. These are the immediate concerns but might only last for about 2 months until school is out for the summer. Lord willing, we will have a vehicle before the next school year begins.

 House #2 has no view. The house itself is pretty but there isn't anything lovely about its surroundings. Because there is no elevation and no sea breeze, the house seems to be hotter than our other options. Mosquitoes do not like breezy. They do like hot. We can spray and use nets but...

House #3

Starting/asking price=$7,000/yr.
Negotiated price=(think we can negotiate between $5-6,000)

We would have to change the name from "Hospitality House" to "Hospitality Hotel"!
This house has a very unusual front in that it does not have an outer gate or barbed wire/broken bottles encircling it.
Hence, like in this picture the neighbors will be hanging out on the front steps. 

Breakfast and living area on the 2nd floor.
The 2nd floor also has 3 bedrooms and a bathroom.
Genise would take one bedroom and we would have two more for guests.

This kitchen needs some help.
It does have a lovely ocean view outside the sinkside window.
It could be made cute with its brick countertops and country wood cabinets if not for the gaudy pillars that grace the entry to the kitchen in the picture above.
They did say they would fix the cabinets.
I would have to put an oven with stovetop where the refrigerator is and put the refrigerator in the adjoining breakfast room. I am pretty bummed with such a tiny kitchen for such a big house, but we could make it work.
Any kitchen would be a great improvement.
It doesn't really matter I suppose. Because unless the house has two kitchens (like House #1) or Genise does not live with us (like House #2), I will not be in the kitchen much at all.
Genise is always in the kitchen as are the majority of Haitian women. It is just how it is.
There is typically no room there for me.
It's a good thing I don't particularly like to cook.

Bedrooms are adequate size with nice paint.
4 of the 6 bedrooms have built in closets.
We can choose to use some of the furniture if we like, though I'm not sure that is included in price.

All 3 bathrooms look functionable and clean.

3rd floor living space.
Small but neat.
If. Only. It. Had. A. Kitchen. Up. Here.
There is an area to the left that would make a great little kitchen.
But unfortunately there is a giant concrete bar area there that is blocking any makeshift kitchen I might invent.
We asked if it could be removed or just moved out a little ways.
The owner didn't like that idea.
There are 2 bedrooms to the right and a master bed and bath to the left on this floor as well as another bathroom.
This would be our family living area.

Open air windows on the 2nd and 3rd floors let in the breeze and view.
They are up high enough where the dust and mosquitoes don't seem to be a problem.

Ethan enjoying the roof.
I do like it that there is railing around the sides!
This would be the only outside playspace other than the front outside of house that is on the road.

The rooftop has a really nice serving area!
First house purchase would probably be a grill!

There is this really cool thatched roof around the bar area! The roof would be a fun hangout place. It is neat to sit up there and observe the surrounding sights.
There is also a bathroom on the roof.

The breeze and view from the rooftop is amazing!
This pic does not at all do it justice!

Positives for House #3: 

House #3 is still within walking distance of the school. It isn't too long of a walk and would give us some great exercise every day.

House #3 is probably going to be the least hot house due to the large open windows. There are windows with glass that open and close in the bedrooms and living area on second floor. The main problem with open air Haitian houses (and the reason I didn't want another one) is because they let in a lot of dust and mosquitoes. We've been told the mosquitoes are not as bad here probably due to the elevation and good flowing breeze. I did not experience any mosquitoes. Because the road leading to the house is paved and because the house goes straight up, dust didn't seem to be such a huge problem either except on the first floor.

House #3 has only one room other than the garage on the first floor that would be a great spot for the souvenir shop I mentioned earlier! Otherwise that room could be used for an office or storage.

House #3 has it's own electricity transformer/meter. 

House #3 has built in closets and we might even be able to use some of the furnishings we like already in the house. There isn't much we would have to buy/fix on this house.

House #3 has the best views and has easy access to hiking the hills behind the house. The awesomeness of the roof of House # 3 almost comes close to the kitchen in House #2. 

Negatives for House #3:

House #3 has no place I can think of to do laundry. There is always laundry being done, so this is a problem for us (not for guests).

House #3 has no outside space surrounding the house other than the rooftop.

House #3 has less than desireable kitchen. Kitchen is in use nearly 100% of the time.

House #3 has some gaudy components that I detest, but know I simply cannot be that picky. Such components include giant bar areas that take up space along with giant gaudy painted pillars. And unfortunately for this Aggie, the master bedroom is painted nicely in a very distasteful orange. I told Eric that would have to go. He refused to budge on that one because he is not an Aggie.


Well, there you have it. Please cast your votes for the place you would most likely want to stay if/when you come see us in Haiti!

How We Ride

Haitian tap-tap

Sometimes we have to get to other areas of Haiti for meetings, to pick up supplies we can’t find in St. Marc, pick up our mail through Missionary Flights, Intl., and to connect with other ministries and friends. Sometimes we are able to catch rides with friends heading the same direction. Every other time we are forced to take local transportation if we want to go ANYWHERE. Not having a vehicle is an unfortunate hardship. But this is not at all meant to be a vent session about that. We are thankful for these experiences (though we would be immensely thankful for a vehicle too)! We believe that if we are going to serve in Haiti long term that it is fortunate to have had experiences that help us identify with the common people in a way we would not have been able to otherwise. I remember when I first posted on Facebook that I had taken my first trip on a tap-tap. Long term missionaries and mk's commented that they had never been on a tap-tap. Some of these have spent more than 10+ years living in Haiti. I know very few foreigners that ride tap-tap to get around Haiti, and absolutely none with families as large as ours. I’m not saying they should. I would not wish the tap-tap on anyone. If we had a vehicle we certainly would not be riding tap-tap either. I decided on our most recent tap-tap trip to Port au Prince that something MUST be done about the tap-tap! Riding tap-tap is generally a miserable experience. Breathing car exhaust, city pollutants and the smell of sweaty bodies piled on top of one another and pushed and shoved until there isn’t a square inch left makes me want to vomit just thinking about it. 

Something snapped inside me on my last recent tap-tap experience. As I sat there in utter discomfort I looked around and mourned for the people of Haiti. The manner in which human beings are often treated during a tap-tap experience is nothing short of inhumane. We might as well be cattle. If chains were added to the equation, the inside of a fully loaded enclosed tap-tap (with 23-29 people on one small truck in addition to their bags and chickens) reminds me of the inside of slave ships carrying Africans to the Americas. A holy discontent with this situation for the people of Haiti rose within my spirit. I am praying for someone to campaign for government officials to place and strongly enforce legal limits for the # of people that can be shoved onto Haitian tap-taps and buses. Lord please don’t let it be me! But if that’s why you gave us these experiences then so be it. People should not be treated like cows just so the driver or business owner can make a few extra gourde! I don't really think Haitian goverment officials care about the tap-tap predicament. But what if there was some powerful media showing the way in which people are treated (not a few people in some remote location but thousands of people every day on the public roads of Haiti)? What if Haitians themselves were willing to say, "I bought a seat but only received 1/3 of it and I'm tired of my family being herded like cattle on the way to get my kids to school"! Maybe just maybe other Haitians would stand up for themselves too. Maybe they could all just refuse to take tap-tap for a few days until the tap-tap owners agree to only selling a humane # of seats. So there's my soapbox for the week. Seriously, there are many greater tragedies here that surpass the tap-tap, but this is one that is staring everyone in the face every day and everyone just accepts it while photojournalist comment about the merry little trucks that brighten Haiti's dingy streets. Have those same journalist ever ridden inside one...a very full one? I'm pretty sure they would tumble out as dizzy and nauseous as everyone else thinking "merry"? Miserable.

Sometimes tap-taps have tops and sometimes they don't. 

Not all trips are as bad as others. Every now and then we don’t feel like cattle, but we always feel squished. Just when you think there is ABSOULTELY NO WAY another body can fit inside vehicle, six more bodies will somehow mold in around you.

Here's a rendention of our personal experience. Genise, baby and I leave house at 5am with backpacks and flashlights in tow. We walk until we can flag down two “taxi” motorcycles happening to drive by in the dark on a Saturday morning. We usually have to walk and wait for a while. Moto taxi takes us to the tap-tap station where we get on a tap-tap van headed toward Port au Prince. We climb toward the back of the fifteen passenger van and pile all our stuff and baby on top of us. When twentysix people have been crammed inside, the van decides to finally take off. Twentyfour of the twenty six people (minus the driver and his money collecting helper who both have seats) have paid for seats. Not all Haitians are skinny. One trip I will never forget I got stuck next to a big mama who was at least three of me. She was tired. Her head kept flopping back and forth and hitting mine hard (because there was only an inch of room in between our heads). I was holding the baby and big mama kept elbowing Evangeline in the head. I eventually exchanged Evangeline to her mother for all our bags she was holding and pushed big mama’s head toward the back of the seat in front of us. That didn’t work at all.

We finally arrive at the muddy stop in Cite Soleil (one of the worst slums in Haiti) so that we could unstick ourselves and pile out to find the next lovely ride. Next up is the tap-tap I described earlier. Fun stuff. Thankfully it isn’t too piled up because we just have to travel a few miles to the bus station.

The bus isn’t usually so terrible IF you catch it very early in the morning and manage to snag a seat. It is always still packed and loud and stinky.

Last weekend we did this same charade toting four kids with all our stuff and left Genise and baby at home…meaning we decided we can finally navigate without a Haitian holding our hand. Exactly two years ago we brought a team from our church in the U.S. to Haiti and visited Cite Soleil on one afternoon. In order to do so it was deemed necessary to have secure vans with tinted windows and two armed security guards accompanying us. Now here we are toting our kids by ourselves in overcrowded local transportation and pushing and shoving and barking in Creole right along with them. Funny how much can change in two years. Not so funny that we drove through an area that had just had some sort of manifestation and UN soldiers had sprayed tear gas. The widows in the fifteen twentysix passenger van had holes in them. 

So, now we know what tear gas feels like.

Evan had just about had enough by the time we got to the bus station. We missed the bus and had to take a caged tap-tap…the cattle prodding kind. We were some of the first to hop on and got seats. I had held Evan in my lap (because he is small and they don’t count him as a person) on the previous rides. But there was no room to put my bag on the ground and Evan was holding his so he squeezed in beside me. It was already a tight fit. A woman decides she would rather not stand and begins to attempt to remove Evan from his seat and hold him in her lap. This is the normal Haitian culture thing to do. I knew that but also knew that Evan was not about to have any part of this strange women removing him from his hard earned seat and holding him tightly on her lap. Evan said “No” when she motioned for him to get up. I watched Evan’s foot rise up to kick just as she was attempting to ignore his refusal and sit down. I put my hand across the both of them to stop the fast coming scene and told the woman that we would pay for his seat and that there was not room for her. There really wasn’t room for her without her sitting on top of my lap. I had had just about enough too. She stood glaring at us until the tap-tap made its fifth stop and enough people got off for her to squeeze into a seat on the other side. Ethan and Esmée were on the other side (as in across the truck) and we could not see them.

We eventually reached our destination. The kids were very happy to hear that we had arranged rides for the rest of the weekend. The rest of the weekend was fabulous and worth every squish and squash on the tap-taps.

Stay tuned for the merry upside to the miserable getting there. :)