More Adventures in Jeremie

Beautiful morning. Perfect sleep. Manman has made Aunt Beck and I some tea from her herb garden. We eat corn meal with beans and peanut butter for breakfast. Things you would never think to be tasty suddenly become delicious in this country. Today is the day to buy my bike. Papa drives us to the Western Union to pick up cash flow and then our journey begins. An hour and a half he says. Sweet. That's nothing. 

The first half of the road is awesome. Paved and smooth. The roads get worse and I am sitting on the metal bars so the three of us can fit. After an hour we are ready for a stretch. My hips are going to dislocate haha. The rocks and ruts are bad. Aunt Beck and I laugh so hard at every bump. Every rut and pothole that jars us along the way. I love being uncomfortable. I think it's one of the funniest things. Good stories never start with, "so I was sitting in my recliner." We finally arrive in Bonmon and I am overjoyed. I'm ready to stroll into this moto shop and pick my bike out. Black. I've been picturing it for months now. How cool will I be on an all black bike? So cool. We walk through the door and there is a huge selection of Seven bikes. Three styles. This is a bike shop in Haiti. No black bikes. However, in the style I wanted, there stands a shiny gold bike with orange flames. 

Tacky? Yes. Totally me? Yes. How ridiculous of me to think I'd be so cool on an all black bike. Gold it is. Cheesy? Bring it on. 

Signing the papers. I'm so excited and so is Papa. Aunt Beck loves the gold and we laugh hard about it. I get three helmets with it along with some knee and elbow pads and a couple of neon extra large t-shirts. Sweet. Day made. Papa promptly straps my new belongings to all areas of his bike and we are ready to hit the road. A large group has now come to watch the blan drive away on her bike. Please don't crash. Please don't stall. Please don't hit any of these kids in their school uniforms. This road is terrible so it's really breaking me in. Good start! It feels smooth. So smooth. Rocks. Gravel. Dust. Potholes. Mud. I make it through it all without crashing! Aunt Beck drives with me on the good roads and we laugh about the buses passing, coating us in layers of dust and exhaust. Aunt Beck says, "You may as well wrap your lips around an exhaust pipe." The wind. My braids. Aunt Beck. Gold bike. The sun is bright and beautiful. This day has started out awesome and we are almost in Jeremie. As we reach the bottom of the mountain I stare up at the almost vertical hill. This will be the test. Can I actually make it up this hill? Papa tells me after the trip from Bonmon he thinks I can do it. So, with his encouragement I start. It's steep but I'm making it. Little by little!! I make it all the way home. Manman is surprised and relieved. It wasn't half as bad as I thought it would be. I made it and I'm so happy.

Thank you Jesus for keeping us safe

Sitting in a circle with a group of beautiful children. Little hands. Perfect feet. Precious smiles. Beck holds a sweet little girl who quickly falls asleep in her arms. 

I have started to play oslè with them and they love laughing at me. Oslè is a game similar to jacks but played with goat knee caps. You have to flip the little knees to different sides while you throw another knee in the air and then catch it. It's hard to explain but the game is so much fun to play. Hours pass like minutes. I am so grateful to be here with them. Holding them and loving every stitch of their sweet selves. 

Some are wild and bad and smile at me with mischievous grins. Others are shy and barely want to look at me. Lotez sings us sweet songs. Luckily for me I grew up playing oslè with my brother Zeke and we are fairly decent. It makes me miss him and wish he was here to play with us. Beck tries her hand at oslè and the kids laugh and love that she's playing with them. It's hard to play oslè with a lap full of kids but we're managing. I started out with none but am now covered. Is today perfect so far? I would have to say it absolutely is. These sticky, dirty, sweaty and absolutely perfect moments. These moments where my heart is settled and exactly where it should be. Where two hours of holding children passes so quickly.

Walking into the Digicel store to get Beck some minutes for her phone. As soon as we walk in, a huge rock is thrown through the glass door. Glass shatters everywhere and the other people inside are immediately angry. 

A man walks up to me and gets in my face and says "aren't you afraid of me?" I get in his face and say, "Do I look like I'm afraid of you?" He backs off and walks out. One of the leaders calls me to see how I am and I tell him the story. He immediately shows up on a moto and says that the group in the ghetto wants to see me and meet Aunt Beck. Chairs are pulled up in front of a little shop with an ocean view. And we all chat and talk. He is very deep and talks about his love for his people and his country. It's a powerful conversation. He has so much on his mind. He said "I treat everyone as a leader. The poor and the rich because when you treat everyone as a somebody that's what they become." He is gentle but strong. His presence demands respect. I'm glad he got to meet Beck and I'm glad she got to meet him. Another adventure. Another awesome day.