Monday

After arriving, we received our room assignments. For those that have been here before, our family is in the two connecting rooms, with a bathroom in between.  Then we met with Meg and Wilbert for a while, catching up on life since our last visits and filling them in on initial VBS plans. Then there was a couple of hours of rest and/or recreation time. Most of us rested! I walked around the compound a bit, then sat under the gazebo. There was such a nice breeze under there that I decided to stretch out on the bench for a while. Bob was asked to go back to the airport for our luggage (which was sent on a later cargo flight), so I stayed under the gazebo and ended up taking a little nap.Morgan visited more with Meg and helped a little with the VBS registration forms Meg already had and Aidan played around the compound (which, if you know Aidan, means he "fought bad guys").

When they returned with the luggage, someone realized we still had one missing. They identified which bag was missing, and Bob remembered seeing it there, so he and DouDou returned to the airport again to pick it up.

Once they were back, we had lunch.Beans and rice, of course. But not just plain ole' beans and rice - the beans were cooked with spices and cashews (!). There was also fried plantains, cole slaw, and sweet mint tea. My first experience of Madame Day's cooking - delicious!

In the afternoon, we were given a tour of Cap Haitien, with most of us riding standing up in the back of a truck. I ended up in the cab, though, as it was beginning to rain, and I wanted to take pictures. I expected the level of garbage on the ground and the condition of the housing, because I had seen pictures. But the thing that got me most about the city was the fumes - it was hard to breathe, and can't be healthy for those that breathe it constantly. 

I did enjoy seeing the differences in culture from our part of the world - the taptaps and the amount of people they cram onto them!, the number of motorbikes, and the lack of any rules for driving - it seemed that anything goes, although, people are generally courteous while driving.

The rest of the day involved rest, dinner of spicy ham salad sandwiches, and team bonding. It's gonna be a good week - God is so good!