Shopping Day

Today, we deemed a "Shopping Day". Ben, Jen, and myself all needed to buy a few things to make our house a home. The few "Foreign" type stores (think Home Depot, WalMart on a WAY smaller scale) don't always carry what we need, and are usually pretty expensive. So, we needed to head into the heart of Haiti...the stores, markets, and street stands.

And who better to take us than our very own, Jacques and Junior! They are two Haitian men employed by AwakenHaiti doing various tasks of building, translating, driving, and helping wherever needed.

So, what does a Shopping Day in Haiti look like? Well to name a few things:

- 1 great big truck, 3 guys in the front, and 2 girls locked in the back bed with caged wire all around (sounds worse than it is!)

- multiple stops, starts, bumps, swerves, and potholes 

- 2 police officers pulling us over to tell us to wear our seat belts (seat belts? I didn't even know those existed in Haiti...now a law enforcing them? Where's the adventure in that??)

- 1 intersection full of boys trying to wash our windows

- miles upon miles of houses, tents, and shacks practically on top of each other...making my head spin wondering if it will ever end

- countless men and women asking "My friend, do you want to buy?" often times not taking my meek NO for a final answer

- hair that feels so thick and skin so dirty from 'after-effects' of riding in the back of a truck all day long

- 1 vehicle accident...the empty feeling in your stomach when you hear the crash of metal on metal and turn your head to see a motorcycle and truck collide (we were NOT involved at all)...luckily the motorcyclist was only limping to the side of the road but with a pretty beat up motorcycle

- a small child's naked bottom as he bathes at the local water pump

- a few buildings still completely ripped apart and partially standing in rubble from the earthquake

- 2 trucks (ours being one of them) 'stuck' on a road too small for the both of them...inching and inching past each other, as we are MILLI meters apart...escaping the challenge unscathed!

And what does all of this get you...a mattress, a bed spring, a rocking chair...and for me...

A BIKE.

A beautiful brand-new**(see note below) green mountain bike. No right brake, semi-flat tires...but none-the-less, a BIKE. It gets me from point A to point B on these back winding roads! To the Girls Home in 10 minutes flat (that estimate will be tested tomorrow morning!).

My Brand-New Bike!

Thanks to Jacques and Junior for their amazing navigational, bargaining, and security skills. So neat to see them in their element!What a Shopping Day it was....to say the least, we are SPENT! Who knew one day could bring so much adventure - and exhaustion; physically, emotionally, and mentally.

**SIDE NOTE - Apparently in Haiti, there is a difference between NEW and BRAND-NEW. New means new, as you or I would think of it. But, Brand New does NOT mean brand spankin' new. I'm still slightly confused on this one, but from what I understand Brand New means 'almost new'...like maybe used but just fixed up a little...you know..Brand New. :)

My view from the back of the truck...as we just BARELY squeezed by another truck!