I'm very happy that he came down and so glad he got to experience what its like to be in Haiti... but now I'm very sad he's gone. I went to work after the airport which was fine, but then Yvenson left to go get some lunch and I decided to stay and continue sorting some donated supplies. So it started raining... then pouring... then the wind picked up... and as luck would have it, pelting the rain through our open warehouse door. I was off in I-miss-my-boyfriend fantasy land, so it took me a little while to realize that the rain had formed a little lake at the entrance to the depot. I ran over with the broom and pushed most of the water out the door before it got to the supplies. Then, I went to close the warehouse door. I took a university-level physics series and yet I cannot figure out why that door opens so easily but is so damn hard to close. Of course the rain is at the perfect angle to get me drenched while I struggle to pull the door closed. It takes me probably a good thirty seconds to move it three inches. I gather my strength for another big push and the new puddle that has formed makes my flip-flops slide all over the concrete floor. Eventually I got everything worked out and managed to close the door most of the way. As I was walking out of Francisville, I was actually very thankful for those stupid flip-flops because I just walked right through the gigantic lake that forms behind the security gate.
I came home and watched the new episode of Glee to cheer me up (so worth it, even though i-tunes charges $3 an episode). But then I got an email about how bad the security situation has become. It already can be frustrating because we don't always have cars and even if we do its only safe to go certain places at certain times of day. But I've always felt fine walking between our different buildings St. Damien-Francisville-FWAL-St. Luke. However, that changed today and now its not going to be an option for a while. Not only is it going to effect our work, but its hard because there aren't really any good solutions. Living in U-district I always felt like I knew what I needed to do to be safe, but here it's a lot harder to know what to do. We're all going to have a meeting on Sunday to discuss some options.
So I was pretty bummed out about the whole day, not to mention a huge storm rolled in and it started thundering and pouring again. I felt like curling up and continuing my pity-party, but instead I went up to go see the babies. I'm so glad I did. When I walk in, I can see the moment of recognition in their eyes and they get this huge smile on their faces and it makes me so happy that I dragged myself out of the house. I fed Yvens and Lubin, then Marco and I took Secours on a walk in his stroller. Then we put Yvens and Lubin in the wagon and Marco and I pulled them around. Eventually I put all the boys in the wagon and we did a few more laps, with a stop outside the oncology window to say hi. We went back to the room and the boys played with blocks while I held some of the little babies. Anyways, it was a great way to cheer me up and distract myself for two hours.
I didn't write at all this week since I was busy enjoying my time with Kevin, but last weekend we got to go on a Port-au-Prince city tour. It was great timing since Kevin was here and really fun for me because I hadn't seen most of the national landmarks (or really, what remains of them.) Working in Tabarre and having our patients come to us, you start to forget about the conditions that people live in and how big an impact the earthquake is still having on people's lives. A lot times people here make jokes about the earthquake, but when you see the National Palace just completely crumbled with one of the most violent tent cities formed right in front of the gates, it makes you realize how real this still is.
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| what was the Catholic National Cathedral of Haiti |
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| National Cathedral of Haiti |
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| view through the gates at the National Palace |
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| National Palace |
Quote of the day:
JS: "Don't you think we should wash the purple lent cloth before putting it back?"
SK: "Nah, I mean the bodies were wrapped and frozen for a while, so I'm sure it'll be fine."
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