Another week in Haiti... but one of the last

As we wrap up our time in Haiti, so many emotions run through us. We are so excited to get back to Indiana and see all our friends and family. But we are so sad to leave our friends and "family" here in Haiti too. With three weeks to go, Aaron's mom (Wendy) came down to spend the remainder of our time in Haiti with us. It has been fun to have the time with her and show her our space here in Haiti. This past week we also welcomed another special guest to the campus as a leader of a medical team. Brian Cain is a high school friend of ours who is a pediatrician and brought a team down to serve for a week. It has been fun to see him again! His team has been hosting a medical clinic in an IDP (internally displaced person) camp called Onaville as well as performing physicals on our 400+ school children. Needless to say they have been busy and a big blessing. One day Wendy and I ventured out with the team as guest pharmacists... and we had a great time!

Leaving NVM campus with med team on tap-tap.

The setup- our tent and tap-tap

Inside the tent

Dr. Brian Cain

Heading into Onaville

The view from the back of the tent.

Deworming medicine

Wendy and I... super pharmacists!

With a cute little baby...

These two were a riot! They had a blast together for the short time they had.

Just look at those eyes.

Look at that smile!

Halloween

Halloween in Haiti! 

A few of us dressed up for our Harvest/Halloween party.

We started off with a photo scavenger hunt. Syd has found "something as hairy as a black cat"... a tarantula!

The Grecian goddesses (aka The Nurses)

Who is that crazy ghost?!

Queen Fefe. 

We had crafts...the kids made some ghosts. 

Getting ready for trick or treat. 

Like totally awesome! 

Cooking dinner Valley Girl style with side ponytail, in florescent mini, and blue eye shadow!

The great Zorro rides again!

Trick or Treat!

Trick or treating all over campus... the houses, the dorms, even the bathrooms!

Bobbing for apples!

Isabel was NOT feeling it at first.

But she went for it

And made it happen!

Fefe had to have a little help... she has no front teeth!

The Great Zorro performs amazing feats and illusions!

A fun game of "pin the face on the jack-o-lantern"

We had a guess-the-amount-of-candy-corn-in-the-jar contest. Guess who guessed correctly out of all the people on campus.... Sitota! Here he is eating his booty!

Then after the kids went to bed, we had a double elimination round of cornhole! The finals came down to Team Clerice/E'Tienne vs. Team Aaron/Jim. The Grand Champs: Clerice/E'Tienne!

Tap Art

Throughout history, people have debated as to the most accurate physical portrayal of Jesus, but I am pretty sure this isn't it. 

Everyone wants to ride the "cool bus"

Lakers! Nothing says "Lakers" like a scantily clad girl. Painted on the back of a truck. Right below "all for Jesus" painted on the back of the tap tap (you'll just have to take my word for that). 

This week

So far this week we have said "hello" and "goodbye" to many people. We welcomed a GAIN team that is here doing vision clinics, building church benches for a church plant in the nearby tent city of Onaville, and working with the ladies on beading and sewing clinics. We welcomed back Dan O. (with his father-in-law Jim), Dr. Scott, and Rose who are working on our chicken project and dental clinics. We said goodbye to Mary and Laura who serve as our mission team coordinators stateside. They are a HUGE reason we have been so successful this year and have been able to host about 800 people since January. And last, but certainly not least, Aaron's mom Wendy has come to visit. She will be staying with us for our final three weeks in Haiti and the kids are very excited to have Grandma here. All in all it's been a great week so far (and its only Wednesday!).

Artisan Fair

On Sunday we went to the Parc Historique canne à sucre (Sugar Cane Museum) in Port au Prince for an artisan fair. It was so much fun to walk around and see all the different artists and their work. Aaron and I had a great time! It was nice to do something that resembled a date.

Can you guess who helped sponsor the event?

For 300 gdes (about $7.00) you got admission, a free coke, and 150 gdes toward any purchase. We purchased a few Christmas gifts (you gotta support the local economy... right?) and walked around enjoying the atmosphere. 

There was so much to look at. There were mosaics,

Paintings, 

Sculptures,

 Birds made from recycled tires,

Jewelry, clothing, knitting, metal work, furniture, and so much more. 

And don't forget the fountains.....

Which drew a very large (albeit snickering) crowd. 

At the end of the day we loaded up the tap-tap and headed home. But not after the ritual beating on the battery with a rock while pressing the starter to get the tap-tap running, and realizing our gas cap got stolen. On the way back we ran into our police friends. I made Aaron pull over so we could get out and get pics with our friends. Seriously, these guys are awesome and we have gotten to know them over this past year pretty well. Remember way back when I wrote about our first trip to the Dominican? How we came upon a tap-tap accident and I ended up alone in a police truck with 5 Haitian police? Well, thats these guy's. Every time I see Gilles (he is the one on the far right below) he yells out "zamni mwen, m' kontan we ou" (my friend, I am so happy to see you) with a giant smile on his face. And Junior (next to Gilles) loves to practice his English (which is quite good) with us too. They are just a few people in Haiti that I have been privileged to know... and I will miss them.