This morning, Jake, Eric, Natalya,
Sarah, Tom, and the Haitian ladies prepared a delicious breakfast of pancakes,
eggs, and spicy peanut butter… Still not sure how we feel about that one. Tom has
now cracked 105 eggs. After we ate, we got ready for our day at Grace Village,
only to realize we still had an hour before we had to leave. Clearly, we were
full of anticipation.
After a 45 minute (bumpy) tap tap
ride with singing and lots of laughs, we witnessed a beautiful mountaintop view
of the blue ocean. Upon our arrival, kids were instantly running up to us and
greeting us. While the boys played soccer with the kids, some of the girls
played on the playground. After this, we were given a tour of the beautiful
Grace Village, an orphanage in Titanyen. The wonderful long term missionaries
told us the touching story of Jamesly, a two year old boy who was left on the
streets and taken in by the organization.
Following our tour, half of us did
crafts with the children, and the other half gave makeovers & mani pedis to
the Haitian Mommys (each house of the orphanage has a Mommy). Some young girls
even painted the TG boys’ nails... what real men! Then, our drivers said the
famous “chop-chop to the tap-tap” phrase and we quickly said goodbye and headed
back to our guest house. On our way back, we witnessed the amazing view driving
down the mountain. We also sang a Haitian song, as well as belting Don’t Stop
Believing and many more. When we got back, we changed into our swim gear and
headed to the hotel pool. The pool was refreshing for some while others slept
poolside (all the boys except Henry were photobombed by all the girls when they
were sleeping!) Alani, Nicole, and Kate played a very competitive game of
monkey in the middle in the pool. Tom managed to splash every single girl when
he jumped into the water but no glass was broken today! Only the plate of
plantain chips was soaked. After swimming, we headed back and had a delicious
pasta hot dish with vegetables. We then started to wind our day down with team
time and we are getting ready for tomorrow’s activities! We all journal
together as a group, reflecting on our day and sharing a word of the day that
we felt best applied to our experience. Some today were smiles, joy, friendly,
and blessed. We also all sang (a common theme this week), as our musicians
Ellie, Eric, and Kate have been learning songs on the guitar and ukulele.
Tonight’s rendition was of Count on Me by Bruno Mars. Currently, we are all
playing cards, making necklaces and bracelets, and relaxing.
Today’s superlatives:
Most likely to have 3 kids climbing on him: Noah
Most likely to have to do 5 pushups (and make everyone else
do them too): Grace and Alani
Most likely to become famous from his one line song “Pou
toujou” IN his John Lennon glasses: Jake
Most likely to be put on a leash: Kate
Most likely to get a Chaco tan: Lauryn
Most likely to have her hair braided every day (and complain
about it): Natalya
Most likely to have a deep religious talk in the top-top:
Henry
Most likely to make a life long friend in Haiti: Tom
Most likely to have a gecko dropped in their mouth during
cards: Nicole
Most likely to come home with a man bun: Eric
Most likely to NOSEdive because of a kid going crazy on her
shoulders: Ellie
Most likely to keep her cool during a laughing contest:
Sarah
