Haiiti. Day 4.

Today started out a little slow for me because there was another meeting this morning. Since it was quickly too hot to do anything physical, I spent some time on the computer working on a few projects and catching up on a few things. I also did some reading. It was nice to have some time alone and without a list of tasks to accomplish...for awhile. By lunchtime, I was ready to be with people again and get some stuff done!

We headed out to Torbeck with Genet and Yelline (Stephane and Gregory's parents for those of you that know the little boys that stayed with us for awhile this past winter), and Julie and Adrianne. There wasn't enough room in the car for everyone, so Adrianne and Julie hopped in the back, then Yelline joined them, and I decided that I wasn't going to be the only girl in the car, so in the back I went! It was a good trip out, and I enjoyed my time back there! We noticed some dark clouds approaching, but as has happened every other day so far, we thought that they would pass.

Once we got to Torbeck, Genet and Yelline went about the business that they needed to attend to, Julie and Adrianne went with the orphans, and Tom and I picked up shovels!

Our task was to level out the new gravel driveway that has been under construction for the past several weeks. When the dump truck comes to deliver dirt or rocks, it makes ruts because the driveway is still not packed down. So, every week or so it needs to be leveled out. This was our task for this afternoon. Unfortunately there was no camera available to capture this moment when I was finally working, and I was a vision to behold, let me tell you.

After about an hour of working on that, it started to sprinkle just a little bit. We kept working, and eventually the rain fell a little harder. Tom and I put the shovels away and moved to the front porch of Leonie's house to wait for it to blow over. The rain became more and more steady, and there was a bit of a cool breeze that came with it. We were pretty excited! We noted that so many of the plants here have really large leaves, and the sound of the rain hitting these leaves is a bit different than what we are used to. Our view from the porch was beautiful:

and...

But it then became obvious that the rain wasn't going to blow over anytime soon, and in fact the thunder and lightening really kicked up. It was great to be out in that, but under the safety of Leonie's porch.

The rain comes off the roof through that pipe, and I am anxious to get some sort of container to catch that rain to save for the garden at times when it is dry.

Anyways, after about 45 minutes of rain in increasing intensity, we decided that we needed to get the orphans into their homes (they were under a structure that looks like a tiki hut), and get the girls ready to head back to Les Cayes.  I missed several great photo opportunities because I didn't want my camera to get wet, but to see the older boy orphans carrying the younger ones on their backs in a little train with a piece of plastic over the entire train, was just so precious. Eventually, everyone got to where they needed to be, soaking wet, and with big smiles. 

Since we couldn't have anyone ride in the back of the truck on the way back to Les Cayes, Tom and I were in the front of the truck (stick shift) with 3 backpacks, 4 camera cases and a guitar while Adrianne, Julie, Israelson and Dominique were in the back seat that is made for 2. Lots of laughing on our trip home!

Once we returned to Les Cayes we realized that it had rained just as heavily here. This is what the driveway looked like:

and the soccer field:

No soccer, or walking, tonight.

A great day, all in all. 

And, I was very happy to have had these:

Tomorrow morning we will get back to what Tom considers a normal schedule, which is breakfast, then out to Torbeck to work. We will come back here for lunch, then hopefully spend some time in the park (where the playground is if you remember the picture) and sing with children that are there.

One last note, at different times today someone mentioned to Tom or I separately that it was Friday. We both commented to each other that we had no idea that it was Friday, and how nice that was for us. :)