A little while after lunch, Sydney and Pastor Marky invited us to go to the beach with them in Jacmel. Along the way, we saw another one of the Lutheran churches in Jacmel:
The beach was not what I expected! While we have seen Gelee Beach between Les Cayes and Torbeck that has a row of restaurants and bars along the beach, there was a much bigger operation going here and so many people, we had to search for a place to sit. It was great!
Howard went in the water while Tom and Pastor watched him...meanwhile Sydney and I got to know each other a little better. We also had some plantains and fish...and of course, there was a Prestige (Haiti beer) for everyone but Pastor, who soon would have to do another church service. He had an energy drink. :)
Church that evening was another great experience! So much passionate singing and joy! Towards the end of the service, we heard a little thunder, saw a little lightning, and the wind picked up. As it did, the almond tree growing next to and over the church roof began to drop almonds on the corrugated roof, which was pretty noisy! Since we were the only ones that had a car to drive to church, several people got up to leave...it would soon be a muddy walk home!
But, many people stayed, and soon the downpour began! More thunder; more lightning. I did lean over and ask Tom about the safety of being in the woods in an open air building with a metal roof in lightning...he assured me that since part of the roof was plastic, it was fine. Right. I just decided that if lightning struck at that moment and it was my time to go, there was no better place to be!
Since no one was going to be walking anywhere soon, the praise band started with the more "upbeat" music, which included Pastor Marky alternately playing the keyboard or the drums, depending on his choice at the moment. The singing was amazing, some people were dancing, others were talking and laughing...this went on for close to 30 minutes I think, but I really lost track of the time...before the rain dropped off and people made a hasty exit while they could.
Sydney then told us that Pastor had a meeting, so we could drive Howard and some of the church ladies home. Tom said, "How will I know where to let them off?" Sydney said, "Howard will tell you."
So, we started off in the dark, still raining, muddiness...Tom turned onto the main road and headed towards Pastor's home. I should note at this point that Howard had had a very long day playing with Tom, swimming at the beach, and then sitting in another hot church service. He was very quiet. Tom got to a particular intersection and said, "I don't know if I'm supposed to go straight here or go left." I said, "Ask Howard. " "Howard???" Tom yelled to the third row of seats. "Yes?" Howard replied in a rather sleepy voice. "Am I supposed to turn left here or go straight." No response. "Howard?" No response. It was now a very quiet car, although I think there were at least 7 people in it. So, Tom started to turn left. Suddenly, a very loud chorus of Haitian women said, "NO! NO! NO!" So, he went straight, and they sighed and said, "Oui." Our new navigation system worked just fine after that!
The next day Pastor Marky told us in the morning that he had a 3 day Executive Meeting in Port-au-Prince, and wouldn't see us again before we went back to Les Cayes. We said our goodbyes, and then had some restful time. In the afternoon we decided to go for a walk in the neighborhood where Pastor and Sydney's house is. After walking down the street just a little ways, this is what we saw:
We saw several homes partially or fully destroyed, and then we saw this one:
So, we were struck not only by the damaged homes and not damaged homes, but also by the intermixing of poverty and great wealth in the same neighborhood.
In the next post I will share with you the visits to the tent cities of Jacmel....
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