A Whole New World (This is Anna Ray's theme song for our life here)

Greetings all from Les Cayes, Haiti.  Corey and I rode into Les Cayes today with a good friend of ours, Philippe, to do some "shopping."  We spent three hours in the busy market in Les Cayes and were able to purchase a metal pan, a bucket, a camping stove burner, a palm branch broom, a juicer, a coffee mug, a cup, and some Louisiana hot sauce.  We had a much longer list of needs, but it became shorter and shorter as the sun and sweat and crowding and chaos got the better of us.

As you all know, the kids and I made it safely to PAP where Corey met us and then made the trip to our new home, Wozye.  Luc and Anna Ray are adapting much better than we had hoped for.  We live on the second floor of a concrete home and have a balcony that looks out onto the road and the ocean.  Haitian children often crowd the road by our house to watch our movement.  Luc and Anna Ray take great pleasure now in standing on the balcony and singing, talking, and playing for the delight of the Haitian kids.  After several hours of entertainment yesterday, Anna Ray wanted to share a piece of her bubble gum with one of the little girls.  She brought the gum down to give to her and we all watched as the child took the gum and split the one piece between ten kids.  

The heat here finds us sweating at 9 in the morning, so the kids and I have very much enjoyed swimming twice daily in the ocean.  There are several little boys who join us to build sand castles and swim with Luc.  Yesterday Luc was observing the naked body of a Haitian boy and his own naked chest and remarked, "I'm really white aren't I?  And we don't carry things on our heads either."  

So, life is good.  I am doing my best to make some sense out of our dirt floor kitchen and how to keep clean without running water.  When I'm feeling sorry for myself and dreaming of air conditioning, I try to open my eyes and look around.  The poverty in Wozye is astounding. People are very very thin and have very very little.  So, my job, as always, is to attempt gratitude.  Monday C will start work in earnest on the goat project.  We will post again soon.  Much love from HAITI!!!