Monday, January 27th We are up early this morning. Janette is supposed to have breakfast ready in time for us to leave by 8:00. Sr. Jackie’s truck is tied up so we are hiring John Robert and his car to take us. It will be an all day trip. He is supposed to pick us up at 8:00, then stop in Gros Morne and pick up Fr. Gracia at 8:30. We are heading in to Port au Prince. Robert is going to spend a couple of days in Port au Prince before leaving Wednesday to return to the US. He is packed and ready. We are almost ready to leave when John Robert shows up half an hour early. He has already picked up Fr. Gracia. We hustle along and are on the road by 7:45. This is a first. In Haiti everything runs on a different time zone, a slow one. When we get to town we stop and pick up a passenger that needs a ride as far as St. Mark. It is a little cozy. John Robert has traded his full size Land Cruiser for the next size down. It is a more comfortable ride, but does not hold as much. Three grown men in the back seat are tight. Robert is in the way back jump seat. The rest of the way back is taken up with luggage. Denise has the front seat because the ride is easier on her neck. We drop off our passenger in St. Mark and then stop to a little further on to pick up two more we had agreed to give a lift. We did not know that John Robert had traded vehicles when we promised the rides. This time, our two passengers, a husband and wife, sit in the back with Fr. Gracia, and I sit up front with Denise. The seat is not big enough and she sits mostly on the console. Very uncomfortable, especially for her, but in Haiti it seems that there is always room for one more. When we get to Port au Prince, our first stop is the Toyota Dealer. It turns out we are really thankful for our passengers. We really need help with translation and they are both bilingual. We planned on ordering the truck today, but now we are told we have to have ALL of our paper work first. We also fine out that the paperwork involves more than just a letter from the Bishop, in fact all of the paper work will take up to FIVE months!!! It is no wonder that people give up on helping this country. I really get discouraged sometimes, yet I know in the deepest recesses of my heart that God is calling me to wait upon him, give thanks daily and to keep my eye upon him and not the struggle. His plan includes all things and is much bigger than my petty frustrations. We leave the dealership and offer to take our passengers to their destination. They realize we have to go to the airport to pick up Melicia, Genes wife, and tell us that it is too far out of our way. They have some friends that will pick them up from close to the airport. Melicia’s plane is scheduled to arrive at 3:00. It is now 1:00. That gives us time to go to Deli Mart, our supermarket of choice in Port au Prince. We do not need a lot today, but it is nice just to go someplace where we have some choices. We did buy some quality toilet paper, little luxuries. Deli mart is located in a small complex of stores. With private security guards armed with shotguns patrolling the parking lot. Across the parking lot from Deli Mart is a fast food restaurant. This is another first for us. It has lunch plates of rice and choice of meat, sandwiches, pizza and hamburgers. I am a sucker for a cheeseburger, and the combo comes with fries. Even has a decent picture. What was I thinking? When I unwrap my burger, it looks normal enough. But when I open the bun the burger inside is the size of a small sausage patty. Sure wish I had brought my camera in. Fries were hot and crispy just a little burnt. But it was a cheeseburger combo. From there we headed over to the airport, dropping Robert off on the way. He will spend his time here until Wednesday, that’s when his flight leaves. We arrive at the airport at 3:15. John Robert checks on the flight, only to find out it has been delayed. The flight does not land until after 5:00. Once Melicia is loaded up, we head out of town. We have a long drive and it is never a good idea to be traveling after dark. It is after 9:30 by the time we get back home. The compound is dark and locked up. John Louie comes running up a few minutes after we get to the gate to unlock it for us. Once unloaded, we retire. We will eat in the morning. Denise is in a lot of pain. The last leg of the journey was very rough and John Robert was driving too fast. Even with her collar on it was too much for her neck. It will take several days for her to recover from this trip. Bob
Posted on: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 22:42:05 +0000
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