Family!!!!

Today we set off to meet mom and dad!!!

I was trying not to get excited cause we had heard a few people say when they came to visit that they were not allowed in to LaBadee. LaBadee is a private island that Royal Carribean owns, and so no one from the mainland is allowed in unless they work on it. We figured for the right price, we could surely smooth talk our way in, in our broken Creole. We set off on motto’s. Even though they are not as safe as a car, we were able to talk the guys down to $15 per motto, to take us there, wait for us, and take us back. It seemed worth the safety risk considering a car was going to cost us $100!! It was a beautiful drive in some of the most lush parts of Haiti we had ever seen, and we passed many picturesque beaches along the way. Having arrived early, we spend most of our time talking with the guards, begging them to let us in. After about 45 minutes of this, we found a supervisor. (Meanwhile I am trying not to cry, as I imagine they would come to gate and we’d have to talk, hug and kiss through the gate.) He humored us and had us write our names on a sheet of paper, along with Brandon’s parent’s names. He said the only thing we could do was mom and dad could come out of Labadee and we could hang out outside the gates.  That seemed like a decent idea, but I quickly forgot that not everyone feels as safe and comfortable in Haiti as we do! I even thought we could just sneak in (once were in we look like everyone else!) or we could just go the beach next door and snorkel our way up to the private beach!!We looked up and there were mom and dad riding in a little cart with the supervisor straight towards us. They flew through the gates and we all embraced excitedly. Oh how wonderful it was to see them!! Our hopeful eyes met the supervisors, but he stuck by his word, we weren’t allowed in. As mom and dad glanced around the area outside of the gates, they said they didn’t think going off the private island was a great idea. I can’t really blame them, cause the whole day before the cruise line told them how dangerous Haiti is, and that if they leave their private island then they would have to take all their luggage with them! I think we finally wore him out, cause he told Brandon and I to go to a small beach down the road, and he would drive mom and dad near there but inside the gates. I could help but chuckle, as we drove all along the huge fences with barbed wire to the gate next to the private beach, that it was that gate that was meant to keep even us outside!! This sweet man had devised a plan: he would get in trouble if we got caught on the island, so he hired a boat to take all of us to our own private island just a few minutes away from Labadee. Genius. So, he let us pass through the private gate and get right into a boat. As we sailed away, mom and I cried with each other, so grateful for the chance to be together!!

We stopped at this amazing beach on the way back to the hotel. We were going to actually stay here since it was closer to Labadee, but it was a bit pricey. Instead, we just laid on their beaches and enjoyed their tasty food.. including fruit sorbet!!