Sundays are usually a day of rest. My mom got to experience Haitian church, which really is an experience in and of it’s own. However, for the last few months we have been going to a new church, and we like it a lot better. We were tempted to take her to the old one, we feel as if anyone visiting gets off easy when they don’t sit through the normal 3 hour service, on a wood bench, in a stifling hot room, sitting through 2 hours of singing, and 1 hour of a man screaming down a microphone in Creole. So, she got off easy with only 1 hour of singing, and no yelling at all!!  Later that afternoon she helped me clean out our pantry. When we came back we discovered we had new friends-not just the cute dust bunnies we normally have, but moths. I didn’t think moths would bother me so much, but turns out they are pretty nasty! They got into something, made babies, and multiplied. So, since I got tired of waking up every morning and killing about twenty moths lined up in the hall/pantry, I decided it was time to go after the source. And thankfully, my mom was there to help me. It took us three hours! We pulled everything off the cabinet, wiped it down, and put it back. We had to throw out some stuff too, which of course made me cringe. Packets of precious brownie mix, and chocolate chips that had nasty, nasty, things living in it. Mom wanted to toss each can that looked worn or gross, each box that was dented or squished. But, I had to remind her, that in Haiti we can’t just go the store and buy another. Those precious few boxes of cake mix actually came that way since they traveled so far, and since there is no easy way to get more, we have to keep all the scary looking ones. She was a bit creeped out I think, when I had to explain that if I threw out everything with bugs in it, on it, or around it, I would have no food at all! At first I gave her her own trash can to throw things away, but then had to make her show me anything before she could toss it! We got some good laughs in! Would you hold it against me if you knew that a few times I contemplated keeping moth infested Ghiradeli’s brownie mix.. thinking that the bugs would pry just die once I baked the brownies? I really sat there and contemplated which was worse-brownies with dead bugs in it, or no brownies at all?

Today we took mom downstairs to have her help out in the kitchen. She got to meet Madame Finance and Sonya, and of course they loved her right away and visa versa! She had fun helping them peel garlic, mash the vegetables, and help in any way she could.

 

 

 

I can hardly believe it. My mom has wanted to come and visit us ever since we told her we were coming to Haiti, over a year ago now. In fact, she had a trip all scheduled to go with her brother  John(who regularly visits the southern part of Haiti) for Feb last year. But because of the earthquake, they were not able to go, and she has been wanting to come back since then. It worked out great for her to come now, because she was able to come into the country with us since we were just home visiting. It is so fun to have her  here, so she can see where we live, what we do, and experience what Haiti is really all about.

Her first day:

 

The Second Day she was here we took her to St. Louis. We had to drop off some supplies we brought back with us, and we wanted her to see nwhcm, the campus,and meet everyone. We had to take a tap tap (the local public transportation) because there were no mission trucks. She thought it was a rough ride in the back of that truck, even though we were sitting in seats in the back! (She did learn the next day that the real tap taps have wooden benches to sit on though!! Poor mom!!)

We are Auntie and Uncle to FOUR now. We already had three nephew’s and nieces from my sister and her husband, and now Brandon’s sister had her first in November. It was so so wonderful to spend time with them, especially since they change so much each time we see them. Since we only see them a few times a year, they are so different each and every time!!