lanmè, Nòs, epi lot bagay

The Sea 

On Wednesday morning, instead of our usual community meeting all of the sisters and the lay woman who is volunteering with us went to the sea.  It only took about an hour to get there even though it was on the other side of a mountain.  Apparently one of the sisters knows the owner of this place by the sea and on weekdays, when it is typically not in use, the sisters are allowed to use it during the day.  It was quite beautiful, private and peaceful.  The water was the perfect temperature for swimming.  We all had a great time and we returned to the orphanage in plenty of time for our regular after school schedule with the children; which for me on Wednesday means five, half-hour long therapy groups with the youngest children followed by being available for a half of an hour to assist any of the older with English homework.

A Wedding

On Saturday a few of the sisters, the volunteer, an employee and a group of children attended the wedding of the son of one of the women who works at the orphanage.  The wedding was at a Baptist church, although it was not actually in the church itself.  Because the bride was visibly pregnant, the pastor of the church would not allow the ceremony to take place in the church.  Instead, all those in attendance crowded into a small, dark and very warm room which was across a narrow alley on the side of the spacious empty church.  I suppose the room would have been even darker if there had not been some small holes in the rusting metal roof.  It was simply decorated with a bouquet of fake flower and streamers which I suspect were created from thin toilet paper.  There was something about the simplicity and the small dark room that caused me to feel sad for a moment.  The ceremony started with some prayers in French, followed by songs sung in French and Creole.  The minister preached and did the actual marriage ceremony in Creole, because he said he wanted everyone to understand.  The bride and groom seemed young and nervous during certain parts of the ceremony, but lovely and sincere.  The bride wore a beautiful gown.  The mother of the groom, our co-worker who had invited us, and had seemed so excited about the wedding was not at the actual ceremony; I don't know why.  After the service ended, we piled back into the crowded van and drove a short distance.  In front of a nearby small home, we all exited the van. Our co-worker was there and she was so happy to see us, so glad that we had attended her son's wedding ceremony.  Everyone was handed a sand which wrapped in paper towel and something to drink.  The sandwich was a white hamburger bun,with a pink sauce that I think was made of ketchup, mayonnaise, and a few tiny pieces of hot-dog, green peppers and onions.  My drink was a grape soda.  Yes,(in case you are wondering) I ate and drank what I was given, appreciative of their generosity and graciousness.  Before most had finished their sandwiches, we loaded back into the van.  On the way home, one of the sisters asked the driver to stop at a vendor she seemed to know at the side of the road and purchased a few small Styrofoam containers filled small pieces of cooked horse meat which were passed around the van. I decided I had been adventurous enough in my eating for one day, and my stomach really was full from drinking all of the sweet grape soda and eating the entire sandwich, so I politely declined.

Other things

On Saturday evening, we had liturgy here at the a little chapel between the orphanage and the school (I'll post pictures of the chapel another time.)  Apparently this is something that we try to do a couple of times a month, but sometimes there is no priest available; it was my first liturgy in our chapel.  Since all of the children were attending, and a Holy Cross priest was coming to preside at the liturgy, I assumed that the liturgy would be in Haitian Creole.  I was looking forward to this especially since when we go to daily mass at the cathedral most of that mass is in French.  Except for the homily which ended with a French prayer and one short hymn, the mass for our children was entirely in French.

On Sunday evening, we celebrated the birthdays of all of the children born in October.  It was a wonderful celebration with dancing, singing and food.  It is always a gift to watch children enjoying themselves.  There should be a few pictures of the fet (party) posted on the Mary Gate of Heaven Orphanage facebook page, if you are interested.

I have been here over a month already. In many ways it seems to have gone so quickly, yet somehow it does seem like it has been a very long time since I was in the United States.  I hope you are well.  Take care.