Dirt Moved, Colorful Houses, And Goodnight Prayers

Friday was our last day at the construction site. The goal was to move the unused dirt from the front of the church to the back. We were not quite sure why this was needed as more of it will be used when the floor is poured after ceiling is set, but apparently it was more important to have the dirt out of the way for church; even if that means someone else will have to move the dirt back at a later date.

But it was done and when they last bucket of dirt was carried and dumped there was a general sigh of relief.

The work day actually ended a little early so we headed to Petion-Ville to do a little walk-a-bout. There was a nice park that we walked through called "Place Saint Pierre". There were lots of people about and apparently it is common to go to the park and have public discussions. While we were at the park there seemed to be two groups discussing something or other. The discussions were quite lively. I am not sure what they were discussing, but I like the idea of a place to have public discourse.

On the hills above Petion-Ville there are what look like hundreds of houses all painted various pastel colors. It reminded me of the houses at Capitola Beach, California. It was comforting and wonderful to see the color in the hills when most of the houses we see are the same gray color of concrete and cinderblock. While Port-au-Prince is full of life and activity and there are splashes of color, a large part of the buildings are monochromatic.

Before we headed back to the dormitory we stopped at a small bakery for a snack. I ordered an iced coffee as I have been getting to much sugar with the nightly cokes accompanying dinner, but what I was handed was something akin to a Frappuccino including whip cream and chocolate syrup. So much for less sugar, but I must admit it was great going down.

After we got back to the dormitory and had dinner a few of us went to the orphanage to pick up a suitcase we needed to bring back. We got there about 10 to 15 minutes before the bed time prayer time for the kids. We sat with the kids as they sang night time songs, prayed, and generally calmed down for sleep. By the time we were done each of us had a least one child that was asleep and had to be carried to bed. It was a great way to end the day. It was a side of the life of these kids that I had not yet seen in the 5 years I have come here as usually we head to the dormitory earlier. But it is a time I hope to participate in again.