Already back at the ocean - now that I mention it, it's my first time on an island, too. Most buildings I've seen in Haiti are made of cement blocks with tin or cement roofs, but along this drive I have seen shanties made of wood and roofs made of thatch. There are some homes in Haiti that are also mansions by comparison - even satellite dishes. Women walk in the streets with baskets full of whatever on their heads. Those baskets probably weigh anywhere from 15 to 70 pounds, depending upon what is in it and who is carrying it. Seen people bathing, washing clothes and food and even cars in the rivers and drainage trenches alongside of the roads... some which have all too much garbage and even sewage flowing through them. Seen men with amputated legs going around on crutches (most of these I saw at the airport), men with sizable tumors on their foreheads, children with scars on their faces and bodies. The town of Jacmel is described as a run-down French Quarter - between the style of architecture and the condition of same, the description is apt. We have barely stopped the van and an old woman has poked her head in the van to beg - at least that's what James has told us.

Noonish - I have so much sand on me... and even though I rolled up my pants legs as far as they'll go they're still soaked to the knee. That's what I get for wading in the surf. Guess these are getting washed in the sink tonight... Basically, I've waded in the waters of the Caribbean, and searched for interesting rocks, coral, and seashells. I have picked up just enough intact specimens for everyone on the team to have one. They aren't big, but they're intact. A few of the Haitian kids have been helping me collect them - they cannot figure out why we are so fascinated by them (after all, they live on an island, shells are common things to them) and why I am picking them up. Willi bought several (7 to be precise) conch shells from a vendor, and when I helped him negotiate a decent prize for a different type of shell. (Start low and work my way up as he works his way down. When consensus is reached, you have a sale.) Original price the guy quoted him was $5, but Willi got it for $3. Originally the vicar and I were supposed to do this morning's devotions together, but since each one of us was going different places for the day, we were each assigned to do one for each of the groups.

2ish - We were at the beach the entire time, never did go eat in Jacmel. The only reason we got to observe anything in the town itself was because we had to drive through it to get to the beach - so I am at least thankful for that. While we were at the beach we drank the milk of coconuts (tastes like syrup or a very sweet water) and ate some of the white meat inside. The texture reminds one of the whale blubber you see on videos and TV, and the taste is also sweet - very different from the dried flaked stuff we are used to seeing in the states. They were also big and green, not the small furry brown things we find in grocery stores. I also saw people selling fish (cooked or sushi style), bananas, the previously mentioned shells, and live lobsters. By the time we left the beach, my collection of rocks, shells, and coral was pretty impressive... including the conch that Willi gave me and the live sea star (AKA sand dollar) Corey and several of the others brought back from farther out. There were a lot of people swimming and playing on the beach - a surprising handful of the young boys were swimming and playing without swimsuits at all, completely naked and without any show of modesty about it at all. And I had so much that I refused to use the van to change into my swimsuit. I think that's one personality trait that I'm not going to try to change...

Later - Wow. The drive back - wow. It was the same stuff rurally, but in reverse until we got to Port au Prince. There were fewer people on the road, fewer market stands remaining until Port au Prince itself. Then partway into the city we hit a traffic jam - and today's driver Leonard decided to take a detour. The next thing we knew we were going over the rockiest, bumpiest roads I have ever seen... and we were in the middle of some of the Haitian slums. Run-down buildings, tiny ones at that. Half or fully naked children running, sitting around the streets. The scrawniest specimens of dogs, goats, chickens, and pigs I have laid eyes on... eating garbage and raw sewage (which stunk to high heaven) out of the gutters and trenches of water. The slums of America are the finest mansions compared to these. Suddenly I feel very wealthy... and quite blessed. Then in direct contrast to what we have just seen, we drove by the presidential palace where Haiti's dictator - I mean, leader lives. Yoiks, it's fancy. It's on film, I promise. Big, fancy, white... monument, not just a palace. Huge. We got back to the Kinam before 5 and bumped into Lyle there but not the rest of the group. It turns out he, Ken, and Sandy returned early because they were feeling sick - we're guessing heat exhaustion and dehydration at this point. Montezuma is at it again. The rest of the group quit work early (one or two) to go up to Lookout Point and the Baptist mission. I had heard them talking about it last night, and so earlier this morning I talked to Jim S and the Ken and Sandy (not knowing they'd get sick) about the little item we were hoping to get for Trinity. He successfully negotiated a sale at the bargain price of $17 - at least $3 better than the best price we had been quoted the day before. Thank you Jim! Both Corey and I are sporting sunburns from our day at the beach (along with Kevin), even with wearing lots of sunscreen - between the magnification/reflection of the water and getting our sunscreen washed off we got nailed by the sun. So we immediately took cold showers back in the room and put on sunburn relief lotion - the Aloe Vera we packed last-moment "just in case". Thank you God for "just in case" - this time it really paid off. I was lucky - the only parts I got sunburned were some of my face, the tops of my hands and lower arms, and my legs from mid-shin on down to the tops of my feet. Silly me, the only shoes I brought on this trip were those old Reeboks of mine... ow. Thankfully the vicar has loaned me his flip-flips - since he's a big military boy, they're too big, but they help me immensely. Corey still hopes to find me something that fits my feet in the market. Unfortunately in the sunburn market Corey did far worse - his chest, his upper arms, his face, his ears, in his hair, and the worst on his back and shoulders. In fact he was already starting to blister and peel on his back and in his hair tonight.

We went to Pastor Marky K's house tonight for dinner. What hospitality and what a spread! Haitian pizza, turkey, another meat, veggies, salads, rice and beans, pumpkin soup, a punch made of rum and Coke, another punch made of various fruit juices, our choice of Coke, wine, beer, or water, and ice cream & homemade cake for dessert. Incredible food. The Haitians are such kind, generous, and outgoing people it is amazing - especially for as materially poor as they are as a whole. For devotions Jim H and Corey had their presentation on Christ as our focus with Corey's juggling lesson as his object lesson. Object lessons are great - I will always remember some of Jim W's from sermons he gave when he was at Trinity-Lexington (like that three-headed spatula for his lesson on the Trinity - my reaction that day was "Oh, cool!"), and I will definitely remember the one he gave at our wedding with the wooden cross and the tuning fork. I still loved Pastor S's sermon from Sunday, which had its own object lesson. He had been giving us one on prayer, specifically elaborating on the prayer of Jabez from 1 Chronicles. When he was elaborating on the "increase my territory" line he explained it as not gaining more land and wealth but increasing his sphere of influence so that he might touch more people for God's kingdom. Then Pastor brought out one of those little expanding ball toys, and related it to growth and reaching people for God in spite of the terrifying & painful nature of growth & change. It made for a really interesting object lesson. Now I'm tempted to get one for us - to remind myself to grow, that growing is part of God's plan for us, so that we can touch more people for him. It should not matter how much it scares me, how much it would or will potentially hurt, because growing is what God wants me to do, means for me to do. It will be one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life... but I will work on it. It's too important not to do.