Psalm 94:11

The entertainment continues.  It started yesterday morning when the brand new Chacos that I bought to work in were stolen along with 4 other pairs of shoes of the other people.  We have a shoe rack just inside the door so that the floor isn’t always covered with mud.  The new people that live here didn’t realize that the door was unlocked when they came in the night before.  So the kids took the liberty and found the door unlocked and our innocent sandals (they didn’t take any tennis shoes…I figured that they would be the first to go) were abducted.  At any rate, no one was super happy about that, but Kyle talked to some dude (apparently, he’s in charge of the kids) and told him that if the shoes were returned, there would be no trouble.  Embarrassed as they were, they put 2 pairs (mine and one of Jill’s) under a bush for us to find. 

Yesterday was supposed to be our first day of digging another hole.  We ended up not doing so…not because we didn’t have shoes to work in, but because there was a woman who showed up at the clinic who was in labor.  Considering that Brandi wants to be a mid-wife someday, we stuck around.  It was definitely a blessing that we stayed.  I needed to blow off some steam from my newly stolen shoes so I went on a little run.  Upon returning, I found that there was still no baby and no digging.  Since I’m not a huge fan of the whole “birth” thing, I waited outside.  Eventually, as we were still waiting, it was time for English class.  Since Brandi and Jill were doing “baby work,” I taught by myself, which wasn’t a big deal at all.  When I returned to the clinic, I found Brandi, Jill, and Dr. Henry…still waiting and a tad frustrated.  It turns out that there is a little saying that goes a little something like “water broke through her mouth.”  AKA, she threw up and though that her water broke.  Either way, this woman was going to have a baby.  Dr. Henry said that he would break her water for her if he had to.  She really was in labor though.  Enough time went by, I wrote some music (because I had nothing better to do), and I was then sucked in to the “birthing” room.  I was merely there to shed light on the situation…literally.  Without such modern conveniences, I was the one who held the flashlight so that Dr. Henry could see what he was doing.  Clayton finally got back during the whole process to find all of us begging this woman to suck it up and push).  Long story short, the woman refused to push because of sheer pain, and we were all impatient really.  So around 9 pm, after having her there since 8 am, she decided that she would rather sleep.  So she did, and we were finally off duty and able to eat some dinner (with what appetite I had left…).  This morning around 5:30, Clayton took her in the truck to the hospital in Jacmel.  Turns out that she had to have a C-section because the birthing canal was too small.  No wonder she was in so much pain.  Either way, “birth” is a disgusting word, and I may never have kids…I’ve been scarred for life.

After an incredibly long, stressful day, we decided to sleep out on the roof because the stars were simply captivating.  Other than fighting off the cats (whom we are incredibly annoyed by), it was an incredibly peaceful evening. 

So today was the day to dig!!  Finally!  We went to this woman’s house to dig a hole in the place where we were previously told to dig…naturally.  After 2.5 hours of work, Henry came to harass us (and to tell us that he had found our shoes).  Luckily he was there to translate when another woman who lives in the house came out and told us some interesting information.  They failed to inform us that they already had a hole dug by local Haitian men.  They also had a cover to put over the hole that had a “toilet-esque” design.  Not only that, this hole put ours to shame.  We had about 5 feet…this hole was a good 15.  Basically, they just needed walls around this thing.  What?  You’d think that this little discovery would have been revealed, oh, I don’t know, when we asked if they wanted a toilet.  Maybe I’m wrong.  Brandi said that nothing in Haiti goes as planned.  I really had no idea how right she was.  So…we laughed it off and put the dirt back in its rightful place in disbelief.  When in Haiti…

So maybe God's plans are that our plans don't ever go as planned... ?