Sunday, October 30, 2016

Haiti Day 3

October 30, 2016

One thing I want to make sure to remember are the sights and sounds of Haiti. Everyone spends their day outside so there is ALWAYS noise. 

The guards walkie talkie 
Loudspeaker shouting something in creole 
Horns honking
People shouting
The squeaks of the gecko that lives outside
Dishes in the sink
Children laughing
Voices singing in church
Haitian music on the radio

We headed to the orphanage at 8:30 am like we always do. This time we got there right as they were finishing worship so we just hung back until they were done.  I spotted our girl right away and they had dressed her up in the cutest shirt and skirt. The three of us attempted to hang out with the rest of the group in the main room, but her nanny quickly shooed us out because us being there is just a huge distraction for the kids (they all want to bring us things and talk to us which can frustrate our girl).

*Selah (not her real name) was her usual joyful self and she loved the rainmaker toy that we handed her. During that time she tried so hard to tell us something and we were just not understanding. We could tell it was frustrating to her so we just kept apologizing for not understanding and then tried to distract her with a book. That lasted one minute before we again tried to tell us something. That part is really hard...she happens to know a LOT of words and is so talkative. She is usually content with us just repeating whatever she is saying, but not this time. Suddenly she was over it and decided she wanted to play with the "machin" (a walker that used to be hers) and have papa walk her around with it. They would shout, "BEEP BOOP!" and she would imitate him making car sounds...so funny and cute! Her nanny had the other kids come out to color and do a craft project (it was super cute) and Selah decided she wanted to color as well.

 We did that for a bit and then her nanny had us take her into her room and we listened to music on her little piano and played with blocks. Josh turned on "Divine Romance" which happened to be one of the songs that was played at our wedding and he had Selah stand on his feet and they slow danced to the song. I sat recording it and was just in tears (I tried to hold back because I am sure the nannies would have been so confused). It was probably the most beautiful moment I have ever experienced. A moment we have waited 2 years for. She loves her daddy.

 Just after that the kids ate snack and we headed outside to the yard to play. All the kids were swinging (they LOVE to swing) and then Selah and 3 of the other girls sat on the ledge of the sandbox and filled up their strainers full of sand so they could feel it falling through the holes. I love watching her play with them. Sadly, as we were beginning to leave our baby girl started to say she wasn't feeling well so we sent her with her nanny and left. We are hopeful that she will be feeling better once we return for the afternoon. 

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This afternoon ended up being wonderful. Selah was feeling better and we were so thankful it didn't end up being anything too severe. We immediately were sent to the balcony by the nannies and played with the rain maker toy some more as well as a matching puzzle. Then she just kept yelling, "papa! machin!" (meaning she wanted daddy to push her with the walker again). So they did a few laps and then traded with me. It's exhausting! She was so busy today and had lots of ideas of where we should go. After awhile she was ready to find her nanny and the rest of the group so we headed outside to the play yard. She went straight for the swing as usual. We pulled out the bubbles and the kids had fun blowing them with us and, of course, Selah couldn't be left out. After that she wandered off with Josh and played on the slide while I stayed back to let them have some time together. She initially went for her daddy first, but today she started to favor me a bit more so I was trying to let her bond with daddy a bit more. Eventually she yelled, "mama! vini!" (mama, come) so I headed over to sit with her on the slide. After a little while it was time to be escorted back to the guest house so we said our goodbyes and left. 

We are constantly amazed at how well this has gone. That isn't always the case and we do expect there to be some hard days (we are only 3 days in out of 15) but we are thankful for the days that are good. Our friends get back tonight and will be here until Thursday so we are going to soak up that time with them before they leave. I should also add that our kids have done so well. Our biggest concern and anxiety over this trip was leaving them for so long. But they have truly amazed us! We are so thankful for each experience we have had so far, Haiti really is an amazing place full of immense beauty and wonderful people and I am so glad that we are getting to experience our daughter's birth country. 

Goodnight from Haiti! 



*We cannot share photos of our daughter until we receive her adoption decree which is when she legally shares her last name. 

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