Thursday/Friday (I know, what a descriptive title!)

Esther and Judler on Thursday

I had already decided that I'm too tired to post tonight (for whatever reason, I could not stay asleep last night), but then I got a bit of a burst of energy and decided that I could at least manage a quick update, just for the two or three of you that might actually read this :)

Anyway, Thursday (wow, was that only yesterday??), I headed back over to Heartline for prenatal day.  I really enjoyed getting to practice what Beth taught me last week--measuring fundal height, checking the position of the baby, and getting the baby's heart tones.  So blessed to be able to learn these things among such amazing people :)  Another fun thing about yesterday was meeting Lena, a labor and delivery nurse from Miami, who is visiting Heartline this week.  It's interesting how quickly you can connect with people here in Haiti; I met Lena just over 24 hours ago, and today, she bravely followed me across Port au Prince (on foot and through the mud nonetheless!) to come stay at Notre Maison with me for the night.  Not something you typically do with a stranger in the States, yet here, it seems normal (to me, anyway. Guess that might not be accurate after all!).  But I'm getting ahead of myself...

Beth and Agathe teaching on Thursday

I stayed the night yesterday at Heartline's guesthouse, which is without a doubt the nicest/cleanest/quietest guesthouse I've ever stayed at in Haiti.  Therefore, yet another Heartline plug: if you're coming to Port au Prince, stay with Heartline!  :)

Two of Agathe's adorable daughters, Grace and Anna

This morning, I got to ride out to Heartline's property where they're planning to eventually relocate all of their programs.  Currently, they have their school for the Heartline missionary kids up and running there.  Sweet Hope was so kind as to give me a tour of the school, and Heartline's super tall (as in, I maybe come up to his shoulder, and I'm tall!) driver, Evan, showed me the rest of the property.

As soon as I got back to the guesthouse, Beth came to pick up me and Lena, and we headed to the maternity center.  On Fridays is "family planning day"--Agathe teaches a Bible study, pregnancy tests are given, blood pressures are monitored, and family planning counseling/education takes place.  I spent most of my time taking blood pressures and writing down information on the women who came.

the truck in the "car catcher" drainage ditch

After all the women had gone, Lena and I headed back to the guesthouse, going the second part on foot due to the ginormous truck that had driven into the drainage ditch and was blocking the gate to the neighborhood. Never a dull moment here.  Amazingly enough, within a very short amount of time, the truck had been lifted out by a big group of men.  Impressive.

Christine at Notre Maison

Mid-afternoon, Lena and I again set out on foot to walk to the Deli-Mart down the street, where we were meeting the driver from Notre Maison.  Sounds simple enough, right?  Well, it would've been, were it not for the stream of water/mud/ick/don't want to know what else that is currently present all down that road (though apparently, it's in much better shape than a month ago!).  Regardless, we both ended up with pretty muddy feet and I at least had to concentrate pretty hard not to slide right out of my slimy flip flops.  But we made it :)

We got to Notre Maison with enough time to play with the kids for a little bit before dinner, and then after dinner, Lena and I hung out on the front porch with the kids for awhile while they had their nightly worship time.  Some of these kids can really sing, let me tell you!

Jacob, who is temporarily living at Notre Maison,
along with two other little boys

Now we're heading to bed (hopefully I'll actually sleep tonight!).  Tomorrow's (always tentative) plans are to hang out here with the kids in the morning (Lena bought some special treats for them today at Deli Mart) and then to head back to the Heartline Guesthouse in the afternoon.  Should be a good day :)

Oh, and thank you so much to all of you that voted for Heartline (and especially those who also pestered others to vote as well!).  Voting closed today, with Heartline in fourth place, which means they're a finalist and could win a grant of up to $50k!  Recipients will be announced on December 16th.  So exciting!