Day 4 7-16-12

I woke up this morning took a nice cold shower and began to prepare for my day. Although it was one of the most humid and hottest evenings since being here I was able to get some rest. After breakfast I met with some close friends who stopped by New Life to visit before their flight out this afternoon. Kyle is a representative of The Granted Wish, the organization from Canton Ohio who is supporting us in the adoption process. I was able to update him on what's been accomplished so far as well as my meeting with our attorney Tuesday afternoon.

After they left I met with Barry and discussed getting Wisbens ready to go into town to get a passport photo for his file at the attorneys office. I found Wisbens explained to him what we were going to do and went to his room to find appropriate clothes that he could wear. Because of the language barrier with the Mon Ton's (nanny) Guivens assisted me in communicating with her and told her what we needed to do. She immediately started looking for a complete outfit, brushing his hair, and putting deodarant on him. It was great to watch a her work with him and to also see how important it was that he look nice. She could of easily put on a shirt on him and sent him away but took the time to ensure he looked appropriate.  We met with Mario who would assist in the process and began the treacherous drive through the city.

It was a busy day as usual on the streets of Port Au Prince and we were welcomed with the constant sounds of horns and cars racing by. We were met by several dump trucks who insisted we move and Mario's aggressivenes and Kreyole helped us to stay on task. As we were driving Barry educated me on driving in Haiti as well as the defense and offense that must be played to survive. Essentially the more beat up the cars are the more you avoid confrontation with them as their cars are damaged for a reason. As we arrived at the photo shop and parked on the curb, I helped Wisben get out of the vehicle. He was immediately overwhelmed by the fast paced life and noises and grabbed my hand tightly and said my name a few times.  I could tell he was nervous and picked him up and carried him across the street and into the shop. After the pictures were taken we had to wait about 45 minutes. There was a t.v. in the lobby and Wisbens was mesmerized with it as well as the music videos that were playing. As the shop is finishing up I notice a familiar song that began. "Call me maybe" pierced my ears and it is obvious that I could not run from that song even on the streets of Port Au Prince.

We finally arrived back at the orphanage and took time to eat lunch. While we were setting outside a huge storm blew up with 40-50 mile per hour winds. I had time to get to the room and close the windows before the rain started. After the storm blew over I went down to play basketball with the guys. We played a few pickup games Haitian style no rules. I included Wisbens in everything we did and he enjoyed playing but not as much as soccer. The power has been off for a couple of days and New Life has been powered by a generator. When the storm blew through I am not sure if it affected the internet or not but it has been out all day as well. I have not been able to contact Jen or Maddox today and had to borrow someones phone to let them know I was ok.

Tuesday is a big day and I pray that things go well with the attorney and he finds no errors in any of our paperwork. I would also ask that you please pray for safety as we are in the city and we make it back to New Life with no problems.

 I will post pictures if possible as the power and internet continue to be sporadic!!