Oh yes, it’s Friday Night….Ladies Night!
You know, when you get to be my age, with a grown up daughter, you forget how exhausting it can be to go at the same speed as 2 year olds to 12 year olds. So, when I suggested a sleepover at the girls’ house on Friday, I kind of forgot what it’s like to have a bunch of giggly girls create one gigantic bed with their matresses, and try to get calm enough to get to sleep. BUT I’M SO GLAD I DID IT!!!! Once we got our pictures taken by Dieunel (my official photographer…boy does he ever have an eye), and some selfies too, we sang a bit and got settled in for the big sleep. Anne and Sandra occasionally have some night time accidents, so they couldn’t join in on the matresses. They looked so sad, and I certainly didn’t want them to feel left out. So, I took them to their room and lay on the floor with just the two of them (Haitians have no problems sleeping on the cement floor with just a blanket…it is quite common as it is cooler on the cement…plus it’s great for those accidents). I sang them songs that my Oma used to sing to me, and within a couple of versus, the two girls were sound asleep…beauty…now for the rest of the crew! I actually managed to sleep pretty well. Josie snores like a trooper, the house mother talks in her sleep, and Ti Fi grinds her teeth so loud that I thought it was someone trying to break in. Surprisingly enough, I did manage a few hours of shut-eye ?.
Needless to say, Saturday was a bit low key, and I did some puttering around in the depot organizing. I tell you, if I wasn’t teaching, I’d definately own my own organizing business. I actually love doing this type of work, it’s calming, and satisfiying. The only problem is…I know where everything is…will Karen find things again ??????
Sunday was church, and I was a bit worried without having Karen there. But as I said before, she has worked so hard at setting up routines, that things basically ran themselves. I don’t know how (mind you this is my 6th time here), but I managed to fill up the water jugs , pack the devotion books, get out the drums , get the kids up here to help carry, arrange for Ti Fi’s escort, and voila…we are all set to go…wait…the keys…woops!!
Church was a bit chaotic. I was the only adult there for a wee bit (the house mothers get the kids ready, then quickly have to prepare themselves, so they run a little late). Luckily this young teenager, took charge (I’m sorry I don’t know her name). Karen will have to see about hiring her as a teacher one day. She was calm but firm. She got all the kids to sit close and to one side of the church so that we made a nice “choir.” Jean Phillip, our security, also jumped in to help and gently corrected some of the boys who were goofing off…nice to see the committment of the adults around here. The kids sang, and sang, and our “leader” prayed for us, as did Yolene our house mother. We even had some solo singing from the wee ones. THAT was sooooo wonderful.
Burning off energy on a daily basis is a must for survival with all the kids. One has to be creative in order to “look” like one is participating if one is past 50! So, I run a few races up and down the driveway (the LOOONNNNNGGGGG driveway), then we see how many different ways we can race: hopping on two feet, one foot, the other foot, crab walk, galloping…and then the kids invent their own way, which has them running up and down many times, while I supervise and cheer them on, declaring different children winners, and everyone is happy.
Dancing is another favourite past time, and boy can these kids move. Mariah (Karen’s Granddaughter) has been teaching them, and I so desperately want to learn to move my hips like they do. JJ set up music ? for us, and I grabbed Ti Fi to join us. She sits and watches mostly. But this time, when she held out her hand for me to come over for a hug, she actually pulled on my arm to stand up…yes…she wanted to dance too. And so we did to the amazement of the kids and the house moms. She stood with me for at least a half an hour, and we danced Beate style, while the little ones shimmied and shook. It was so much fun.
Okay folks, that pretty much sums up the events of the last few days. I will write again on Thursday to let you all know how my sleepover with the older kids went (they’re coming to mama’s house Wednesday night).
Many hugs and thanks for everyone’s support. ?
~Beate
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