I am here. I am alive. (this is Jay speaking). I feel conflict, unrest, peace, hope, poverty, and justice. I feel like I am fully living today. Everyday. Right where I am supposed to be. But it is not always easy, and life has been easier than this before. Still, I would not trade it for anything... though there are some things I would love to trade a goat for, including a warm shower, a working knowledge of Creole, and a county edict to remove all roosters from a 15 mile radius of my bedroom.

I feel like I am adjusting to life in Haiti though. I am seeing how comfort-spoiled I have been, and God has given grace daily to allow those comforts to die painlessly. I often feel like I have fully acclimated to life here already, and then I experience something that would seem routine to me, but is actually very far from it.

For example, getting a new tire for our truck. Not expected to be a big deal. You just go to the local Tire Kingdom to purchase a new tire. Until you pull up and the local tire shop and see things are done a little differently. The tire shop has no tire inventory, with the exception of the 4 used bike tires strewn across the yard.  Haitians are incredibly resourceful though and I stood amazed as the Haitian tire-fixer confounded me with his brilliance. Here is what he had to work with to get our bad tire inflated:

Thin slices of rubber (think party balloons)
Broken scissors (handles broken. blades functional)
Half of a philips head screwdriver (no handle)
A piece of a truck crankshaft (used for hitting stuff with force)
A used lawnmower blade (when leverage is needed)
Oily Sweatpants (to clean?)
Used motor oil (in a clorox bottle)
Flattened cardboard (still unsure why it is needed, but it functions like a denist chair, allowing the tire to rest while being repaired)
5 palm fronds (for shade)
A compressor that lacked a belt and a pull cord. (To put air in the tire, he had to find some rubber and rope to get it started). (I would have bet a donkey that he would not be able to get it started) (And he did) (So I kind of owe him a donkey)

Basically the finishing touches come when the thin rubber slices get shoved into the tire slit, oiled liberally, and then -- from what I can gather -- we are told to go drive to melt the rubber slices (balloons). I am amazed. And the tire is still working. A new truck tire here costs over $200 for a light duty truck. 4 times more than it would in America -- in this country where the average native makes less than $2 per day. So that means 3 things: 1) I wonder to myself why tires cost so much 2) of course Haitians are going to repair tires and find ways to do so effectively, and 3) We need to start importing tires to make some profit to fund the orphanage. (still praying about #3 :)

Please keep praying for us. We are learning the language, and every day feeling like we make a little more progress. It is both encouraging to see great improvements, and discouraging to still understand so little. But it is amazing getting to be a part of what God is doing here. The orphans still stop me in my tracks seeing their smiling faces, sharing joy with them, and hearing them laugh. We are making so many friends with the people in the church here. And hope to continue to be able to communicate with everyone more and more. We feel encourgaged. We feel joyful. And we feel hopeful that God will continue to be our everything.



Trip
9/30/2009 10:15:51 pm

You're right on track, Jay!
That's pretty "normal", a new normal I might add. Good on ya!

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