Hello to all!
I am finally getting down to conquering the fun task of updating my blog! I had meant to do it last weekend but the busy days did not allow me the chance to write! But I am here now, and not working because of infected bite (spider maybe) that has swollen my whole ankle up and has created a rather painful experience. Dont worry Mom amputation is the last thing they do here ;) lol. I am on antibiotics at the moment to kill the infection. It has not got worse since i started taking the meds so im hopeful it can be cleared up sooner than later. Yesterday was nice to catch up on some sleep, butttt today i am rather bored! Its given me time to spend some time with the Lord, reading his Word as well as starting a book called Wild at Heart. Very interesting first chapter. Basically its about how the concept of Men and Womens hearts in society today are way different than what God intended. Finding the true character of our heart is what we should strive for :). A little summary off the top of my head!
So as i said before its been a while!! Work has gone well. I think i mentioned before that Jim Reardon and I have been concentrating solely on setting up concrete forms on the top of the block walls for every house to create a more stable environment for when/if another big earthquake happens. These take time. With these forms being wooden and in ten different pieces it takes alot of time setting up the scaffold, putting the forms up, ensuring they stay in the exact spot etc. There also other elements that slow the process down such as the weather (very hot/lots of water needs to be drank!), working with the Nationals and the language and work ethic barriers that this presents and having the right tools and equipment to do the job! Dont get me wrong I am certainly not complaining at all about this. The weather here is awesome. I have met and learned most of the 40 plus workers names and have developed positive relationships with most. It has been really cool. They are also very welcoming and for the most part want to help with anything they can! But all these elements creates a job that will inevitably go a little slower than North American standards. Ive realized this over the first 2 and a half weeks that it just is how it is! And something that needs to be accepted to overcome the possible frustration of things not going as planned, or not having enough expats(American, canadian workers) there to complete tasks on time.
A few exciting things happened this week on the job site! Bearded Jim (now my roomate .. more on that later!) gave me the lowdown on how to ride the big bobcat machine we have on the site! That was sick and ive been able to use it a few times now! Pretty pumped about that! Another event was the fact that I solely was able to set up a whole form with out Jim Reardon there, and it turned out really well! Got the pour done in under 2 hours, which i think is a record time. (One time it took 4 hours ... that was without expat supervision and a few goofballs who slacked!) So i have been well trained in a bunch of things by Jim. Sadly he left on Tuesday back to Maine. He is hoping and praying, as Am I that God will open some doors to allow him and his family to come down for a longer period of time very soon. We will see what happens with that! He also mentioned to me that i better not be writing anything bad about him on here. So heres something bad... hes addicted to Ragaman! haha its like Red Bull but more lethal! Its kinda funny lol.
One unfortunate event that have been occurring at the work site have been the disappearance of tools and equipment. Simple things like Philips bits and 5/16th bits are very popular items. However SP has had several larger equipment pieces gone missing such as battery charged drills etc. On Monday there was a big meeting at 8 am that informed everyone that because of a recent event where a personal laptop was stolen out of one of our tents that a new policy would be introduced where if something was stolen that every single national staff on base at the time would be given at least 2 days off regardless if they were involved or not. To expand a little on this problem I have been told that Haitians have been taught over the generations (even churches/pastors) that if something is lying there and not being used that they have every right to take it because they can use it more effectively than it is being used at the moment. With that being said alot of things are stolen because of the profit angle. But this underlines the concept that stealing is a common thing, especially stealing from an organization like SP that has so much already (view of most Haitians). The security guards here do random searches of the workers when they are leaving. On tuesday night after work they searched one construction workers's bag and found an impact driver in there. This person had been working for SP and Ken (boss of the construction crew) for the last year. He was fired immediately. It was rather disappointing for someone to do this, especially after the meeting the previous day. It is now being enforced that everyone who leaves will be searched to prevent theft from happening. With that being said there are people who work with like Lukeman and Schneider who can be trusted completely. So it is not everyone! Always going to have a few bad thorns wherever you go! Just have to pray that their hearts will change.
I thought that would be an interesting little tidbit about Haitian culture. On to some stories about the adventures I went on two sundays ago! Went with some of the guys/gals to Jacmel and to a very gorgeous waterfall! It was so pretty. The blue color of the water was a color i had never seen in nature before! The drive there was interesting in itself. Pretty much drove up a mountain with some crazy turny and sketchy corners! But was it a beautiful sight! When we got to the site, we hired a guide to make sure we knew where we were going and hiked the 25ish hike to the waterfalls. A bunch of us climbed up the waterfall to about 25/30 feet and jumped off! It was alot of fun! The main reason why we all went was to celebrate Travis's (rubble PM) last weekend here and I think it was a good send-off for him. Got some good pics of the group.
This past weekend was a pretty chill one. On Saturday we did not have to work as the Haitian workers all went home. That was very nice. A 2 day break was needed for sure! (I found the 2nd week of work to be way tougher than the first week.) On saturday i watched some college basketball with a few people. Charles, the country director, went to Kentucky U and is an avid fan. And Kentucky has a sick team this year loaded with numerous future NBA players. So Ive watched a few games with him. On Sunday I was able to go to an orphanage with Jim R that was located about 15 minutes down the road past Leogane. I forget the organization's name now (Operation Bless the Child maybe?). There are about 60 kids ranging from a few months old to fourteen years old. It was quite a sight. So many happy faces. During the church service where Jim led worship I held a few toddlers. So cute! and they all fell asleep in my arms! If I could give them all homes I would. Such innocence, but yet so much taken away from them already. Another highlight of the visit was seeing all the children dancing and playing instruments under the roof structure just praising God! So cool!
On the way home from the orphanage, I was reminded also how mislead some Haitians are as we passed a Voodoo house. Just gave me a sick feeling as we saw the pictures and paintings on the walls showing paintings that made my stomach do a back flip. This is one prayer request in that God will continually do wonders in this land and open the hearts of all Haitians who mix voodoo into their religious practices. I also found out from talking to the director of the orphanage that Haitians do not have a correct translation of the Bible in Creole. Instead it omits certain important parts. This is another cause of concern that needs to be fixed soon as well, and which prayers can be said for!
Sunday Night we watched the SUPERBOWL. It was a fantastic night filled with lots of food (homemade pizza thanks to Nat!!) and some good ol pigskin watching! Unfortunately the Giants won, butttt I wasnt too heartbroken about it! Lost a little goudes (Haitian currency) on it. Nat ended up winning i think. He predicted at 27-17 game for the Giants which was pretty darn close!
The highlight of this week so far was definitely Tuesday and Wednesday night! Tuesday at 530 we played some road hockey on the Heli-Pad! It was insanely awesome!! Myself, John Troke (fellow Canadian) and a other John from Operation Christmas Child VS Nat, Mike D (a fellow sherbrooke dude) and Jake (from Indiana, and loves soccer/Man U). We won ended up winning 7-6! I might of scored 5 goals :D.
Than on Wednesday Katie (UNC alum), Nate and I watched UNC/Duke! It was a crazy game with some huge up and downs. Duke hit a 3 pointer with .2 seconds left to win it by one. Butt it was still a fun time cheering for the Tar Heels.
I worked Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Yesterday and today Ive had off as a result of my infected/swollen ankle. I am bored today! But it has allowed me to write this :). By Monday i better be able to walk without lotsa pain! I feel bad sitting here while everyone else is working there but off.
This weekend we have been told to lay low since there is a huge gas shortage in Haiti right now! So that means no travelling to touristy spots for us this weekend. Some more R&R i guess!
Oh ive been running with a few of the gals and one time when Katie and I were running we got asked to play soccer with 6 guys my age. They had some sick foot skills. Played with them for half an hour, and i scored the only goal off a nice pass by one of the guys! It was a little different than normal soccer as the goal was to hit the concrete block not score into a net. The funny thing about this was that Katie and I didnt know this for the first 15 minutes of the game! haha
Anyways i think thats all for now on my end.
I trust and pray that everyone is doing well on your end of the spectrum. I thank you all for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers. It means alot to me!
Blessings
Justin "Bieber" (Yep thats what they call me here thanks to Jim lol)
