Sunday July 18

Sunday: no work today. This morning I went on a 4 hour hike with Kevin, Phil (muscle-man carpenter,) and Kathy (who works on the camp grounds.) We drove to the top of a mountain and hiked our way down with no idea where we were going. There were cow pies everywhere and the turds (both cow and goat) guided us on our way toward the shore of the lake. We encountered cows, goats, relentless thorns, and strange looking bugs. I tried to use my fluent goat, but I’m not sure these Haitian goats understood what I said in English goat. I must say that I have never been happy to see goat shit. After some rocky and questionable terrain, backtracking, a few falls, and a little blood, we made it to the lake at the bottom. Since we had made it that far, we took a swim for a while (we found out later that there are alligators in that area.) I went in with my clothes and shoes, but it was great. The landscape is really beautiful here. As we were floating around in the water, a built Haitian man and his machete with a little boy came by. They stood and stared at us. Since our fannypacks with passports were sitting on shore close to them, we figured it was time to get out. We followed the two with their cow to find our way back. After we got lost, we had to backtrack and the guy led the way for us. He used his machete to help clear the path for us. We finally made our way back and headed back to camp.

Eight new people came today: Nancy (head of HOLIA), Anne, Joanne, Dianna, John, Kelly, Cindy, and Jen. It is very crowded! And there are a few snorers. One at home is enough! We will find out what happens.

That’s about it for a Sunday. Three more full days here. In a way, I don’t want to leave, but I’m sure it will be great to be home too.