There and Back Again

16 days later we are back in our country estate, greeted by a rainy day and our lovely indoor bed! It has been an adventure that we won't soon forget and that we are glad we set out on. We have been encouraged and renewed by a change of setting and people but we are so thankful to be home.
Our last couple days in PAP were full of activity and people as one can imagine running a guest house. I was trying to keep all the electric and water going the whole time I was there and of course had some things go wrong... ie this picture. When I repaired the shut off valve in the back of the toilet that was causing all the water in the cistern to leak out each night I had the water supply line cross threaded. I was waiting to turn on the water supply valve until I had filled the cistern, but I once I filled the cistern I forgot to go turn it on and check it. So what happened was that someone (Dan) turned it on thinking that I was a good plumber (bad assumption) and left. Since it was cross threaded and I didn't know it water started spraying onto the floor. We were all down stairs when we heard water splashing. At first we thought it was the cistern overflowing but with a little more listening we investigated upstairs. We walked into the bathroom to find inches of water on the floor! That is why Joy and I are standing in the picture with towels. We would sop up a towel full of water and wring it out in the shower. It took about 7 bath towels and 20 minutes and we had it all cleaned up. I rethreaded the supply line and had it working in no time! This story is much like the rest of our time in the PAP guest house. There was always something to keep us busy including this picture of Kathleen cutting a piece of wood to repair a drawer in the kitchen. At some point in the last few days (they all blend together) we set up all these mosquito nets for the Canadain team that was staying with us for another night on their way out. The teams were always coming and going and it was great to get to meet so many new people. It was really neat to see the variety of people that have come to Haiti to help in their time of need.
On Sunday we went to Petit Guave to visit the clinic. On the way Kathleen and Joy saw the extent of the damage on the 2 1/2 hour drive there. We walked down to the water and took this pic. Again it was strange to be in a place where my dad had sat and typed emails a few weeks earlier. God works in mysterious ways. It was a different Valentine's Day than I would have planned for my first year of marriage had I not been in Haiti just over a month but Kath and I were able to get a moment on a rocky beach in the Caribbean watching the waves break over old cement foundations. Maybe it was better than what I could have planned in snowy and cold Indiana.
We came back and met the team that has been working hard here to fix up our medical clinic. They are a great group of people. We kinda took this morning to catch our breath. We are still deciding when we will start our English classes but it will probably be this week. Saturday the Thedes leave to go to Petit Guave and the Baileys and us will take over working with the next team. We feel much more prepared after our last couple weeks in PAP. Thanks for all the prayers!
Kathleen and the Scotsmen (Dan, Jarvie, Kath, and Kain) - great group of guys!
The view from the plane window as we took off from PAP.