We're here!

Rested, went for a walk this morning already, had coffee, met a young man named Junor who wanted to walk with me and talk.  He is 17, likes school, including Spanish, English, French, arithmithic, and science.  He wants to be a painter when he is through with school.  Only problem is, there are about 3 million painters here, some have talent, some not, but who are you going to sell your paintings to?

The ride down from Port-a-Prince yesterday was interesting.  At least it was daylight.  I've only come this way in the dark before.  In Port-au-Prince, we hot stuck in a HUGE pothole, and a bunch of men lifted us out, --while all 11 of us where still in the van!    Later on, the van with our luggage had a flat tire, and we drew a crowd while that was being changed, too. 

After the extreme poverty showing in PaP, it was nice to see the countryside and all the little villages.  Still poor, but not so starkly evident.  And when we went through the mountains, valleys, and the seashore, I saw a bit of Haiti I'd only heard about.  There are some extemely beautiful areas.  Can you imagine having a beach property here, but only having a shack?  I think I could do it.

When we arrived at Espwa yesterday afternoon, we quickly unpacked, and took a tour of the 125 acres and all that Espwa has to offer the residents.  Then, we went to the village and saw the children.  Always an amazing thing, they run to greet us, hang on, talk, and want to practice their English, if they know any.

We had pasta last night; it was delicious.  We hung around for a while, had a wonderful sharing time of our first impressions, and hit the hay.  It was good to have a fan in our room, as the room was still quite warm.  The cool shower was good.

Haitian coffee is strong, and I've already had my 2 cups.  Breakfast soon, so will report more later.  It's good to be here.