Sunday, December 13, 2009

VACATION!

I'm headed home today for a month of relaxation and spending time with family and friends ... and of course enjoying all the comforts of home. I'm not sure what I'll do first when I get to the Miami airport. Will I stop for a Starbucks peppermint latte, or a mojito, or french fries, or a salad or ice cream ... or all of the above?

The last week has been hectic but fun. Our last day of school was supposed to be Thursday, and then the Christmas party would be Friday before the kids all headed home for the vacation. But ... I guess you can do this in Haiti ... on Monday the director decided to just move everything forward a day so that the volunteers could get out of town early on Friday for a weekend in the mountains. Guess who cheered louder at that announcements, the adults or the kids?? We then left "laplen" (the valley) on Friday afternoon and drove the three hours up to Belo, which is at about 6000 ft. in the mountains to the south. One of the board members has a house there and he invited us to come up and spend some time together away from school before heading home. It was delightful. It's "cold" there in the mountains - it was around 60 when we went to bed - and I used a blanket for the first time since I've been here. But seriously, it felt SO COLD. (I'm a little afraid that it's 25 in Boston right now ...) We had time for some good long walks and long talks while roasting marshmallows and sipping rum.

Now my bags are packed and I'm trying to figure out how to dress for travel from Port au Prince to Boston in December. FLip flops? Hoodie? I just home the family remembers to bring me a jacket at the airport!

jwaye noel tout moun!

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Franklin

A few people have asked this week ... so I wanted to let you know that Franklin was released yesterday and came home at about 5 pm last night. He looks great, was smiling and joking like always, and joked that the prison was crazy and "I wish you could all see it." To which everyone responded - no thanks. That was a long two weeks.