Day 7 (Jan 7th, 2010)

This morning I woke up a little before 7am and went for a very short run on the beach in my Gomer shirt (www.twogomers.com). Now I can officially say I ran in Jacmel. Mark took a couple pictures of me. "The best three pictures of your life," he said.


Just now some guys from the U.N. dropped by. Five of them in their fatigues. I think they were asking about the size of the crowd at the crusade. They seemed fine with the answer. (I wonder if these guys survived the quake - 1/25/10)

After my run, we ate breakfast (eggs, duh) and then Mark and Christy, Kelly, Ruth and I went to the market. It was fun, but totally not my thing. People everywhere, wall to wall. I did get some sandals, though. I tried to find some jewelry, but didn't see any I liked. We also went to a little art shop next to our hotel and I got some maracas and a cool little sculpture for me and Julie.

The orphanage has been normal today, for the most part. Jehmley was crying again. I shoved a piece of gum in his mouth, which seemed to help. It muffled his crying, at least. (This sounds terrible, but it was actually really funny. He loves gum.)

Steve was sick this morning and lying on the bed at the orphanage. Kaylene was so sad, crying by his side. One of the cutest things I've ever seen.


Her sister, Kaylin, cut off my sleeves for me today. For such a little turd, she can be quite the sweetie.



The other big thing was that I gave my TOMS shoes to Senglay (www.tomsshoes.com). I was SO happy they fit. Initially, I was really concerned about getting pictures of myself in them all over Haiti. But, that's not the point. The reason I brought them was to give them away. That was always the point. So, even taking a picture with him in them felt weird, but I do want to remember it. It was great to see him playing soccer in them and smiling. Totally worth it.

...
Everybody is at the crusade right now, except me and Steve. He's sick and I stayed back to "take care of him." I only got a little crap for it from Chris and Mark.

Honestly, I was sad watching them leave. Part of me is glad I didn't go, but the other part feels bad. I hate missing it. I hate missing the kids. I think Kangine thinks I'm coming. "Peetuh," she said earlier, meaning "later." So, I'll take advantage of the time to read, write and make sure Steve's ok.

Also, I'm a little more than halfway through "Introverts in the Church." I love it. Very encouraging. There are things that aren't quite me, but for the most part, it's spot on. I'm looking forward to reviewing it. (http://haackreviewsbooks.blogspot.com/2010/01/introverts-in-church-by-adam-s-mchugh.html)