Reunion

As soon as we get back to Walls, we head across the street. We are anxious to see the kids and also to report our progress to M. She seems happy with the news, but not knocked out. Kind of like she knew we could do it! She says the children will are on the way and will be here soon, so we sit on the porch again. I'm afraid we are in for a long wait, but about 5 minutes later I hear a vehicle pull up at the gate, and I see a nanny come thru, and then another. "They're here!" I say, before I even see them, and sure enough we see several little souls thru the wrought iron and the greenery filing in and up the steps to the porch. Cheetah is in the door first, and she recognizes me and comes right up and gives me a kiss on the cheek, which I accept, and then turn her around to see her mom,Aves. W is right behind Cheetah, and L right behind her, and they come up and give me a kiss on the cheek and immediately want to sit on my lap. They have on the dresses I sent them at Easter with the headbands I got from JC.

I ask W "How are you?" she hesitated for a mere 1/2 second, and then said "I am fine". I was so darn proud of her! Then in file Panda, Aves' little one, and Mrs. K's two. So we are complete. M comes out of her office smiling and tells them she wants a kiss, so they jump up and kiss Tante too. We sit and visit for a few minutes, it is all very civilized and wonderful. We all brought photo albums to sort of break the ice, and that is a big hit. My girls see their brother in the photos, and they acknowledge him. Then we head back over to Walls. My kids are happy and smiling and chattering, I think the others are too, but I am so intent studying my girls I am sort of oblivious. I show them where we are staying at the Villa and they are familiar with that, as I stayed out there the first time I came to Haiti. They are also happy Cheetah is across the hall from them, as she is their long time friend from their home town. Watching those three together I think it's probable that they have known each other their entire lives. They have obviously become very bonded in the creche. Cheetah is older, and she is protective of her little sister Panda as well as my two. I have already seen that on past visits. They ask me about their brother, LG. I say he stayed at home, but he says "allo" and I give them their little toy bags which are in zip locs, "zippys" (as they call them) which have a jump rope, a "little pony" and a pair of sunglasses in each bag. They go for the sunglasses immediately, ignore the other stuff, and head for my small suitcase, which they assume (correctly) has clothes in it for them. They open that up and pretty much go crazy! L wants all of it for herself, so I have to help them separate, and keep them from fighting over certain things. They seem to accept the verdict about who's is which pretty easily. They find everything and W immediately starts putting the smaller things like an extra pair of flip flops, hair do dads, extra underwear and jewelery in her Zippy. L discovers the food supply, and she starts putting a bunch of snacks as well as her underwear and various other sundries in her Zippy. They are chattering away in Creole the whole time and I'm just watching them on the one hand, completely detached and observant, and on the other hand, completely heartbroken. I know what is happening, but I am not sure why. They have never done this before, and I am thinking that they must know I am here for a visit, and that it is not time for them to come home yet. And in a way, that is good, because they are somewhat prepared. But I am not sure what is going thru those pretty little heads. After they get done stashing their zippys, they come back to the suitcase and meticulously fold and organize their clothes and put them back in the suitcase. And for good measure, W zips the whole thing shut. I watch the zippys over the next few days, and they acquire more and more odds and ends as time goes on.

Soon it is time for supper, and I think, unbelievably, I have been in Haiti now for almost 24 hours! We go to supper with Aves, Panda, Cheetah, and meet Mrs. K and Little Miss and Monsieur and all walk into the common courtyard together. It must be a little overwhelming, six kids and 3 moms. The adults sitting there look completely surprised for a minute, and one of our new friends, an American man doing mission work there, who wants to adopt and is wishing his wife would agree to it, just looks at them all and looks at me and says "beautiful", and he is right. I'm sorta laughing inside, I think, "all these kids together! Will Walls survive???" Because Mama J is there too with her little one who is a 3 year old fire-ball.

So, time for supper, and my kids know the routine. They are very polite. I sit them down, I fix their plates, I fix mine, I get water for everyone, they wait for me to sit before they eat. W eats like a bird as usual. L eats a bit less than I remember. It's OK. I think maybe some of the food issues might be dissipating. After dinner, it's time for swimming. They are very excited about that. We play in the pool for at least an hour. Little L gets more and more wound up, I notice. Afterwards, we climb up to the patio on the 2nd floor. The swing is occupied, but the kids just stand by the railing, and watch the trucks, cars, and SUVs go up and down the dusty streets. It has not rained in at least a week. There is a thick film of grime on everything, even the leaves of the trees and shrubs.

It's high energy, but around 7:30 it's pitch black and I feel tired, and I know my kids will be ready to sleep around 8:00 and so off we go to bed. I get them ready with their little jammies, their toothbrushes, I wash them, and I remembered to bring headscarves this time, and they are thrilled. It does not take long for all of us to conk out. I wear myself out in Haiti, with the heat, with the lack of sleep before I get there. I sleep hard, and I sleep well. The heat and the mosquitoes have so far been quite manageable. The toilet has flushed most of the time. We did lose electricity briefly but the generator kicked right in.

I awake with the rooster, as I always do. Daylight is coming, and it's only 4:30 in the morning. But this is life close to the equator. I lay there for awhile and think about coffee, which I know is still hours away. I think about getting a shower which I know is going to be cold. But worth it. So I get up and go for it. It's not easy, but I manage, and when I come back I feel like I have had 3 cups of coffee! W is awake and sitting up in bed. I say "how are you?" and she says, "I am fine" and we both smile. I love that girl so much! I untie her head scarf and I think her hair has held up pretty well. Then baby whirlwind...I mean, baby sister, wakes up and the fun begins. We wash. We brush teeth. We fight over what is going to be worn. They see I have powder and they say "Mwen mette!" (powder me) which I do. Later, W invites Cheetah over for some powder, and I see how it's really done, so I get better after that! It's so amazing how we learn from each other. Language and customs. Cheetah and Panda come and go in our room like they live there, and visa versa with my two in Aves room, so we see how it is going to be. Aves gets the giant foam puzzle out of the world, and she and Cheetah put it together outside the Villa. We show them where we live in America. Cheetah is very intent, anxious to learn, a wonderful and serious child. She is a beautiful girl. I have to confess that when I was researching adoption, and her referral photo was up, she convinced me, just by looking at her, that older child adoption from Haiti could be a very real option for me. And look how it turned out! Her friends are my daughters, and I'm traveling with her mother!

We go to breakfast. After that, we decide it is time for manicures and pedicures. We set up an assembly line and get' er done, in between all the playing going on in the courtyard!

We also get a little school work in. Really, it is an opportunity for them to show off, and for us to evaluate their progress. Cheetah is doing very well. She can write her letters perfectly. W is showing much improvement, she is writing more freely and she is very intent. I think of how it was a year ago, when I was happy to see that they could hold a crayon, but they did not recognize their written name, or any letters, for that matter. I also feel their understanding is improving. They throw in an English word here and there. When W looked at the photos I brought, she said "Dog" before she said "chen", she remembered that from last time, and she thrived under my praise! L also can do letters to an extent, but she is younger, very physical, very intent, can get very wound up, and does not mind throwing her studies aside. She is a whole lotta fun. They remind me so much of me and my middle sister in personality. It's uncanny. Mrs. K told me again "those girls look like you". I think she meant that, but the deeper meaning may be "those girls look like they belong with you". Looking around at all of us, I would say that was true of everyone there. I will say what I have said before, in total awe and amazement. It's easy to be cynical. It's difficult to have faith. I have never seen God so obvious as he is in Haiti.
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After all this activity, we say we are going over to see Tante M. A little anxiety, I detect. My radar is up. My girls are thinking it's time for us to depart. But I assure them we are only going to talk. We need to ask her for permission to take them on day trips. It takes awhile to get across to them that we want to go for a ride in the "machine". So, once more we cross the street, go to the creche, wait on the porch. Soon M comes out. We ask for permission and she says OK and immediately says the girls need to be combed! We all feel like inferior moms, but we laugh at ourselves. The hair is pretty fuzzy, and we are all afraid to do anything about it! I will say, the headscarves do work pretty well though, in terms of preservation. They come back very soon, very groomed. W has a completely different hairstyle. She has fabulous hair. I just hope in the future I can manage it! Back we go. The kids get excited about going for a ride with "Mr Veniel". We all pile in the van. Veniel does a cross check on all the doors and windows. Mama J and baby K are with us too. There has been some discussion of possible carsickness, and we know the ride up the mountain is going to be bumpy. And it is. We start up the hill. I hold L right next to me because she is so little, she will bounce away if I don't! Her little head is like a bobble head, and you have to sort of hang onto it and protect her! W is older and bigger however, and she is OK.

As you can see, when I am not holding her head, I am snapping photos like crazy out the open window. At one point, I see street kids running to the open window, and I instantly slide the window closed. Mama J says "good reflexes!" it happened so fast, in traffic, no one had a chance to say a thing. The sad thing is, that it happened at all. And yet, I know. We must protect ourselves and our children. We are headed towards Petionville, which is the ritzy part of PaP. Our ultimate goal is the Baptist Mission, way above the city.

Now, I must confess, blogger has failed me. It will not upload any more photos for this post, and I have much more to tell! So once again, we must be continued. So sorry! I was not planning on stopping here!