{"id":7032,"date":"2013-08-30T03:07:00","date_gmt":"2013-08-30T03:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/?p=7032"},"modified":"2026-10-02T01:35:31","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T01:35:31","slug":"some-random-pics-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/?p=7032","title":{"rendered":"Some Random Pics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If I wait until my thoughts are completely coherent to write something here, this blog might remain blank for quite a while longer.\u00a0 By evening time I have taken my second shower and I’m starting to cool off physically, but my brain has been cooked by 9:00 PM.\u00a0 That’s when the main power goes out and the inverter kicks on with battery backup to a few outlets and overhead lights throughout the house.\u00a0 When I sit down at the computer at that point, I get to witness the variety of Haitian insect life as dozens of unique bugs are drawn to the light of the computer screen.\u00a0 Which is unpleasant.So it’s 9:47 and I’m sleepy and I’m over the bugs, but I’m thinking I’ve snapped a lot of random pictures over the last few days and, at the very least, I should post\u00a0a few of those, even if words fail me a bit.So here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Sarah found a coloring buddy in Elida, who works in the mission medical clinic.\u00a0 She said she wanted Elida to come babysit so Mommy and Daddy can go on a date.\u00a0 OK… where exactly would we go?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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We've actually hosted several different folks for dinner on various nights recently.\u00a0 I was excited to see my friend Joab show up at our door one day while he was in town from Port-au-Prince. He and his fianc\u00e9 Angeline were able to join us for dinner a couple of nights later.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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We've done a fair bit of Skyping since our arrival.\u00a0 It's better than nothing, but it sure gets frustrating sometimes – you never know how strong the internet connection is going to be, how fuzzy the picture will look, or how many times the call will get dropped. In this picture, Samuel and Sarah were looking at their own images on the computer screen: Sammy\u00a0was making\u00a0faces and Sarah kept striking various modeling poses.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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We didn't even get over to Cowman School until last Friday.\u00a0 It's been impressive to see how much work has been completed over the summer and how much continues.\u00a0 This is Motoi, painting one of the "cafeteria" tables. He and a crew of Haitian workers have spent the week painting and cleaning and repairing around the school grounds.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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Melissa's first graders, including Sarah, will be sitting at brand new desks this year, created by a local carpenter.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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Last Friday was Melissa's first opportunity to survey the space available to house both the kindergarten\/first graders and the preschoolers.\u00a0 She decided that this space, which was spruced up last year for kindergarten, would work best this year for the preschool.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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And this space, which last year housed the office of a well-drilling ministry called Life Water, would become her classroom.\u00a0 With a little bit of effort.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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Even the gates got a fresh coat of paint this year.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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Last Friday night we invited the Heckman family to dinner.\u00a0 So GOOD to see them again.\u00a0 We got to know and love them during our July Cross Training in Greenwood and were so excited to see them arrive in Haiti just a week behind us.\u00a0 BUT when Melissa heard they were completely unpacked already – in their first 24 hours – she was a bit envious!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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This week has been spent mostly at the school, preparing classrooms. Earlier this week, the kids helped sort and organize some of the preschool toys.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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I found the remains of a rather large spider as I was cleaning out the teacher desk in my classroom a few days ago.\u00a0 Glad I didn't meet him while he was still alive…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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The kids have enjoyed a lot of attention from a couple of dogs staying on the school grounds – and vice versa.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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We have found a wonderful lady to help us out in the kitchen three days a week.\u00a0 Her name is Ma Louis.\u00a0 The other night she made plantain chips – Haitian junk food – that were absolutely heavenly.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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More painting – this time the outside of the kindergarten.\u00a0 It's looking sharp.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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This morning we had a teacher meeting – this is starting to get real!\u00a0 I got the names of my students: seven 7th graders and eleven 6th graders.\u00a0 Cowman continues to grow.\u00a0 We have 93 students this year.\u00a0 One of the teachers – who is celebrating her ten year anniversary of teaching here – said she remembers a year when there were only 12 or 13 students in the whole school!\u00a0 Even in 2010 when Melissa first visited, there were only 23 students…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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We tried a recipe for honey bread in the bread machine this morning and learned that it should be halved next time.\u00a0 We left the machine to mix and bake the bread while he went\u00a0to Cowman\u00a0and one of the other missionaries called us a couple of hours later concerned that our house was in danger of burning down.\u00a0 The dough had overflowed the pan and was all over the heating element.\u00a0 It stank to high heaven.\u00a0 We still ate the good part of the loaf for dinner tonight because we had guests coming …<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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Our friends Bud and Jane came over and so did our buddy from Alabama, Steve MacInnis.\u00a0 Jane has been helping Melissa navigate the unfamiliar terrain of grocery shopping in Haiti.\u00a0 Tonight she came bearing a 100 pound bag … of sugar!\u00a0 You should have seen the look on the faces of our kids at the thought of that much sugar.\u00a0 Still, it's the most economical way to buy it.\u00a0 We'll split it with Bud and Jane and keep our half in the deep freezer,\u00a0out of the reach of\u00a0any insects or rats.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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Bud and Jane are trying to help a Haitian couple in the States adopt this darling little guy.\u00a0 In the meantime, they are Samuel's guardians here in Haiti.\u00a0 Sammy\u00a0had been\u00a0found abandoned in a suitcase in an empty house last year, close to death.\u00a0 Now he's a healthy, happy little boy who is full of personality and life.\u00a0 This picture is a selfie – Sammy was getting a kick out of seeing himself on my smart phone screen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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Gathered around the table tonight.\u00a0 A great meal of chicken drumsticks, courtesy of Ma Louis.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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Funniest moment of the evening: Jane had just mentioned how she wished she had some Sesame Street videos for Sammy to watch and that must have prompted our Samuel to remember the red puppet he had made during Cross Training.\u00a0 He came bouncing into the room with that puppet and Sammy screamed and stumbled backwards towards Jane!\u00a0 He was terrified!\u00a0 I think he might have soiled a brand new diaper.\u00a0 Bud and Jane tried to work with him to get him to accept the puppet, but he was not about to have any of it…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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Somehow, though, Hannah's pink puppet was less intimidating or creepy in Sammy's eyes and he finally made friends with it.\u00a0 Maybe Big Bird still has a chance…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

Tomorrow is\u00a0Friday\u00a0and it’s our\u00a0last day of prep at Cowman for the start of school next week.\u00a0 I’m not sure we’d even be able to get into the school grounds on Sunday if we wanted to and Saturday we have promised to take the kids to the beach or at least a pool as our last hurrah of summer.\u00a0 So there’s a lot to do tomorrow!\u00a0 We continue to find great encouragement and comfort in your prayers and support. God bless you!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If I wait until my thoughts are completely coherent to write something here, this blog might remain blank for quite a while longer.\u00a0 By evening time I have taken my second shower and I’m starting to cool off physically, but my brain has been cooked by 9:00 PM.\u00a0 That’s when the main power goes out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7032"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7032\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7035,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7032\/revisions\/7035"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}