Monday, September 27, 2010

Pics from the Road

Here a few pics from the last couple months. The first two came from Leogane.  I was there in July with a Homes for Haiti team.  David Uttley (UH MAY ZING photographer) and I walked around the area of Leogane, ate kènèps with some of the kids, stopped and talked with some of the residents in the area, and snapped a few photos.

    boys 

little girl

These last two came from Grand Goave,where we also had a Homes for Haiti team putting up a house.  I tried walking around the area on my own but got frustrated with the number of times I was stopped and asked why I/we couldn’t build them (them being whoever it was I was talking to) a house. So I just stuck around the yard, talked to the family and neighbors, and snapped a few photos. 

baby camera

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Missing Persons Report for Amy Long: She’s Been Found.

Like so many of my recent posts, I’m once again apologizing for my absence.  I just spent a month in the states and while, yes, I had to time to reflect and blog, to be honest, I was on vacation, and really, I just didn’t feel like it.  Its my prerogative, or so they tell me. 

I’m home now.   I arrived in Haiti on Wednesday.  I was in Port au Prince by 11am and at my house just after 4:30pm.  I was greeted by what my neighbor referred to as a very lonely dog.  The dog’s been staying at the house, being cared for by neighbors, friends, and staff.  But apparently he was lonely.   I can imagine. Simply being fed is different than being loved.  I can’t really say that I LOVE the dog and couldn’t imagine my life if something happened to him.  He’s not really my dog.  He actually belongs to Susanne, one of my roommates, who has been in Germany since May (she’ll return in January) on furlough.  Beth, my other roommate, and I decided that we’d care for him while she was gone rather than try and find a new home for him, or last resort, put him to sleep.  While I’m not a dog ‘lover’, Bubba’s a good dog and its nice to have the idea of some kind of protection while I’m here alone (Beth’s still in the states until Thursday).  I will admit though, that Bubba’s looking a little rough.  I was going to try and give him a bath before i left on July 30 and I just didn’t have time.  I imagine that one of my weekend activities will be washing the dog.  I’ve never actually bathed a dog before, so that should be interesting. 

Life’s going to be very busy over the next three months.  The way the schedule looks now, we’ve got three teams every month until December.  I was supposed to be out with the team who arrived yesterday.  But late Wednesday night I was overwhelmed with the fact that it was just too complicated for me to go.  The week night person we had taking care of Bubba told me Thursday that she wouldn’t be around next week so she wouldn’t be able to feed and care for Bubba.  Since I was leaving early Friday morning, I really didn’t have time to make all kind of arrangements for the dog.  And I couldn’t leave him here alone.  Perhaps it sounds trite, and normally wouldn’t even be an issue because Beth and/or Susanne would be here, but just so happened this week, I’m solo.  Being here will actually give me a chance to get caught up some photo editing and posting that is back logged, due the flurry of activity this past summer.  I’ll also be able to start getting my head around some new things I’m going to be working on.   So, while I’m not with the team, this coming week will still most certainly be busy.

I am taking a motorcycle taxi to town with Becky in the morning- just for some girl time, ie": shopping!  Even if we don’t buy anything, there’s an abundance of things to browse.  I suppose after I come home, I may be washing the dog.

Anyone heard if it’s supposed to rain?  I wonder if I could just put some soap on him and leave him outside…?