Finally Captured

Typically I go to bed here between 9:30 and 10:00pm. I know what you're thinking....that's really early. Well, yes, but we also usually get up and going around 5:40 am. Most things quiet down after dark here because the majority of people don't have electricity and are active while there is daylight. With that explained I can now start another story.

I went to sleep around 10pm on Friday and woke up around 11:30pm to some commotion outside my room. I didn't know exactly what was happening and in Haiti, it could have been any of a number of bad scenarios. However, I heard Chris' voice so I new that the situation was probably under control. I came out of my room to find out what was going on and was told that Leslie's aunt had been bitten twice by a centipede. Not a good thing. We are told that some of the larger ones here can send a person to the hospital, but apparently the one that bit here was on the smaller size....maybe two to three inches. She took an antihistamine right away and that seemed keep things from getting any worse. There was some swelling and she said it burned a decent amount, but things are pretty much back to normal now.

While we were up and sitting around talking, Chris got on his computer and showed us a picture of a centipede they found behind one of the electrical outlets in the old dorms. It had to be around 9 - 10 inches long. I'm not sure if that made Leslie's aunt feel better or worse.

As I was walking around the house I noticed that something smelled like it had died. Looking behind the water cooler I found a dead mouse. I gathered it up and threw it outside on the beach. After that we all went to bed and on Saturday I woke up to another mouse dead in the middle of my bedroom floor. I'm thinking that was most of the ones in the house, but who knows. On Saturday morning we went for a hike and then stopped by Canaan to visit with some friends.

Some of the local kids in the mountains

A flower I've never seen before

On Saturday night there was a pretty strong storm that came through. We had the hardest rain I've witnessed since being here and there was also a good bit of lightning. I've tried to get a photograph of lighting a few times here, but nothing has ever worked out. Well, this time there were quite a few bolts that were occurring over the ocean right outside our home. I took a ton of pictures and finally caught some photos with lightning in them. Take a look...

The first good one I took

A giant bolt

This afternoon, Leslie, her aunt, and I went to an 18th century sugar cane plantation that has been turned into a hotel and beach resort. They have vendors outside the hotel and Leslie and her aunt were able to pick up a few gifts/souvenirs. It was pretty interesting seeing a lot of the architecture preserved and getting to look into Haiti's past in a way.

Moulin Sur Mer

I think these represent Haitian slaves