The Haitian Queen

Yes, that is what we call this house. I just wanted you all to have a better picture of where we live and what are schedule is. We wake up at 6:30 and eat breakfast. At 7 we have devotions with the teams that are here. Teams start leaving around 8 to go to different job sites. Right now job sites are finishing upstairs, working on the orphanage up the Hill, helping build Samaritan Purse shelters in our community or building a house for a pastor in the next town over. Brian is in charge of the orphanage and the work upstairs so we usually go between those two. We eat lunch from 12-1 and then work till about 4 or 5. We have to take a lot of breaks because with the humidity the temp is usually around 115. After work, everyone cleans up and we eat dinner about 6 or 7. The rest of the night, people play cards, or talk to their dear ones back at home...we recently got a guitar player from California so he has been serenading us in the evenings. By 10 everyone is pretty much exhausted and off to bed...Brian and I have to do a lot of random things throughout the day as well...so everyday looks a little different. We also will have teams of 7 and teams of 18...so that makes a big difference on what we have to do but overall, that is typical day at the ol' Haitian queen.

This is the house, the Haitian queen. The top floor was damaged from the earthquake so they are rebuilding it to fit more volunteers.

This is our cook, Rosita (left) and our cleaning lady, Meghlan (right).

This is the view of our roof. We have solar panels to help with electricity, the satellites are phone and Internet. And the two black barrels are our source of water. Some days, we run out of water and have to pump more and some days we don't have electricity. You can see the mountains in the background...it really is beautiful here.

Brian and I do not sleep in the house because there is not enough room when teams are here. We sleep in this...the bunk house. It has no electricity, no windows, and no doors.

This is our bed. We pushed two bunk beds together and put this blow up mattress on it. The mosquito's are so bad here that if we sleep with any part of our body touching the net, we have bites all over that part in the morning.

This is how we wash our clothes...and then we hang them on a line to dry...this has been a tricky process since it rains every day.

Rosita is an amazing cook. We have to eat granola bars for breakfast and lunch, so dinner is crucial for us. This is fried chicken, rice, spinach souffle, homemade bread and this special sauce she makes. Brian loves it!