Haiti Day Seven & Eight: Beach and Sunburn

Sorry I didn't update last night, we were all exhausted after our wonderful day at the beach!! Katie got here around 9, and we headed out for the beach around 9:30.  We didn't hit any traffic on the way there, which is amazing for Haiti!  We did get to one street that was super flooded, which made for some interesting driving.  We had to inch, and I mean inch past a large truck which was a little frightening, but very impressive to watch Katie do.  We made it to the beach in a little over an hour, and as soon as we saw the water we all immediately felt relaxed.  We went into this little resort type place that cost us $20 to get in for the day. As we walked down the beautifully landscaped walkway, we could see the crystal clear water and were so excited to get in.  We ordered our lunch, got in the water, and swam out to these little floating piers.  It was gorgeous and perfect in every way! We came in, took some pictures, enjoyed our lunch, and then walked over to another little area where we could jump off the wall into the water.  It was amazing!!!!!!!   The best part however, is that all of these men were on row boats selling rides to the visitors.  Katie asked him how much it would cost and it was only 100 goude to ride, and to use the goggles to snorkel were another 100 goude which roughly converts to about $5 US.  He took us out to this gorgeous area with tons of coral to snorkel around.  We all got in and snorkeled for about an hour, looked at all the pretty fish, quickly swam away from about seven jelly fish, and just relaxed. I've never been snorkeling and it was breathtaking! It was probably the best day I've had in a very long time.  I've never been to a beach so beautiful or relaxing.

Unfortunately, because my skin sucks, I got fried to a crisp.  I tried my best to not get burnt, putting sunscreen on at least five times, but I guess the sun here doesn't mesh well with my skin. I'm hurting pretty badly today, and spent the majority of my day laying in bed with my straps down.  My thighs are burned, the sides of my legs are burnt, my back and shoulders are crispy, and it is just about miserable.  The heat here makes it 100x worse I think, and I really just want to lay and not move until it goes away.  Sleeping was next to impossible last night, I woke up every time I moved.  I'm hoping i'll sleep better tonight and I'm hoping icing it and ibuprofen will help take some of the pain away soon.  I hate being this burnt away from home.  Only two more days though, I think i'll survive if I keep myself covered in aloe and stay on ibuprofen all day.

Tomorrow we are going to do a little bit of souvenir shopping and get some paintings.  Meredith and Jess are really excited and I'm highly looking forward to experiencing their first shopping experience in Haiti!  We will get to go to the Apparent Project tomorrow or Wednesday afternoon with Katie.  I saw their organization on the special Oprah did when she came to Haiti.  I mentioned to Jess when we watched it that I would love to see it one day, but had no clue where it was. Come to find out it is walking distance from Dorothy's house.  I'm so excited to see it and get some nice handmade things!  If I can make it through these two days and not die from pain, they will be a lot of fun!

Here are some pictures as promised:

I am absolutely in love with Johnny!

The four of us on the roof enjoying the sunset.

Meet Lovena, the newest little baby.

I think i'll bring her home!

The view of the beach we visited.  How gorgeous is that?!

The view of the beach from the pool.

Have I mentioned how much I love this Country and these kids????