When we arrived we were the only people staying there. During our stay there was another family who came as volunteers and stayed for a few days. They were a very nice family and it was fun to get to know them and be able to socialize with them. One evening we sat on the couches and played Jenga. We enjoyed our conversations with Lisa and , and they are in the process of adopting through the foster care system...and are interested in someday pursuing an adoption from Haiti. This picture is of them with their two kids (plus a girl and boy from the orphanage that wanted to be in the picture too)!
We were really grateful to be able to stay at the Guesthouse as the proximity to the orphanage was amazing. Most often families on their bonding trip (or visiting) stay at a hotel or guesthouse and have a driver take them to and from the orphanage each day. In addition to spending money on a driver, time in the car, less time with the kids, and having the unpredictability of when the driver will show up...we also wouldn't have the ability to just walk back and forth between the guesthouse and the orphanage on a whim. We loved being able to spend some time interacting at the orphanage and then leave for one-on-one time when we wanted to. We loved being able to watch and help with getting the girls ready in the morning, and to be able to feed them (and keep them on schedule with their main meal) at the orphanage. It was a really ideal situation that way. So! I wouldn't ever complain about staying at the guesthouse, but there are some things that were different...we're in Haiti after all! And it wasn't lost on us that while things weren't what we are used to it is still very comfortable compared to what many people in Haiti have access to for living conditions.
We used a headlamp in our bathroom the first few days until a light was put in (which we were so excited about). It gets dark early there and I was always a bit squeamish about what creepy crawlies could be in the bathroom that I couldn't see. We were glad there was often hot water, but that was never a guarantee...one cold shower in particular that I took I remember taking my breath away. Also, anything with a filament (like the microwave, hair drier, etc) had to only be used when the generator was running. We didn't know until we'd been there several days that we could ask the guards to turn the generator on for us so that was really nice to help time showers since it takes me some time to dry my hair. Being in the mountains it was actually cold in Kenscoff at night, so I wouldn't have wanted to go to bed with wet hair. Here is a picture of the generators we were so grateful for!! Without it, we would have frequently been without electricity at all!
And I have no idea what the storage shed was next to it, but it sure was painted nicely!
We played a bit of musical beds while we were there too. The first bed (the full sized bed we shared) was really soft so we rolled together in the middle like a trampoline at night. That started hurting our backs so we moved to separate bottom bunk beds. I got a ton of bites that night so I was nervous to sleep on that bed again and moved back to the full-sized bed on my own. Eventually the two of us moved to another room (since we were the only family there at the time)...but that bed was really, really hard (is this sounding like a certain fairy tale??) so Mark switched to another bunk bed. I decided to just stick with the hard bed. It didn't hurt my back and I didn't get bug bites...I did get a bruise on my hip from being a side sleeper on such a hard bed and not moving while I slept because I had begun to resort to sleeping pills every night that knocked me out. Part of the reason for that were the crazy roosters that yelled all night long, and the dogs that barked all night.
I mentioned that we were lucky enough to have a cook for our breakfast and dinners. Lunches we were on our own and Sundays she didn't work. That worked out perfectly for us. She was a great cook and we enjoyed trying authentic Haitian food for the 2 weeks we were there. After eating we cleaned up and washed our dishes. Mark was a champ and took that on...here he is washing (and then bleaching the dishes afterward to kill things carried in the water used to wash the dishes):
We had someone who occasionally came and cleaned the guesthouse also. I think she had other responsibilities also though because sometimes we didn't see her. At one point the garbages hadn't been taken out for a long time (which we would have been happy to do, but there wasn't a dumpster or anywhere we knew to take it) and it started to REALLY stink. In Haiti you have to throw away your toilet paper when you use the toilet (the sewage lines can't take any tissue or anything), so if the garbage is emptied daily it's not a problem but we went several days a couple times and had to move our garbage to the bathroom upstairs because we were gagging. We then tied it off and put it by the back door the next day. I know they burn a lot of their garbage and that the orphanage did just start participating in a garbage pick up program (new concept there), but next time I will definitely ask what we can do with our garbage if it's not taken out.
There were also mice that we saw run across the floor several times, but we didn't see lots of spiders or anything. I'm guessing that may also have been because this is their colder season. We were provided with clean Culigan style drinking water that was collected for us from their filtration system...we filled up water bottles with it to drink, brush our teeth with, etc.
Their were couches and a table to relax at in the main living area, a table and chairs to eat at in the dining area, and items available to purchase that are handmade by local artisans employed by Chances for Children. Lots of beautiful art like paintings, jewelry, etc.
The grounds were lovely and we were always impressed at the sheer volume of clothing that was washed each day by the women who were in charge of cleaning for the orphanage. It hangs out on a line behind the guesthouse. Here I am one day holding Il walking around the side of the guesthouse...
In the photo above, we are walking up the stairs past windows that went to the rooms we stayed in. The first room we stayed in was the first room on the right when you walk in the front door of the guesthouse, and the rest of the time we stayed in the next on back.
I am sure there were so many things done behind the scenes to make our stay at the guesthouse more comfortable which we aren't even aware of, and we are so grateful for that amazing resource. We already have made so many fond memories in that pale yellow building that I will forever treasure. I can hardly wait to be back there to play with our little girls again...and to know that each time we get to do that, we are closer each time to being able to bring them home too. I miss them so much!
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