Into the Hills!

On Sunday
I took my first trip

into the mountains! God knew I needed a respite from city life. Jack, Marcia, & I visited a Haitian-American woman named Gerta, whom Marcia met recently on a flight home from the states. Gerta is launching a village football program this fall and it looks like the 14 soccer balls that a friend of mine had the vision to collect for me will soon be serving Haitian villager children!

Gerta cooked pumkin soup for us! We enjoyed this hot meal as our skin breathed in the cool, damp mountain air. She showed us her home which has been under construction for the past 6 years. She is building it into the mountain out of cement blocks- the most common building material I've observed here (both in and out of the city).

The drive up the mountain took us an hour- too short! I could have driven days on that road! Each twist in it unveiled a richer feast for my eyes and in so doing nourished my soul. It was better than church! Dear little villages clung to the mountain sides. Extravagent homes boasted acres of land for their wealthy families. Hundreds of simple farm plots transformed neighboring mountains into a patchwork quilt of textured greens and browns, rows of earth and crops mingling with trees and rock. The mountains were mesmerizing- pure and dazzeling as the laughter of a young girl at first glance but a deeper gaze suggested the silvering wisdom and poise of a very, very old woman. So it was like a perplexing but very attractive riddle, or a good song to which you can't remember the words but the soul of the music gives your own soul a little thrill.

A Haitian staff member of Three Angels has been reported to have said that "There's nothing good about Haiti." Has he never been to the mountains? I now have and I will be returning there as soon as possible!