A Weekend In The Mountain #2

Shortly after lunch on Saturday our family climbed into the Montero, Mitsubishi and headed for the mountains. The day was warm, as most days are, and I was ready for some cooler weather. We knew, from previous experience, that the temperatures are a bit more moderate in the mountains.

Life inside the gates of our compound is relatively peaceful but life outside the gates is vastly different, from my point of view!

The gate keeper opened the gate and we ventured out. The street was busy with many honking vehicles and motor bikes…. along with billowing  clouds of dust. (Don does not seem to mind driving at all.. in fact I think that he enjoys it!!) Don did a great job weaving through the traffic and managed to avoid any collisions with the countless motor bikes zooming up and down the road! In spite of him being a good driver, I somehow have a hard time relaxing! I think I would be better off taking a nap while on the road.  But on second thought, that would not be a good idea either for I would, most likely, end up banging my head on the vehicle door while in my sub conscious state! :) The road from here to the road up the mountain  is not in the best shape. There are some pot holes and some huge speed bumps along the way. There is also a bridge that is “supposedly” being repaired. Instead of taking another street, like you might in the states, we take a detour right through the water that the bridge spans. And if you have had any experience with river bottoms you will know that it will not be a smooth crossing!

We were happy to reach Ti Goave, about a 45 minute drive from Leogane, and begin our ascent into the rugged mountains of Haiti. From there it took a good two hours to reach our destination. The vehicle we were driving was not the most competent, with worn out shocks and many other “aches and pains”! ( We decided that we do not want to attempt that kind of a trip again without a better vehicle!) We bounced up and down and back and forth the whole way to our destination. The ting ting a-ling in the back seat kept reminding us of the case of soda we were taking along. Every once in a while it would jump up off the seat several inches and the children would laugh!

Not far up the mountain, we were climbing an especially steep hill,  the montero suddenly lost power and refused to go any further. A Haitian guy drove by on his motor bike and hollered some words we didn’t understand … but Don interpreted it to mean to step on the gas and make a run for the hill. But unfortunately, in order to do that we had to back down the hill. I and the children decided to get out of the vehicle and walk up that hill, relieving the montero of some “extra” weight and me of “extra” anxiety! Well it worked! Don backed down the hill and gave that old vehicle some extra diesel and away it went.. I think I lost some weight that day.. climbing that hill! :)

Haiti’s mountains are very scenic, perhaps in a different way than you may think! I think it is best described as “rugged beauty”. The surface of the mountains that we were traveling  are a mixture of bare ground, lots and lots of rocks, and a sprinkling of palm trees, banana trees, some evergreens and scruffy bushes. Quite a few people make their homes in these mountains. Along side many of the houses are small gardens where they raise cabbage, green beans, corn, etc.

A person traveling these mountains may be surprised at all the children that are living here. It is not at all unusual  to hear the voices of young children calling out to you as you drive by. One of their favorite words are “blah'’… if you happen to be a white person! They call out over and over again.. “blah, blah, blah”! (white, white, white!) Another phrase you will hear a lot is “baum by guy”.. meaning “give me something”! They associate whites with things!!

Okay.. the primary reason for going to the mountains for the weekend was to see Rhonda and her little children! Rhonda lives on top of a mountain along with eleven precious children. We had visited there in March 2010, June 2010, and January 2011. Each time was a very special time for us…. We were eager to go again!

A good three hours after we left Leogane, we arrived at Rhonda’s. Rhonda’s children were happy to see us but acted shy and quiet for a little while! However, it was not long until the children “warmed up” and wanted to play.

I had told Rhonda that I would be bringing something along for supper so I didn’t have too much time to relax! I made spaghetti while Rose, Rhonda’s oldest daughter, made bread sticks. The children enjoyed the food as well as the soda that we had brought along.

 

….. to be continued……