So, the whole Citadel thing wasn’t working out. We had had a great night’s sleep and a double dose of Starbucks coffee (I’m mildly obsessed), but were still itching for some sort of adventure. Our wonderfully amazing QCS mechanic left Port-au-Prince early on Friday and drove out to our truck to see if he could get it fixed. While he was working on the car Robbie and Irene walked to a nearby village while the rest of us played Uno on the porch.
After about 463 rounds of Uno Jill and I decided to stretch our legs. I grabbed my camera and we walked outside the compound and were greeted with a medium-sized hill. It looked like a fairly easy climb that would reward you with a decent view of the surrounding countryside so we decided to give it a try. We walked back and told the others who put on their shoes and joined us. We left the compound and, after a short, maybe fifteen minute walk, we were at the top.
There is a Haitian proverb “Dye mon gen mon”. “Beyond mountains there are mountains”. It means that there are problems after problems, but we experienced this is a very literal sense. After we reached our first goal, we saw it….another small hill beyond ours. It wasn’t far. We could get there quickly. So we headed for it.This walk only took us about seven or eight minutes. We were feeling quite proud of ourselves now.
Confident in our walking ability (quite the feat, I know) we looked about for our next attempt. In the distance we saw several sizable mountains (not hills, mountains). We chose one and Nathaniel guessed it would take us about 25 minutes to get to it and get to the top. I didn’t see how that was possible, but it was either attempt this hike or go play round 464 of Uno so off we went.
We walked to the edge of the ridge we were on and realized that we had been fooled by nature. What seemed so close a mere fifty yards before now seemed so much further when the perspective from which we were viewing it changed. This hike looked like it could take hours! However, we were too committed (and too proud) to back out now so we trudged on. The next hour(ish...we didn’t really time it. Let’s just say 25+ minutes) we stumbled over loose rocks, burrowed our way through thorny bushes that grabbed our clothes, and sweated...a lot.
It seemed as if we would never reach the base of the mountain, much less the top. I knew that every time I looked down that mountain hopped a few yards backwards away from us. I should also take a second to mention that a young Haitian girl had followed us on this entire journey wearing a long skirt and sandals, one of which was broken, and she kept pace with us all the way there and back. Feel free to call me a pansy, it’s okay.
After a couple of days hours we reached the top and surveyed our accomplishment. We had taken a day of potential boredom and frustration and used it to explore God’s beautiful creation. You may not think it’s beautiful, but I’m from Texas, West Texas to be a little more specific, and we appreciate a dry, dirty, dead desert sort of beauty. I felt at home amid the cacti and mesquite-type plants.
After reaching the top I called Robbie and Irene. The truck was fixed and ready. We headed back to the compound and packed up our stuff. We knew we would not be able to make it to the Citadel this trip because of time constraints so we decided to head back to Port-au-Prince to get the most out of our long weekend. On the way back we stopped at a public beach and relaxed in the sand before heading back to the noise and smell of the city.
Not the weekend we expected, but good nonetheless.
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