Time for a Vacation?

As a kid, did you ever read that book "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day"? Today it seems fitting that the name Alexander so closely resembles Alexis.

Here's a recap of my day:

8:00: I kiss Ben good-bye in Desarmes (me, heading back to Port after having gone to see him for the weekend; he, heading back to the Central Plateau for another 80-hour work week). I forget to give Ben the money I got from the bank for him, leaving him with the equivalent of $6 for the week.

8:00 - 10:30: Josh and I drive to Port-au-Prince without incident

10:30 - 1-ish: I work at the MCC office, have lunch and buy a phone card on my way home (oh, and find out that we may not actually be able to afford to have the 53-person MCC retreat that's supposed to take place in a week at Club Indigo. I am on the planning committee.)

1:15: I am at home, looking frantically for my house keys and hoping for a shower so that I can change out of my flip-flops and the sundress I've worn all weekend, but am also late to meet with someone at POHDH... I give up the search for the keys, put my bags from the weekend back in the MCC truck that I'm using and head to the office.

(all day): Text messaging on my new phone (bought two weeks ago to replace my old phone, which stopped working for no reason) is not working. (Note for non-Haiti residents: text messaging is really the only affordable way to communicate in Haiti, especially when your husband is working out of town)

2:30-ish: I burn up my phone card vicariously looking for my keys (Garly: in the truck we drove back to Port, Sharon: the MCC office in Desarmes, Ben: his bag in Sodo)

I stay late at the office trying to make a dent in the work I put off during the weekend.

5:10 The clutch burns out on the truck I'm driving while I'm going up the big hill on Route Canape Vert. A couple guys help me push it to the side of the road.

5:10-6:00: It's a good thing I'm used to being stared at because it's rush hour. Matt drives by on his way home from work and stops to keep me company.

6:05: Josh comes to save the day. We transfer my bags to Matt's truck and Matt takes me to the gym, where I have a pilates class to teach at 6:15. Josh waits with the truck for Garly.

6:20: I am pulling shorts on under my dress while I begin teaching my 30-min class.

6:45: Josh is at the gym to pick me up after class. It's just getting dark and we realize the headlight on the motorcycle doesn't work. Also, it turns out, there is not much gas in the bike.
Nevertheless, we make it back to MCC.

7:15: Ben calls to tell me he was bitten by a dog

7:16: I hesitate to go into Epi-Dor, afraid the whole place might spontaneously combust when I walk in. But, no fires, no-one holds the place up, my sandwich is good and doesn't give me food poisoning.

8:00: I give Josh a ride home and stop by Matt's, where I empty out my bags in search of my keys, to no avail. Have I already mentioned that Ben and I only have one key between us, that there is no spare hidden anywhere else and that I'm scared of our landlady?

10:00: I am now at Rebecca's, where I can sleep, borrow clothes to wear tomorrow and try to think of good things, like the 2-day seminar that I put together for POHDH last week that went off without very many hitches, and the fact that we leave for North Carolina in 3 weeks and how excited I am about my new job...


The Heroes of the Day were without a doubt:

Josh and Matt
Garly for towing the Nissan back to MCC
Rebecca for letting me stay over and making me tea
Ben for deciding to come home early this week in spite of having too much work to do so that I don't have to figure out how to get into our house by myself tomorrow.