Mom and I flew to Port au Prince last Wednesday. Dad, the rest of my family, and Sharla came Friday and Saturday. Zèzès family was hearing some stuff on the news about how Florida is so bad and some gossip about Haiti shutting things down with the US again and we prayed about it and found a flight for less than 48 hrs later for Mom and I. So that was a full day! I video called Zèzè in New Orleans before getting on the plane and cried lol... All thru the first flight actually and we were wearing masks nothing worse than no Kleenex and a snotty mask and being worried the person beside you thinks you have Covid because of your sniffles. And just like that we were on the plane flying over the Caribbean... Maybe two other white faces on the plane. I helped the two people on either side of me fill out their customs forms which was kind of me especially since the guy took my window seat and didn't seem inclined to get up. It took almost the whole flight to get them done lol. The band was playing as usual to welcome the flight in and we really had no trouble getting in, just some extra temp checks. We got outside the gate and there were Ben and Zèzè! And just like everyone said would happen, all the problems we had getting to this place faded out of sight so fast. Honestly it seems so long ago already and I've been here nine days.
Our next days were spent moving into the house, a couple treks and long waits to try to get the marriage license... It was wierd cuz we stayed at our house and there was family and friends EVERYWHERE that I was constantly being introduced to and the second day all the sudden we were scrambling to make sloppy joes and pasta salad with out the right ingredients and not enough kitchen supplies for ten or so people. And Zèzè kept coming and leaving and I just wanted to be alone with him and for it all to be quiet. We snuck out on moto whenever we possibly could and found excuses to not come back all that rapidly.
Saturday we picked Sharla and JC up and went straight to Wahoo Bay Resort... It's the only place like this open since Covid so we're here for our honeymoon too... Another thing that was kind of crazy... Visiting your honeymoon spot together before the wedding! Wow tho what a day... We jumped on the big trampoline they have set up and dove off it and played beach volleyball and went kayaking a bit. The best part was the snorkeling. The man took us out to a reef in a small boat for $5 each and pulled out some masks and we jumped overboard. Lots of little blue fish and purple spongy looking things oh idk what all but just swimming together thru those canyons and mountains in the blue green crystal clear water was magical.
Sunday after church we went to Zèzès parents house for a full out meal... His mom and sisters are amazing cooks and it was neat to have everyone together even tho it's hard with two languages you are always leaving someone out of the conversation.
Monday I kept thinking wow am I actually getting married tomorrow??? Cuz we were cleaning house getting ready for the supper in the evening. We hung string lights to the left of the house there's a little concrete closed in place, moved the table out on the porch and dad hung up the solar string lights I had brought. I love our porch and those lights are such a neat touch. Zèzè and I went and ordered twelve pizzas from Delimart (that's a really nice grocery store and restaurant close to our house) and Ben got Cokes around and the couches arrived so the house really did look good by evening. And everyone started arriving for the English choir practice and wow that was kind of nerve wracking welcoming them all to "our" home and Zèzè wasn't there right away. But once he got there it was a super relaxing, fun evening actually. Worth all the getting ready. I think there were about fifty people there. It was mostly Haitians singing in the English choir and they didn't really know the songs before. Zèzè just sent them recordings and they sang notes a few times first and then they were good to go. We want to have more parties out there... I thought it sang really well!! Good thing about cleaning all day was that I was super tired and slept really well with no pre-wedding jitters!
Our wedding was supposed to start at 2 and Zèzè was gonna come over for a bit in the morning, so I made crepes and set the table all pretty and the neighbors had pink and white boganvilla spilling over the wall so Sharla, Adri, and I went and picked a bunch much to the curiosity of the neighbor kids. Typical Haiti things didn't turn out as I thought and yes Zèzè did come eat a couple of my crepes but I frantically fried them while Ben waited to take us to the reception place. It was at a little hotel pretty close to our house... Just a few rooms and a pool and a restaurant. We brought tables in and his mom's family helped make all the food. And let me tell you that family knows how to cook!! They had rice and beans, fried chicken and goat, lasagna and another macaroni dish, fried plantains and picklis, beet salad and another plate of fresh cucumbers and peas and some other veggies. Then we made two pavlova desserts... One with a tiny amount of raspberries on top that we found at Delimart and the other with just topping and chocolate sauce. They had cupcakes too. The flowers on our table were white boganvilla from the neighbors and dried eucalyptus. I made the napkins from dyed cheesecloth, the napkin rings are from tin street here in Haiti, the goblets from dollar tree, and the name tags I made with salt dough. Just to brag about my money saving skills lol.
We set things up there and got home with about two hours to spare. So Sharla and Adri had had the bright idea to save the ice chests full of water from the night before ice and we soaked out feet in ice chests with the fan on full blast and did face masks and I had strong black iced coffee to give me courage. I kept thinking I should be nervous but the whole way it was set up, I never really got that way! We waited until the last possible moment to put our wedding clothes on because no one wanted to sweat unnecessarily, and yes, we were late to the wedding. Ben had to wait a long time at the car wash and he tried to get them to put him at the front of the line and they wouldn't lol. There were eight of us in Ben's car, all the attendants and Zèzè and I, and we parked outside the church and stayed in the air condition till they got everyone sat down and were ready for the walk in song. The singing was amazing... I was just so relaxed throughout the whole service except every time during the singing I would cry and Zèzè would squeeze my hand and ask me why I was crying and of course you can't really explain that. I tell him he has to learn not to be afraid of tears it's just water in my eyes. They love turning the mikes up. At one point Sharla and I just laughed because we were talking really loud, almost shouting, trying to explain something to her and still the singing totally drowned us out. Sharla says what made her day was the minister Gildony that preached was truly so sharp in a bright coral shirt and light gray suit and of course everyone carries sweat rags and he had a bright coral bandana to match. Haitians sure have style. Elder from Ganthier, the younger minister that directs the orphanage married us because the other one Zèzè had chosen couldn't come. We walked to the front and were married facing the crowd and get this we all put on hand sanitizer first. Something about that seriously cracked me up!!! If you listen to the recording of the wedding the song after the vows that they're singing really softly is where we're signing the marriage license. Very fitting song! Totally what I was feeling at that point... That I was seeing the rainbow now and how God's promises are true. We pretty much hurried during the reception to get left because it was getting late. Had some issues with a flat tire and it was raining... Poor Zèzè! But we arrived at our little paradise place all right. We've had it almost to ourselves except for the workers... Lots of them. They rake the sand and yard and bring drinks and fresh seafood seriously at your beck and call. And it's nice to have air conditioner and hot water... Oh we have made so many special memories in this place already! I'm sitting by the pool writing this while Zèzè is trying to figure out the tire situation on the car. Such lucky people we are to get to hang out in this stunning spot....
"Standing on this mountaintop, looking just how far we've come knowing that for every step, You were with us!"
❤️God is good❤️