~ my trip & what's gone on since ~

wow, where do i start? ~ we arrived at the PAP airport & as we were loading luggage/bins in the back of barbara's truck, i was grabbed firmly by liz (ruby's mama) ~ she looks sooooooooo good & i was thrilled to be able to see her again ~ she's in the final stages of AIDS & has been really bad here lately, but was looking very good & i was so glad to be able to spend a few minutes with her ~ she was very talkative too & asked all about ruby ~ i told her that she's doing very well, extremely smart, goes to school & can now hear ~ i didn't know, but she'd no idea that ruby was deaf ~ she indicated that she knew that something 'wasn't right', but didn't know what it was ~ i shared with her that she couldn't hear/talk at all, but since she's had her surgery (CI implant) she's hearing very well & talking up a storm ~ she beamed a grin from ear to ear ~ i gave her the gifts that ruby had purchased for her (a blouse, sundress, photo album, necklace & some $) ~ she absolutely loved them all, but especially the blouse ~ we were using mirlande to translate for us & liz asked her who does ruby's hair (after seeing the pics in the photo album) ~ mirlande asked me & i said, "i do it" ~ liz said something & mirlande explained that liz didn't want to know who did MY hair, but who did ruby's hair ~ i said, "i do it!" ~ liz was told that i'm the one that does ruby's hair as well as the other 2 & then showed her pics of them too ~ she smiled the biggest smile known to man & said, "BON!!!" ~ she then told mirlande to tell me i'm doing a very good job & that she's impressed that i, being white, could do it as well as i could ~ she said that it's hard for haitians to do other haitian's hair & that she couldn't get over how well our girls' hair looked & she was glad that ruby had a mom that would keep her hair looking pretty & then she thanked me ~ man, i was feeling so good & was so glad that she 'approved' of how i was taking care of her daughter ~ we spent a few more minutes catching up & then she left ~ things were so hectic in our chatting as we'd just gotten there, dad had never been to haiti, madisyn (my sister) was at the airport too & we were seeing her for the first time as well, barbara needed to get moving as we had things to do, places to go & people to see so we didn't have a ton of time to stand & chat ~ it wasn't until about 30 minutes AFTER liz left that mom & i realized I'D FORGOT TO GET PICTURES OF HER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ~ it still makes me sick to think about seeing her & not getting new pictures UGH ~ while on the trip we were also able to spend time with karleigh's papa richard ~ we took him with us to the beach one day & spent the entire day with him ~ he's doing well & looks very good too ~ we told him (through mirlande) that karleigh's a very good girl, loves to dance & sing, is very smart, etc. ~ he seemed to enjoy hearing all of it & smiled when we told him stories of her ~ after spending the entire day with him, we sent him back home with gifts from karleigh ($, 2 shirts, ball hat & a bracelet) & yes, i remembered to take a ton of pictures of him! ~ we stopped by kiara's papa beau's house, but he wasn't home ~ some other family members were there, but refused to share with him that we were there due to us having 'gifts' & choosing to not leave them with the family members as they requested ~ we told them we'd return when he was there & for them to pass word along to him, but was told no, if we wouldn't leave the gifts with them, then they wouldn't tell him UGH ~ we made a couple attempts to get with him, but none worked out so we'll have to see him the next time ~ we also spent the night in cazale with the missionaries that we know (zachary's) ~ madisyn was able to show us all her friends, where she lived, where she used to live, to her school, her church, to meet her grandma, brother, sister & cousin ~ we'd a wonderful time seeing everything & she'd a wonderful time being 'queen for a day' ~ the first day we arrived she asked if i'd do her hair & after i got it done she said she loved it ~ while in cazale she was getting compliment after compliment on it & how good it looked ~ she kept telling everyone that her sister did it & they were even telling me that i did a good job (man, this trip was really a 'pick me up' when it comes to hair!) ~ we were able to get tickets at very low rates ($380 rt) & for that we'd to stay over night going in & over night coming home ~ going in, we decided to just 'camp' in the miami airport which we did & it worked out just fine ~ coming home we got a hotel room with a hot shower etc., so we were a bit rested when we returned ~ dad came home with a stomach bug of some sort & i came home with a sore throat & migraine which i've had for several days now & will be so glad when it leaves ~ i've not posted anything about my trip, due to not feeling all that great, but thought that it was time i posted something so everyone would know we're back ~ some that we spent time with in cazale are sick now too with a lot of the same symptoms so those that pray, please pray for carmelo (10y), trey (3y), dad & myself to feel back to normal soon ~ i'll post pics when i can, but wanted you all to know we're back & had a wonderful time ~ jennifer, i know you tagged me & i'll get on that right away, thanks!!