...and the roosters crow

AT 4:30 in the morning!

The music has started and the people of Haiti (and I) are awake!
Luckily the other 3 are still asleep.
The other group we are with is so incredible.
They are 4 girls from Michigan and I was concerned that Daniel and Chris were going to feel like the odd men out, but oh no! These girls are so social and include us all!
Today we will be going to church then meeting with the pastor immediately following to find out what we will be doing the rest of the day and week.
As for the country of Haiti, I am impressed. I saw a HUGE improvement from last time. Yes, the others are in culture shock. The tent cities and squalor still exist. The rubble is still evident (although a lot has been cleared away). There are many signs of rebuilding, my first witness to this was in the airport. We were welcomed with music from a local Haitian band. They hung signs and cleaned up and to my shock and surprise put fences up so we were not bombarded by small children begging for food.
There were large construction vehicles and men cleaning - which I never saw a year ago.
The children are just as welcoming and adorable as ever. Sara was welcomed with "Haiti's version of an American hello" and double fisted! (they watch many American movies without understanding what is being said and apparently we like to flip people off - they think this is our way of saying hello!!!).
We are staying in what the teens called the penthouse of Haiti.
Essentially slabs of concrete- however we are above the poor - with beds and doors.
While visiting with each other we watched what was going on around us and we have some pets that wander the street - goats, chickens and dogs.
As we tried to go to sleep (it was noisy with loud music, crying babies and people talking) as well as hot (we are cooled off by the occasional Haiti winds) we were serenaded by a woman below singing her baby a lullaby.
It was the sweetest sound.

I will write more this afternoon or evening. I'm sure Sara will write too. (I almost have Chris convinced to write, but in his defense he was visibly exhausted... and Daniel? Well the more I relay messages from his mom the more he perks up- so Carrie, I'm working on him!)

Please continue to pray because our hardest work lies ahead.

-Marilee and all her Haitian roosters that their internal clocks RESET! :-)