Day 2 Embassy Appointment/Court appearance

  We were told to be up and ready by 6:15 am for our appointments back in Port-Au-Prince.  Melissa and Tim, our hosts at the guest house had breakfast and coffee ready.  We waited for the driver.  He was running late and didn't pick us up until close to 7.  They kept reassuring us that our 7:30 appt really meant anytime before noon!  We picked up Magaly downtown at her home.  We pulled up right in front of the Embassy.  It was crowed with a very long line out front.  Magaly walked us right to the front of the line and through security.  It was a little awkward because we cut right in front of all these people who had been waiting all morning.

Once inside we were seated in a big room with lots of teller windows (like a bank).  We were called up and handed in our paperwork.  We sat back down and waited awhile (maybe like an hour or two?)  We were called up and asked a bunch of questions, which were pretty much announced over a speaker for anyone in the room to hear.  They asked about our trip to Haiti, when we met Jennifer, checked our passport and that was about it.

When Jill and Wade were done we all went back outside and waited on the side of a busy road, with lots of traffic and dust and people.  Our driver picked us up, we dropped Magaly off at her house and headed across the city to the courthouse.  That took about an hour, even though I am sure it wasn't that far in miles (or should I say kilometers?!)

At court we again were dropped off in front of the building, met up with Terriot, the lawyer.  He walked us in to a hallway.  We stood there while he took our passports into a small office.  He came back out and stood with us.  Jill and Wade, Matt and I and Terriot stood there for about 45 minutes.  There were lots of lawyers walking through the hallway and it was a neat cultural experience.  It was very hot in here and since we didn't know how long we would be standing there, it seemed worse than it actually was.

Terriot went back in the office, got our passports and we left.   We drove through some of the busiest streets in PAP and past some of the things you may have seen on TV after the earthquake, like the Presidential Palace.  It has now been leveled.  We got back to GLA around 2pm, changed our clothes and spent until 5pm with Dieunifer.

On Wednesdays, the whole staff and visitors eat dinner at the Main House.  We had chicken pot pie and dessert.  It was great.  We headed up to the Guest House after dinner and spent some time on the balcony before going to sleep pretty early.  We were excited to have the whole next day to spend with Jennifer.