Did we just take our son to a prostitute house?

Nick, Eventz, and I took a night off and went to the beach.  We needed some time away to spend as a family and with each other.  This is only the second night off we have had in the eight months we have lived here and was the first time we have ever gone anywhere or done anything with just the three of us.  We have never had time away just to spend as a family!  This trip was planned for a few weeks in advance, and I was bound and determined to make it happen no matter what.  However, if you have been reading our blog for a while, you know that nothing ever goes flawless when it comes to Nick and I doing stuff.  Everything is always an adventure, so of course this trip would be too.

I woke up early Tuesday morning with a bout of what many missionaries call Haitian Happiness, or diarrhea, something all to common here.  Nick suggested we post pone the trip, but I knew if that happened we wouldn't have the opportunity to go again for several months.  Amy gave me a double dose of Ampicilin to try and stop me up, and I took an extra roll of toilet paper incase I had to pull over on the side of the road.  Luckily that wasn't needed, but the tp did come in handy as our hotel didn't have any.

About 20 mins away from COTP, Nick realized he forgot to grab the money pouch.  He called Rikerns who was in town buying metal and told him to wait for us because we were going to come steal all of his extra money.  After raiding Rikerns, we THOUGHT we had more than enough money for the two days.

We got to the port of Labadee and took a water taxi to get to Norms Place, the hotel we wanted to stay at, because it's only accessible by boat.  We thought the price was $40 US per night, but when we got there we realized it was $40 US per person per night, plus food which was $12 a plate.  We didn't think we had enough money and even if we did, didn't want to spend that much.  We decided to get back on the taxi and head over to another hotel on the other side of the cove.

I won't name this hotel for fear that someone will stumble across my blog who has a connection with it.  Anyways we pull up to this beach and are originally told by one of the head guys that it will be $30 per night per person, a small savings, but we decided to take it.  The place had huge speakers and was blaring some of the most inappropriate music I have ever heard.  I told Nick I was glad Eventz couldn't speak yet cause I didn't want him repeating what he heard.

While we waited for our room we received some really weird looks.  Nick noticed these three women standing behind us and mentioned that they looked like prostitutes, I agreed.  The main guy we had talked to earlier came back and told us that he actually didn't know what the cost of a room was per night but after asking it would only be $35 per night total, a huge savings!  We both kind of wondered why someone who worked there wouldn't know the nightly cost of a room, but we joked that maybe the rooms go at an hourly rate instead.

He lead us to our room which was one of the most disgusting things I have ever seen.  Parts of the wall weren't painted, there was plywood over the window, the toilet seat was on the ground next to it, and the shower leaked so bad that there was a full 5 gallon bucket underneath it to catch the water in.  As I walked in, I wondered how clean the sheets were and if this was a place I should feel comfortable letting my son crawl on the ground.


The guy informed us that after the cruise (this port has a giant cruise ship that comes in a few days a week.  Who would want to go to Haiti on a cruise?) left that evening all the crew members were going to come and things would get kind of rowdy.  We didn't know that it could get much louder than it already was.  We both decided that things couldn't get that bad so we decided to stay.

As we were walking towards the beach, I went inside the "hotel lobby," which we were kept out of before, to ask a question.  When I went in there, I was surprised to see about 10-15 more women who all looked like prostitutes.  As we walked out of the room I asked Nick if we had just brought our one year old son to a prostitute house.  We should win parents of the year!!

We went to the beach and hung out for a few hours, not really giving our hotel much thought.  Then Eventz was ready for a bottle and one of us had to go back to make it.  After discussing it for a while, we both agreed that it probably wasn't a good idea to split up and that we should pack up all of our stuff and go back together to make the bottle.  As we were packing up, Nick suggested that we go back to Norms because it would be worth the extra money to know that we would actually get some sleep and not be supporting a place like this!

So we cleaned up our room, gave them $7.50 for the time we were in there, hopped back on a water taxi and headed to a much quieter more relaxing Norms, where we were the only guests and didn't have to worry about what was going on in the room next to us.

I walked out to the court yard and saw Nick swinging in the hammock with Eventz sound asleep on his chest.  The three of us swang in that hammock for several hours just relaxing.  It was so great to get a way and spend time together.  It was very much needed.

Eventz was adorable at the beach earlier that day.  He is an absolute water baby and could be in it all day long if we let him!  He crawled right down to the water and didn't even stop once it got to his face; he was like a little submarine and just kept going.  We had to stay right by him to ensure he wouldn't drown because he has no fear of it at all.  He was in the water the entire time we were at the beach.

The next morning was incredibly rainy so we decided to skip the beach.  Plus with the extra cost of the room, and all the trips between hotels, we didn't have enough money to take a taxi to the beach for the day.  We ended up coming home early with approximately $2.50 to spare.

Even with all the adventure, we still greatly enjoyed our time off!  It's great to be able to spend some time alone with our son who is growing up so fast!  I can't believe he will be one in ten days!!