February 7, 2006

February 7th was a big day for the Gringhuis family as well as for the entire country of Haiti.
Olivia Ann (without an "e", although I'm sure she'll change that when she's older) Gringhuis was born just after 5:00am on Tuesday morning, weighing just over 8 pounds. I saw pictures of her this morning and of course she's absolutely beautiful.
February 7th was also election day here in Haiti. And despite what you might read in the newspaper the day was calm and peaceful. I had the opportunity to visit two voting stations and despite really long lines and hour long waits people were in good sprits and came out in droves to participate in the voting process. Some stations had a bit of violence with people shoving and police hitting those in line. One or two people were shot but overall, and in most places the election went very smoothly. It was well organized (for Haiti). The actual voting ballot was HUGE. It had a large picture of each candidate (all 33 of them) for those who cannot read.
We won't know the results (offically) until Friday or Saturday but many already see Preval as the new president. The actual results should be interesting.
Things seem really calm on the streets and we are opening school today. How many students will arrive is yet to be determined.