Twenty Weeks Ago

Twenty weeks ago today, this very minute, I was repacking my bags trying to get those 3-4 pounds of extra weight out of my bags, the two bags I had packed to move to Haiti. I can’t believe that it has been twenty weeks. That sounds like such a short amount of time, but in some paradoxical way, also a long time.

Twenty weeks ago I was unsure of what awaited me in this country. Would I like my job? Would I like my coworkers, my roommate? Would I get sick, eaten alive by mosquitoes, kidnapped, it by a motorcycle? Would I ever learn more than a few random words in Creole? Would I have a panic attack a couple of weeks into the school year and hop the first flight back to Texas? I had no idea what God had in store for me here, even in this short time.

I love my job. I love my coworkers. I love my roommate. I love my church. I love my neighbors. I have been sick, but not severely. I have been eaten by mosquitoes, but they didn’t get the best of me. I have been neither kidnapped nor hit by a motorcycle. I have learned quite a bit of Creole and not once have I wanted to hope on the next flight out of here.

I have fallen in love with this country: the people, the culture, the sights, and yes, even the smells. But even more, I have fallen in love with the rich community here. I am loved, supported, encouraged, amused, and taught daily. I admire these fabulous people I get to call friends because of their strength, faith, love, and for being exactly who God made them to be. The intertwinedness (spell check says that isn’t a word; I disagree) of our lives here has created a sweetness of friendship that would be hard to develop unless you lived in something similar to a commune. Sure, we get on each other’s nerves sometimes and need a break, but at the end of the day we know that a listening ear, a hug, and a laugh are not far away.

Twenty weeks have passed since I hopped on a plane to move here; twenty short weeks. I am excited to go home and be assaulted by American culture, to see my family, and to hug my friends, but I will miss my friends and family here. Yes, even in two short weeks I will miss them. I am thankful that my trip back to the states is not on a one-way ticket.

Look out Texas, here I come! N a wè Ayiti! (See, I learned some Creole)

Running in Haiti

Aside from family, friends, and fast food, one of the things I have missed most here in Haiti is running. I’m not a crazy awesome runner, but ever since college running has become one of my favorite hobbies and is my go-to way to relax. When I was preparing to move here I didn’t know if there would be any areas where I would be able to run. I assumed running on the streets was out (due to safety and cultural insensitivity). I had resigned myself to workout videos and playing soccer. However, upon arrival I found two avenues to satisfy my running urge. Our school takes up a large block and is surrounded by a wall. There are sidewalks all around campus and 4 to 5 laps around equals a mile. Not ideal for distance running, but much better than nothing. Also, over the summer someone had donated a treadmill to our school! I have made do with these two running options the last five months but at times I have felt trapped inside the walls wanting to get on the road and stretch my legs. I wanted to run more than three miles at a time (that’s about as much as I can take running in laps around the school or on the treadmill). I wanted to go up hills and down hills, see the neighborhoods and more of the city that I live in.

Well, this last week I got that chance. A friend of mine who grew up as an MK in Haiti, and who also likes to run, let me join him for a run outside the walls. If you aren’t a distance runner you may not understand the crazy feeling of freedom I felt as we meandered around the streets, stretching our legs, exploring our neighborhood. I discovered what I already knew but hadn’t fully experienced while riding in a car: Haiti is hilly. We (ok, maybe just me) huffed and puffed up hills and then ran as fast as we could down them. I figured out the lay of the streets a little better; they seem clearer when you see them on foot than in a car. I returned to the school exhausted but feeling satisfied and a little more independent.

Then, on Sunday, I went with another friend on a run in another part of the neighborhood. This time it was just us two females running together and I didn’t know what to expect. Anytime there is not a male in your group (and sometimes when there is) you will attract a lot of attention (more than you normally do just being white). I’ll admit, I was a little nervous. Honestly, I was afraid of getting negative attention. Not the negative attention that we normally get (the stares, “hey blan”, “give me a dollar”, the kissey noises), but negative in the sense of “I don’t have enough food to feed my family and you are out here burning calories? Seriously?” Surprisingly though, we didn’t get that at all…ok, one lady said something but she seemed more mad at the world than at us specifically.

As we were running, my friend told me that Haitians are a very encouraging people and I got to experience that firsthand. As we are huffing up a hill we get shouts of “w ap kenbe?” (Are you holding on?) and “kouri, kouri, kouri!” (run, run, run!). Smiles and greetings and encouragement, not at all what I expected.

This country continues to surprise me at every turn. It’s different, it’s got its problems, but it’s got its charms too.

Going back to Texas the day after tomorrow. So excited!!

Need vs. Want

In chapel the last couple of weeks we have talked a little bit about what Christmas is and what isn’t. This topic as discussed in conjunction with a food drive we were holding for our national workers and a toy-drive for TeacHaiti. We showed a couple of videos from the Advent Conspiracy which really make the point. Here is one of those videos.

Then you see photos like this one popping up on facebook. How true is this? What do we “need”?

This year and last year I’ve really been thinking about that. What would it look like if we gave instead of got? That sounds so pithy, but it’s true. Please don’t hear any self-righteousness in this post. I am one of the worst at this. I constantly have to define for myself what is a “need” and what is a “want,” and often I fail at rightly distinguishing between the two, but I'm trying. This year I want to give more, not just at Christmas, but all year long.

In Haiti, education for children is essential. It’s easy to read that and think “yeah, education for all children is essential.” And while I agree with that, I look outside my window at any point in the day and count half a dozen kids in a single glance selling random crap on the street because they don’t have the money to go to school. Education is essential, vital, necessary, (insert other synonym here), not only because it opens up more opportunities than the child would have without it, but also because most kids get at least one meal a day when they go to school that they might not get at home.

Here are the links to two amazing organizations that are feeding and educating children in Haiti. They are doing incredible work and providing hope to families here.

TeacHaiti - Miquette's organization. They are doing amazing things and always accepting donations. Check out the awesomeness that is TeacHaiti.

Mission of Hope - Mission of Hope has started an initiative to get 1,200 students' education sponsored by 2012. They are 30% of the way there.

Yes, it’s an investment, and yes, it’s not something you can wrap in shiny paper and see someone open on Christmas morning.

It's so much more.

10-Day Forecast

I measure the amount of anticipation I should feel for a trip by where my arrival date lands on the current day’s 10-day forecast.  Today is “Day 9” on the forecast and I am pumped! Before each trip I take I always mark the days on weather.com’s forecast. Not really to plan what to wear or pack, but more of a way to mark time. I am so excited to be returning back to Texas in a few days (10). Like I said before, I’m not excited because I don’t like it here…I love it here! A few of us were talking the other night about how much we are all going to miss each other over the short break. The community is so rich here that it will be missed during the vacation. But, despite that, I really am ready to go back, and not only to see family and friends I haven’t seen in a while, but also to just soak in some of the comforts I’ve missed: consistent internet & electricity, toilets that flush, a gas stove that isn’t determined to kill us, mice free sidewalks, and no blood-sucking vermin (mosquitoes). Oh simple pleasures….

A Photo Diary of Recent Happenings

Visiting the TeacHaiti school over Thanksgiving.

There is an orphanage next to the TeacHaiti school so we went over and played with these fabulous children that afternoon. Sweet girls.

 

This is how I spent my Black Friday.

Our trusty old friend the Jin Bei van. This old guy needs a little help sometimes.

Thursday during Spirit Week was "Twin Day." Here are two of my fantastic 7th graders.

We had our Christmas Bazaar last weekend. Many local vendors came out and displayed their wares. This is a great organization!

Our soccer team (in Black uniforms) playing against our rival school, Union (white uniforms) at Union School.

  

Teacher vs. Students Flag Football game.



Christians Can't Rap

I know as much about rap as any freakishly white, curly haired, freckled girl from a small town in Texas that can best be described as “po-dunk” should. That sentence, despite its, I’m sure grammatical incorrectness, should be read: “I don’t know anything about rap.” I don’t know what makes some “good” and some “bad.” I also think it depends on how you define “bad.” Maybe you think the “artist” should have cursed more and talked less about drugs, or vice versa. Maybe you measure the quality of a rap song by how many times the word “booty” is used. I don’t know. I know that I don’t really like listening to rap, but it sure is good to work out too. If you find a good beat it can make the difference in a long, boring run, especially if you are on a treadmill. However, to enjoy the beat you usually have to fill your mind with useless crap. As my dad always said, “You can’t spell CRAP without RAP.”

That is why I love Tedashii. If you have never heard of Tedashii you tube him now. He performed at our church a year or two ago and in the middle of thinking “some of these old people are going to fall over dead from shock” I fell in love with what he was doing. Like I said, I don’t know much about rap, but this seemed good…and it was Christian! And he didn’t just give God a random shout out here and there. It was as if he took a few sermon series and put them to music.

Last week I was taking a couple of the PE classes into our fitness room for class. While it is nice to have a fitness room, it feels kind of like a dungeon in there. Fluorescent lights, white walls, cold tile, you get the picture. We tried to make the room seem less prison-like by having music, but if I had to listen to Adele sing about how she is going to find “someone like you” again, I was going to pull my hair out. So, knowing that the majority of the girls enjoy rap music but knew better than to suggest listening to it in class, I bought Tedashii’s CD off of iTunes. When I turned on Tedashii’s jams,  the girls looked like they liked it but also looked a bit confused.

“Miss, who is this?” I told her his name and that he is a Christian rapper.

“Miss, Christians can’t rap.”

I think I had a sarcastic response that was something like “sounds like they can” but it sounded less mean than that. We listened to the music and I translated some of the lyrics (no one understands a rap song the first time they hear it), and they really enjoyed it.

I learned two lessons that day. 1) Tedashii does what he does with excellence (again, excellence from my opinion).  You can be a rapper, teacher, lawyer, student, baker, painter, construction worker, doctor, janitor, assistant, CEO, anything and do it with excellence, as you should. Colossians 3:23 baby, and Tedashii gets it. He has a great beat and music matched with lyrics that are truth all the way around.

2) I want my students to learn that, yes, there are certain things that Christians don’t do (or at least, shouldn’t do), but more than that I want them to learn that Christians should be more about what we do do.  That Christ is glorified when we abstain from the things he told us to stay away from (for our own good) and when we use the talents he gave us to glorify him.

Now go and youtube Tedashii ( I like the songs “Thank You” and “Make War”)

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

Boy does this statement feel true right about now. I just counted the weeks: tomorrow will mark 17 weeks in Haiti….almost 4 full months. I’m in that weird feeling place where it feels like I arrived only yesterday, but I am also so comfortable here that I feel like I’ve lived here for years. A little counting forward also marks tomorrow as 3 weeks until I go back to Texas for Christmas break. I don’t know if it’s because it’s so close or if it’s that we are entering December tomorrow and I am wearing shorts and tank tops, but I am really excited to go home. In saying that, don’t hear that I am miserable and homesick. I’m happy here. Really, truly, happy. This is where God wants me to be, I know that without a doubt. He put a desire in my heart to come to Haiti and he met that desire and it feels me with joy being in the middle of his plan. But even in all of that, I am ready to go back for a bit.

I’m excited to see my family. I’m excited to eat all the yummy homemade treats. I’m excited to be cold!

There are a lot of things I’m looking forward to: fast food, running around white rock lake with my nose frozen from the cold, driving a car, preparing a salad and not use bleach at any point in the preparation, fireplaces, and more. But, what I am looking forward to most is seeing my family and friends. Sitting and laughing with people I love and haven’t had a chance to see in a while.

I am also looking forward to Starbucks, which I fully intent to get the minute I land in Miami. mmm, 3 weeks J

Haitian Thanksgiving

Well, today it’s back to the grind. Thanksgiving weekend is over and we had a blast! I won’t write every detail, so if you want a more detailed account, check out Larissa’s blog here.

Wednesday:

Picked up my friends at the airport, had a quick tour around the school and then headed to the Child Hope feeding program. This was also the day that Christmas happened early in our apartment! Larissa and Roseana brought me tons of goodies from home including…a Christmas tree!! We had a nice dinner at Epi D’or and then called it a night

Thursday:

We got up and took a taptap up to Petion-ville in search of three places: Marie Beliard (best bakery ever), Giant grocery store, and Rebo Coffee shop. We got lost and ended up at Giant which sells coffee and bakery treats from the same bakery we were searching for. Win!

We got back to school and went with MIquette to the TeacHaiti school to check out all the awesomeness she has going on over there. You should check it out too, click here.

After we returned from Teach Haiti we spent a couple of hours resting and baking in preparation for Thanksgiving. We had Thanksgiving dinner with 40 friends, new and old, at the O’Kelley’s house. It was great to meet new people and laugh and fellowship over a veritable feast of turkey, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, salads, green beans, desserts, and so much more

Friday:

We went to Kaliko Beach club. We sat in chairs and did nothing all day long. It was glorious.

Saturday:

We wanted to go up the mountain to Hotel Ibolele however, taptaps don’t go up there and I don’t have a car. What do we do? Take a mototaxi. A man that works for Mrs. O’Kelley drives a moto and had two friends who agreed to take us up the mountain. It was scary and fun all at the same time, but I don’t think I’ll be making this a regular form of transportation.

We spent a few hours at Ibolele swimming and eating before heading back down the mountain. We spent the evening at a local basketball game. One of the teachers at QCS coaches a city-team and they had their first game of the season. This game deserves its own blog post and might get it, but here are some pictures until then.

Sunday:

My friends were incredibly patient this weekend. I have had a nasty head cold, now turned sinus infection, and by today I was beat. We went to the house church, had lunch at Epi D’or and then sat around. I wanted to take them to the waterfall, but couldn’t manage it. I thank them for their patience. Thankfully, they were both engrossed in reading The Hunger Games series so they were kept well entertained by Katniss Everdeen and her antics.

It was a wonderful, relaxing weekend and I’m excited I got to share my world here with my friends from Dallas! I am also thankful no one got food poisoning or killed on a moto. Win!

Santa came to Haiti!

It is Thanksgiving Day and I am wearing shorts and a t-shirt. I will walk around all day in shorts and sandals and still probably sweat an abnormal amount. The trees are green, there is no nip in the air, people aren’t wearing scarves. It doesn’t feel like Thanksgiving. It doesn’t feel like Christmas is around the corner, but it is.

This is my first Thanksgiving to spend away from my family. If I linger on that thought too long I get a little sad. No snitching scraps of turkey as its being cut, no listening to the annual debate on whether or not the stuffing has enough….I forgot that one spice that is put in that the aunts “discuss” whether or not there is enough in it….Anyway, if I was back home I would be hanging at my grandparents house with a fire behind my back, football on the tv, brown trees outside (we get some leaf changing in Texas, but mostly it’s just green to brown), and delicious smells all around. But, I’m in Haiti and, despite how sad I am to miss the family celebrations, I am so happy to be right where I am.

Most of the QCS crew is 5 hours away at Port Salut, but I am here in PAP because two of my best friends in the world came to visit! Larissa and Roseana arrived yesterday and brought Christmas with them. Seriously, they brought Christmas to Haiti. After we arrived back at my apartment and they had eaten a bit of lunch, they eagerly asked if they could give me presents….presents? I had asked them to bring a new set of sheets, a couple of towels and a pillow with them, but those aren’t exactly presents. (I won’t lie, I was WAY too excited about having another pillow. They cost about $20 here so the $2.50 walmart pillow was going to be awesome!)

After they had pulled out the items I had asked them to bring, they began throwing, literally, throwing things at me. Clothes that I had left back home that I wanted, but not enough to ask them to dig in my boxes for them, toiletries I had purchased before but were too heavy to bring on my initial trip, books, movies, my shoes, Peanut Butter M&Ms, frosted animal crackers, and, best of all…..A CHRISTMAS TREE! Yes, my friends brought a friggin’ Christmas tree to Haiti! See, I am a Christmas nut! They brought me a 3 foot, pre-lit tree, an extra string of lights, a tree topper, garland, and ornaments! After dinner last night we put the tree and lights up. So nice to see that soft glow in the apartment. It will go great with the holiday candle and Christmas music they brought as well! I am thankful my friends brought Christmas to Haiti (along with themselves)!

First Volleyball Match

I am very familiar with how high school, extra-curricular sporting events work. Very familiar. I have been going on busses to away basketball games since before I can remember. As the daughter or a coach, I went to lots of away games and many times we rode the bus with the team to get to the games. I know how games work in the states, I know the UIL rules, all that jazz. I did not know how games here in Haiti would work, but I do now (or at least I know how the one we had yesterday worked). Let me highlight some differences.

After giving the girls their uniforms and getting everyone together on time (well, sort of on time), we headed to the bus…well, the truck. All the girls piled into what we lovingly refer to as “the cage truck,” because that is basically what it is. A white truck that has the back covered and there are benches you can sit on. It gets you where you need to go, but no way would this fly in the states as a vehicle to transport children in. Also, none of the parents had to sign permission slips for their girls to leave the school in a vehicle driven by a teacher. I love it!

After piling in the truck, the driver turned the key and….nothing. He called the mechanic over, he banged a bit under the truck and it started. Off we went. We drove through the streets of Port au Prince which is always an experience. If ever I forget where I live, all I need to do is wander around the streets a bit and it comes back quickly.

We arrived at the school which has a very beautiful campus, and went in search of the court. We found it and began warming up. Eventually the other team arrived and began warming up as well. When the time came to actually begin the match, the other coach asked for one of our coaches to be a referee. What? Yeah. No official ref paid for this game. One ref from each team.

The girls played very very well! They were up against a tough team of girls who have played together since middle school and have practice almost every day. Our girls were competitive and kept them on their toes, I was so proud!

After the game some girls left with their parents or boyfriends and the rest of us piled back in the cage truck and entered the afternoon traffic to return to school.

Maybe someone else wouldn’t be as confused or interested in the differences between this game and one in the states. I guess growing up around basketball and away games and UIL rules and all that, you notice the differences a little more. Altogether it was a great experience and a great day for the girls to show how much work they have put in and how far they have come in such a short time. Go Lady Eagles!!

Learning, Learning, Learning

I swear I have learned more in 14 weeks than I think I did my entire college experience. Ok, that may be an exaggeration, but on days like today that feels like an accurate statement. There are so many things to learn about Haiti alone. Food (what to eat, what not to eat, how to clean vegetables, price, what street vendor to buy from, how to cook with a very limited amount of pans and utensils), customs (how to greet, kiss on both cheeks or one, shake hands), language (ugh, don’t get me started), everything! And then there is school. I’m teaching history, which I’ve never taught before, so I am relearning things I learned years ago. Also, teaching students skills like MLA formatting and in-text citations requires me to go back and relearn the old rules or learn the rules they have changed since I’ve last had to cite references in my papers. And then there are sports: volleyball, ultimate Frisbee, and soccer. None of which I had any extensive experience in before I came here. Add to all that the reading we are required to do for certification with our accrediting agency, and then you can add student names (I’ve got most of those down by now), student’s siblings names, student’s problems at home, their struggles, their hopes their fears, etc.

Thankfully, instead of being bogged down with all of this, my brain has turned into this super sponge. Maybe not super in the amount of knowledge it is able to hold, but super in its thirst for more! Tonight we had a two-hour Creole lesson with a tutor and I found myself eager and excited to start and halfway through the time seemed to be going by too fast! We will have ten sessions like this in the next 2 ½ weeks, so ask me how I feel in a few days…

Jacmel Part 2, Bassin Bleu

In all honesty, the main reason we decided to venture south to Jacmel was to visit Bassin Bleu. If we had not seen the beach or even entered the town of Jacmel but had seen Bassin Bleu, the trip would have been a success. Go ahead, take a minute or two and do a google image search of Bassin Bleu. Yes, it really is that beautiful in person.

To get to Bassin Bleu is a bit of a challenge; they make you earn the beautiful scene you get when you arrive. Bassin Bleu lies somewhere up a large mountain just outside of Jacmel. The trip up takes about 45 minutes. It isn’t that far, but you have to carefully meander through the switchbacks up a mountain on rough, rocky road around tight turns. But first, to even get to the base of the mountain you have to cross a river. Originally we thought the only way across the river was to literally drive your car across. It isn’t too deep, but we were rolling in style in the Jin Bei van which has a clearance of about 3.5 inches. We pulled up to where we were going to ford the river and began to doubt the power of the Jin Bei. We saw some cars make it across, but when you are driving a vehicle that A) is not yours B) was broken down a mere 36 hours before and C) has to drive you 3 hours home the following day, you are a bit more cautious than normal. After discussing options with the random people outside the car, we found out there was a bridge over the river. Problem solved! They pointed us in the direction of the bridge and we took off. I will pause here and mention how Haitian directions work. As we were driving in Jacmel and then later looking for the bridge, we would stop, ask someone where we needed to go, and their response was always to point in the general direction. No mileage, no time, no landmarks. Just point.

So off we went in search of the bridge. I’ll spare you the boring details, but about half an hour later we found it and with a joyous cry we crossed over! We didn’t have to risk our food or our oxen and ford the treacherous river (Oregon Trail reference…I made lots of those to the annoyance of the rest of the crew).

After crossing we began the slow crawl up the mountains taking in the ever increasing beauty. At one point we had to stop and take this incredible photo.

We eventually (with the help of a guide on a moto leading us) found the place where we park and begin the short hike. We paid, got a guide and were off. After about a 15 minute walk we reached the first spot of three. We were amazed and our guide laughed and said “Oooh, it gets so much better.” He was right.

We hiked a little more and climbed some slippery steps. At this point, I saw a rope tied to a tree and knew what we had to do. We had to shimmy down this rope in order to get to the good stuff. This may seem lame, but this is the most scared I got this entire trip. You had to climb down this rope (which, in all honesty was not that high) but you couldn’t see where you were going! Needless to say, we all survived.

Once we were safely off the rope, we stowed our bags on a rock and hopped in the water. It was cool and deep. We swam out to a large rock in the middle of the pool. Here is a picture of where we jumped off into the water.

After jumping in, swimming, playing and exploring, we decided it was time to head back. We stopped for lunch at the first set of falls and then headed back to the car. We meandered our way back down the mountain and into town. We ate dinner at a nice hotel with a great view.

If you ever come to Haiti, let me know. We will go to Jacmel and play in Bassin Bleu. It is a must-see.

Jacmel, Part 1

It started out as only an idea; a “wouldn’t that be fun” kind of thought. But, over a couple days the idea began to take shape into an actual plan. We battled problems of communication, a place to stay, and transportation up until the very last minute and we won. At 5:30 am 8 of us left the walls of our school riding in the trusty Jin Bei van and began the 3.5 hour trek to Jacmel. Although we were all a little blurry eyed and tired, the decision to leave early to avoid traffic was a wise one. We made it through the streets with ease and were met with minimal traffic in the downtown area. I had not seen downtown Port au Prince until now and what I saw shocked me a bit. I hope I will never become dull or immune to the poverty I see around me, but the urban-povertiness (I sometimes just have to make up words) startled me a bit. More wet, muddy trash lined the streets, more yelling, more holes in the road, urine smells so strong they seep into the vents in the car and assault your senses. This was what we left that morning.

Not an hour later we are cruising along a smooth road at high speeds and all of us are pressing our faces at the windows like children when they pull into Disneyland. Green everywhere. Vibrant green palms, clear, lush farmland, fruit trees and other tropical plants adorned the large mountains we were climbing. In the span of many minutes we had left urban chaos and entered tropical paradise. As we meandered the switchbacks that crawled up and down mountains the quiet in the car was interrupted only by the occasional camera click or gasp at the beauty seen around the bend (or a gasp at the near miss of a taptap bus on the opposite side of the road getting a bit too close for comfort).

Around 9:00 am we pulled into Jacmel. This smaller town was bustling for a Saturday morning with locals and tourists going about their business. We found the hotel we would be staying at, Hotel Ozana. A friend had told us about this hotel and we received an amazing deal. We dumped out bags in the room and hopped back in the van to explore the town.

Our first stop was the Jacmel arts district. We roamed around the beautiful Hotel Florita and were awed at the beautiful brick walls adorned with paper mache masks, a traditional element of the annual festival of Carnival that is held in the spring. After leaving Hotel Florita we browsed through several galleries where we saw more large paper mache masks as well as other local items like coasters and place settings hand painted to look like various fruits and vegetables.

After we had our fill of the galleries we walked down the street to a local beach and dipped our toes in the water. Once there we were greeted by several children shouting to us “you, you!” and holding out their hands. We talked with them and played for a while but eventually made our way back to the car. We spent a couple of hours at the hotel eating, relaxing, and playing a mean game of Phase 10.

After a while though, it was time to hit the beach! We changed and drove out to a public beach to play. After finding a secure spot for our belongings we ran into the water with the gusto of children being let out of the school building for summer break. For the next few hours we flipped and dove in the water. We threw the Frisbee to each other and dove into the waves to catch it. We were kids at the beach and it was joyous.

When the sun was getting low, we got to witness an incredible sunset. Amidst the trash on the beach we watched the beautiful display of yellow, orange, and red dance across the sky as the sun sank behind distant, silhouetted mountains. I sometimes forget that I live on an island in the Caribbean, but this day reminded me of it. I was surrounded by natural, God-made beauty and we all drank it in. This was only the first day of a weekend in paradise.

P.S. I lost my camera so these pics are all borrowed from my friends Josiah, Katie, and Robbie who took great pictures and then posted them on Facebook :)

What a weekend!

I will write in more detail about our weekend trip later (it’s too much for one or even two posts), but I cannot stop singing praises for this fantastical weekend we have had. Due to random holidays were in Haiti for All Saints Day and All Souls Day, we had a 4-day weekend. A few of us have been wanting to go to Jacmel (a town in Haiti) and more specifically to Bassin Bleu for a while now. Bassin Bleu is this gorgeous natural water feature a few miles outside of Jacmel. There are three large pools and a series of waterfalls. The largest pool offers a spot you can climb to and jump into the pool from. We’ve heard many guesses on the depth of the pool, but the rumor is that it is so deep that no one knows how deep it goes. More on Bassin Bleu and its amazingness in another post.

This weekend started on Friday night with a dinner of tasty Mexican food with the fabulous Ben & Katie K. Early (really early) the next morning eight of us loaded up in the Jin Bei van and headed south to Jacmel. Threeish hours later we pulled into our hotel. We spent the morning wandering around Jacmel and the afternoon playing at the beach. I felt like a little kid at the beach again; running into the water, diving under the waves, playing Frisbee…such fun to use the healthy bodies God gave us to play in his playground!

 The next day we woke up and had a mini church service at the hotel together and then went to Bassin Bleu, more to come on that) and at night we went to a nice hotel and had grilled conch for dinner.

Yesterday morning we woke up, packed up, and headed out to the beach for more playing. We had fish, lobster, and avocado on the beach for lunch before beginning the beautiful drive back to the city.

Last night we had a movie night and then had blueberry pancakes for breakfast altogether this morning.

It is a really testament to the beauty of this community that we are not quite sick of each other yet. We are still planning some volleyball and Frisbee for today and tomorrow. Today is our last day of this long weekend and it will be spent catching up or getting ahead in work and life as well as moving at a bit of a slower pace.

I’ll write again with the details of Jacmel and Bassin Bleu if you care to read them. This post is mainly about how incredibly rested I feel. My heart is full of joy at the last few days. Not just that I got to enjoy a side of this island that is breathtakingly beautiful, but that the community with whom I got to enjoy it with is exponentially more beautiful in its design. Thank you God for this weekend and for my friends.

Playing at Bassin Bleu.

View from Hotel Cap Lamandou where we ate dinner.

I lost my camera so I stole these pics from my friend Joisah.

Interwebs

I admit, I do reel slightly ridiculous blogging about internet problems, not only because it’s a little ironic to post to an internet blog about internet issues, but also because of where I live. I live in one of, if not the poorest countries in the western hemisphere. I’m lucky to have internet at work and even luckier to have it at home! So, I will try and not complain, but just state facts. On Saturday, for some reason still unknown, our internet went out and was out until sometime yesterday afternoon. The internet will sometimes stop working when it rains but comes back within hours, so we didn’t give it much thought until Sunday evening. We wanted to Skype, we wanted to check email, we wanted to look on Facebook, you know, all of those important things. But we couldn’t.

Yesterday afternoon, one of the men that lives in our apartment building spent the better part of his day tracking down the right people and getting everything fixed and then…success! Everything was working! We could get on Facebook once again! Huzzah!

…and then a pole outside caught on fire….

Not sure what started the fire, what it burned, or what happened, but a pole on the street outside our walls caught on fire and took the internet down with it....

I don’t want any of this to sound whiney or needy because last night was such a fantastic evening. Drawn together by collective boredom, a few on-campus dwellers gathered in our apartment for several hours. We talked, we baked, we laughed, the guys tried to kill our resident mouse, we planned our weekend adventure, such a fun evening!

Now, it’s not like these evening are a rare occurrence. Honestly, we spend more time together than any other group of people I know, but there was something about just sitting on the floor, and hanging out in the middle of the week which was so peaceful and relaxing and wouldn’t have happened if we were slightly more spoiled here than we already are and had had internet.

Jeans!!

The first thing I put in the “never want to take to Haiti” pile was my favorite pair of blue jeans. It is approximately twelve jillion degrees in the shade here. The last thing I want to do is wear pants that are going to absorb all my sweat. No thanks, I’ll take my linen pants please. However, after being here for several weeks I realized that it is not twelve jillion degrees here (or at least my body has acclimated to the heat) and I miss my jeans for certain things. Watching a movie on a Friday night, going to the casual house church, non-uniform days…I missed my jeans!

Well, Watermark Community Church (my church home in Dallas) has partnered with an organization called Mission of Hope here in Haiti and they sent a team down here to work for a week. Well, I asked them if they wouldn’t mind being my mule and bringing some items to me from home. They eagerly agreed. My aunt and my old roommate put together my ever changing list of much wanted items (definitely not needed) and got them to Watermark. I met the team at the airport yesterday afternoon and got my bags. Inside I found some of my favorite movies from home, t-shirts, items I had ordered and shipped to Dallas, Peanut Butter M&Ms (best. candy. ever. No contest.), and my jeans! I wore them today and enjoyed them ever so much. I honestly have no idea why I was longing for these pants, but I was…you can’t explain crazy.

So, BIG BIG BIG thank you to my aunt, my friend, and to the Watermark team that delivered my stuff. I appreciate it a lot and appreciated the fun surprises in my bag. The team will be going around the city on Thursday and is stopping by the school to check it out. I’m excited to see them again and show them my ‘hood. Pray for their team and the work they will be doing. Also, check out Mission of Hope’s website. Sponsor a kid’s education while you’re there J

SWEDOW

Katie, a fellow QCS teacher wrote a blog about a phenomenon happening in the developing world known as SWEDOW. It stands for "stuff we don't want," and has to do with wealthier countries sending their stuff to a developing country. Great in theory, but can do a lot of harm and send useless junk to just become trash in another country. Katie did a great job on her blog and I wanted to share it here as well. Below is the link to the article (check out the flowchart) and to the blog that Katie wrote about it.

Blog: http://www.benandkatieinhaiti.com/2011/10/swedow.html

Article with fabulous flowchart: http://buildingmarkets.org/blogs/blog/2010/05/17/swedow-flowchart-send-sell-or-trash/

Come Home Running

This morning in chapel we sang a beautiful song by Chris Tomlin called “Come Home Running.” This song essentially tells the story of the prodigal son and is an amazing picture of God’s love. As we sang this in chapel I wanted to cram the words inside of the skulls of these young people and force them to understand the truth. However, God works differently than I do (which is good news for these kiddos’ skulls). He takes each of us on our own path and lets us choose Him. I pray that each of these kids chooses Him, chooses Him soon, and doesn't stray. Pray that along with me.

Come Home Running

By: Chris Tomlin

Oh heart of mine, why must you stray?

From one so fair you run away

And one more time you have to pay

The heaviness of needless shame.

Oh heart of mine, come back home

You’ve been too long out on your own

And He’s been there all along

Watching for you down the road.

So come home running

His arms are open wide

His name is Jesus

He understands

He is the answer

You are looking for

So come home running

Just as you are.

Recent Happenings...

I’m not good at being consistent with this thing. Mostly because life here is not too different than it is from life in Dallas. Sure, it’s hotter and I have more mosquito bites than I have ever had in my life, but the routines are very similar. Go to work, teach, grade, plan, hang with friends, rinse and repeat.
Here are some random photos from what we have been up to the last few days…

On Friday our school, Quisqueya, had a game against another school in our league.

Quisqueya campus was crawling with students all night long on Friday night with our high school all-night camp out. There were movies, smores, volleyball, capture the flag and more. Several teachers chaperoned. I got lucky and had the early shift so I was only part of the action until about 1 am.

Saturday, a fellow teacher took Jill, Kellyanne and I up to the Baptist Mission in the mountains. You enter a completely different world when you go up the mountains. Beautiful, lush farmland and green as far as you can see….green!

They have a little restaurant with very American food, a gift shop with handmade items, and a bakery with the best cinnamon rolls I’ve ever had. Afterwards, we went to a little restaurant in an area of town known as Petionville. This is the nicer area of Port au Prince and the price of things reflects that. Still, the ice cream was delicious and it was great to see more of the city.

Monday was a rainy day. So, what did we do…Played in the mud. After a long Monday of meetings and teaching, what better way to unwind than throwing a football around in the mud with two good friends.

Yes, another post on community....because it's awesome.

One thing that my church back in Dallas taught a lot about was the idea of “What is the church?” What is it? The church isn’t a building; it’s people. A church isn’t built out of wood, cement, and stained glass; it’s made of arms, legs, and hearts. It’s a big mind-shift to go from the question “Where is your church [building]?” to “Who is your church?” I understood that concept of the church as the body of Christ in Dallas but coming to Haiti and experiencing the rich community here, I have begun to really grasp that concept.

If I had a nickel for each time myself or someone on campus said that they were thankful for the community that God has placed here, I could fly all of my friends to Haiti and back several times. Everyone in our little commune is blown away by the goodness God has shown us in how he has brought each and every specific person to this place at this time. We are not a bunch of eyes, or a bunch of ears, or a bunch of feet, (I Corinthians 12 reference). No, we have an eye, an ear, a foot, an elbow, a lung, a shoulder, a kneecap, etc. Each has their own role and we all fit together so well. Each person has their own unique gift that they bring to this fabulous puzzle: cooking, singing, hospitality, baking, singing, sports, intellect, compassion, wisdom, and the list goes on and on. This is the body of Christ.

Last night was a perfect example of our “church” here. Many of us “on-campus” dwellers walked to the house of another teacher to eat pizza. This is something they do every Saturday night and everyone is welcome. We went, broke bread (covered with cheese and marinara), talked, laughed, and ended the evening sitting in the cool breeze singing to God. Later that evening, when everyone was back home, Katie and I heard our neighbors singing and playing guitar so we invited ourselves over and sat for a couple of hours singing, talking, drinking tea, and worshipping God with our voices and our friendship.

“All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God…” Acts 2: 44-47.

I don’t know about the temple courts, and as of yet no one has had to sell anything to help the body, but I know that if there was a need, that need would be met in an instant. My words cannot fully express the awesomeness of this community, but I am thankful for how God has provided for me here in this way and the way he is using these people to show me His love.

Volleyball

Outside of little kid city league volleyball, I can count on one hand the number of times I have played volleyball. And now, here in Haiti I find myself part of coaching our school’s volleyball team! Thankfully, I am only assisting. There is a much more qualified individual here who is in charge of the actual coaching of the team. My role is more to help with the fitness and conditioning aspect (much more up my alley) and to be an extra set of hands and eyes. I never thought that this was something I would do. Despite growing up as a coach’s kid, I never saw myself as a coach, but I am really enjoying being a part of this team. We have had over 20 girls come out and bust their butts the last few weeks and tonight we are choosing the final members of the team! Wish us luck!

Waterfall/Independence Hunting

One of the most difficult things to adjust to here has been the lack or at least the lessening of independence. Thankfully, the school where we work puts absolutely no limitations on what we can do. Some Americans are here with NGOs who don’t allow them to walk on the streets or ride in taptaps. We don’t have any of those kind of restrictions, just the ones that naturally come with living in a new, unfamiliar city where you don’t know the language, roads, culture, or have a car.

Over the last couple of weeks a few of us “new kids” have felt the cabin fever rising up in us and the need to get out and explore (explore even more than where we have been exploring) had become too great. So, we decided that we would go on a waterfall hunt. We knew there was a waterfall about a 20 minute drive away and, with some directions, landmarks, and a general idea of how to get there, we were sure we could find it.



We tried to find where we were headed on the map,
but it wasn't on there...usually not a good sign.



So, off we went on Saturday. After fueling up with a delicious cinnamon roll from baker-extraordinaire, Tiffany, we walked down the street and hopped on a taptap. We were lucky to have a Haitian friend with us who knew the taptap routes and knew Creole. We rode a ways and hopped off when we got to a busy street, Rue Frere, where we began walking. We walked and walked and walked. Occasionally we would check our map to see if we had passed any of the known landmarks and then continue on. Our map (hand drawn by one of our crew) was not drawn to scale so we weren’t exactly how close or far we were from our destination at any point. We got to a split on the road where one way was paved and the other was rough and rocky. After checking with several locals we, in true Robert Frost fashion, took the road less traveled.

When we turned onto this road it was as if we immediately entered a different world. We had left the world of concrete and dirt and entered a land of lush green grass and thriving tropical plants. We walked down this road for a bit, stopping every once in a while to ask someone what direction the waterfall was. As we were walking down a thin, muddy trail we heard the sound of running water and, a little farther down the trail we entered a large river bed. There was a thin current of water running down the wider river bed and peppered along the way were women doing their laundry in the clean, running water.

We made friends along the way!

Following the water to see where it leads.

We followed this for a while and after a small bit of climbing we turned the corner and saw what we had been searching for…the waterfall! Success!

Josiah and I wanted a better view and a little more adventure, so we climbed the slick muddy trail to the top of the fall. We then slipped our shoes off and climbed further up to see the several smaller waterfalls that fed into the first. When we reached the end (or what was our end) we saw a slick, steep wall that looked impossible to climb. Josiah gave it a good try, but had to admit defeat. We made the climb back down (much more difficult than going up) and rested at the bottom.

Climbing to the top of the waterfall.

View from the top.

Using some of my rock-climbing skills to move up the falls.

Katie and I took a little shower under the falls and it is hard to imagine anything more refreshing.

We had a snack and dried off a bit and then began the long trek back. Going back, we took a taptap for more of the trip and decided it was much easier than walking.

We arrived home very tired but very satisfied with our day and our adventure. Any venture outside of our walking zone is a small step toward a little more independence. It was great to get out and see a bit more of the city and relax in a nice, cool oasis nestled in among the cinderblocks and smog.