It's officially been a week since I've arrived in Haiti!! Oh man, that's a crazy thought. It doesn't seem like I've already been here that long, yet I also feel like it seems so long ago that I got off that plane in Cap Haitien. Let's see what I can tell you guys.
Traveling by myself wasn't too bad. I really didn't feel ready to leave family behind, so there was definitely some tough goodbyes. I made it to all my flights on time. On my flight from Atlanta to Ft. Lauderdale I sat next to an incredible woman. As we were about to take off, I saw that she was reading a Jesus Calling devotional, so I was like hey, this could be pretty cool. She asked me where I was going and I told her about my trip. I mentioned how I was just excited to see what God showed me while I spent time in Haiti, and that began our conversation. She was originally from Jamaica but lived in Ft. Lauderdale now. She began to reassure me how God always has a plan, and that he makes everything beautiful in His time. She asked me how I came to know Christ, and then shared her amazing testimony. Something that she told me that has stuck with me is when she was going through a hard time in her life, she heard the Holy Spirit whisper to her, "press on." So cool! It was so encouraging to hear where she came from and how reliant on Christ she was. She ended up praying for me on the flight! It was such a reassuring thing because I truly felt not ready and didn't really wanna go. When we landed in Ft. Lauderdale, I called the shuttle and waited. I ended up taking the wrong shuttle to the wrong hotel. :p So I went back to the airport and got on the right shuttle, and got to my hotel around 8. It was raining, and unfortunately it was an outdoor pool, so I didn't get to swim. I stayed up almost all night and got like an hour of sleep because I was so nervous and really felt inadequate. I was reassured by people on the phone or through text, so that was definitely a blessing and I am thankful for you all!! :)
Waking up at 3 to be at the airport by 4 was a bit rough, to say the least. I met a man at the airport who had started a school in Haiti and was also sponsoring almost 20 teenagers. It was really cool to hear his stories and to see how passionate he was for the people here. We had to walk outside to get in the plane, which I thought was strange. I slept most of the plane ride over. When they told us we were almost here, I looked out the window and saw so many beautiful mountains. It was so weird to not see a bunch of roads and buildings. When I got off the plane, you had to walk outside to the airport building. I could see a bunch of people looking at us from the fence, and I was a little nervous I wasn't going to be able to find the guy picking me up. The guy I met at the airport helped me get through customs, which consisted of them stamping my passport and kind of looking in one of my bags. When I walked outside, I can't really describe my feeling, I just knew I had to find who was picking me up and say "No mesi" to people trying to help with my bags. Luckily, Jenna and Toto came to pick me up, and I recognized her so it wasn't too difficult. The car ride to COTP wasn't too bad, I just looked outside a lot. The roads aren't the best here, and there's a lot of chaos on the roads.
I'm living with Jenna in an apartment/ house sort of deal, and it's pretty nice. She's pretty awesome and chill, so it's really not awkward at all which is a definite plus! There are a ton of daddy long legs, which I've grown to ignore, or try to. She has a cat, Ella, who is pregnant and just so cute! She sometimes cuddles with you, and kills lizards in my room. The shower here is cold, which has been a struggle and I find myself arching my back as much as possible to avoid getting hit with the water. Hopefully I'll get used to it! I've gotten bitten by like a hundred mosquitoes, but that's probably never going to end.
Let's see, my typical day consists of me waking up to the sounds of cows, the lawn workers, and the school children next door. I get ready and then prepare for preschool from 10-12. Preschool is definitely an adventure! I have 5 children, four Haitian children and 1 international student. There's definitely a language barrier that is super frustrating, although it is taught in English. This is definitely the hardest part of my day. I feel like I'm constantly redirecting behavior or telling a child to "sheta"(sit). We do activities, circle time, reading time, water break, crafts, and some sort of activity or game to end the day. Planning sometimes can be a challenge because I never know what they are going to spend 2 minutes on, or if it will take like a half hour. It's different every day, and there's a lot of times where you just have to laugh. Val helps me, and I'm so thankful she's with me, or I might not make it though the days haha. Then I eat lunch, which is prepared for me, and switches from Haitian to American food every day. Then I do homeschooling for a couple hours, two days with two older kids from one of the house parents, and two days with younger kids. I do geography and creative writing with the older kids, and reading with the younger. I really enjoy this time, and the kids are so great! Then I eat dinner and hang out. They have worship nights on Wednesdays. I've hung out with another volunteer nurse, Carrie, quite a bit, who arrived about the same time and it's nice to share the experience of not really knowing what's going on. Sometimes Jenna and I watch the Amazing Race in our apartment or chat; we've got through a whole season already, and I'm getting hooked :). I don't really feel like I have culture shock, you just know things are different here. I feel like if people ask me specific questions I'll be a whole lot better at this, because I don't really know what else to say! Hahaha. I already can't imagine going back, I think a lot of things will seem different to me. I can't think back to whats happened, but you can definitely ask me questions! I can get online on my phone, so I can email or Facebook, although I try not to get on Facebook a ton. Something that happened today that's been on my mind a lot is that a baby passed away. I never met her, she was brought to the hospital the day I came(I think) because she was so little and malnourished. Yesterday we were told she probably wasn't going to make it through the day, and she passed away in her sleep. It makes me sad to think this is real life for so many people here. We still have very small babies here, and right now they're gaining weight every day, which is a huge blessing!
So some things I've learned/random stuff
1. Haitian families are very different, like it could be anyone that cares for the child, like the grandmother, cousin, uncle, older sibling, etc.
2. Marriages are rare, and they often have children with numerous people; it's cultural.
3. Chaval is horse in creole :) The preschool kids LOVE horses.
4. Haitian food is pretty good! There's rice, beans, chicken, plantains, Haitian meatballs, etc.
5. There's over 200 kinds of mangoes in Haiti, and some of them are really stringy.
6. I don't know how, but when we make brownies here, they taste so much better, but I think it's just because it's rare.
7. The nannies are always so happy and cheerful!
8. The voodoo doctor here is also the lawyer, which means he has a lot of power in Lagossette.
I can't think of
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