temporary black out

Our internet has been on the fritz since Saturday, and trying to get it fixed has been a nightmare. We finally got it up and running today, and hopefully it’s now working for good (fingers crossed). We apologize for not being able to communicate this whole week! Thank you to Andrew for running around Port-au-Prince for hours this morning through the heat, and doing it all while communicating in two confusing and unknown languages: computers and Creole.

We had an overnight trip earlier this week, and are planning on taking a short beach vacation this weekend. I have several posts lined up to catch everyone up on our last several days. Missing our friends and family, and so happy to be able to communicate once again!

xo

back to basics

The cell phone service industry in Port-au-Prince is run by pretty much two major companies. The one that we decided to go with is Digicel. We have these simple Nokia phones that make us feel like we are 15 again, and our current favorite pastime is playing 1 of the 3 games on the phone, Solitaire. We love seeing the words, "You WON! Now that's some high-flying solitaire!" Also, for the first couple weeks, anytime I saw the words "Digicel" plastered on some building or billboard, the first 30 seconds of the theme song from the old tv show, "Digimon", would immediately play in my head... Anyone else remember this?! (I know my brother, Grayson, definitely does ;)

a thursday of thanks

We have been so grateful for Tom and Deb for many years, for many reasons. A few major reasons being that they did our pre-marriage counseling for us, have remained faithful, serving, loving friends to us, and have adopted us as their own children (not to mention they are storing 85% of our things in their basement while we are in Haiti!). A new reason to add to this list is Deb's emails- Deb has sent us an email every single day since we left for Haiti. Each email includes details about what she did that day, and a scripture for us to reflect on. 

I love hearing about the progress of her new nursery (they are becoming grandparents in August!), how her horse is doing at the stable, and even about the weather patterns of this Georgia summer :) They also did pre-marriage counseling for some of our best friends (Kathryn & Charlie), and now they are doing it for my childhood best friend and her soon to be husband (Carly & Micah)- and it's so fun to watch their relationships flourish with these other couples that we love. They never stop serving! Hearing from her each day, even if it's just a short email, reminds us of home and makes us feel not so far away. 

Thank you for loving us so unceasingly and purely. We love you and are thankful to God for how He has shown us His love through you!

xo

a business update

Yesterday we had a couple meetings with the directors of some local organizations that focus on areas like education and orphans. We are in the process of researching and gathering information from these organizations in order to learn from them, see what the needs, and make decisions about the Orphan Education Foundation that will allow it to expand and continue to be successful in meeting the needs of Haitian orphans and education. 

Our first meeting was with the Education Director at Outreach to Haiti, which has been providing health care and education to local children and mothers for 25 years. The picture above is the view from their office in Christ Roi- to the right is the whole bay that leads into the ocean, blocked by the trees in the photo. 

The second meeting was with H.E.R.O. These are two American friends and educators who started an orphanage 3 years ago in Del Mas, after both experiencing first hand the earthquake in 2010. The woman is currently a literacy teacher at the local American international school, but the man works full time now at the orphanage, including living with them. They have 6 kids (5 boys and 1 girl) between the ages of 11 and 15, and provide a very strict schedule including tutoring, chess lessons from the Haiti national chess champion, and tennis lessons. The kids are all number 1 in their schools and almost fluent in english. Most orphanages have several children whose parents drop them off because they don't want to or can't care for them. This couple is very serious about only taking in true orphans. They each have sponsors from the U.S., though a few of the kids still need more. They are focused on providing extremely quality care to a smaller amount of children, and hope to raise these kids to be able to give back to and lead their country as educated and respected people. It was great to hear and learn from their experiences, and to create this connection with them. With there being so much tragedy in Haiti, including so much corruption among NGO's, it was refreshing to be able to witness something good that is actually making a change in people's lives. 

rooftop views

Our bedroom has a door that opens up onto the same level of our host family's roof. It provides the perfect spot for both early morning reading & writing, and catching the evening sunset. Small things like this help us find routine and feel more at home.

bringing american dating to haiti

Saturday night we went out on the town for a date, and I think we found our new trifecta...

pineapple // (zannanna)

I had my first experience with the mache last week. Okay, so I didn't necessarily make the deal, or even stand anywhere near the merchandise... I hid out in the car.

The mache (pronounced like mosh-ay) is basically the street store- where various things like fruit and veggies or clothing are sold for way cheaper than in the stores, and at negotiable prices. Now when a foreigner from a wealthy country approaches, they are automatically going to raise the cost and try to get as much money from you as they can, unwilling to lower their prices. So, the trick is to send a Hatiain in your place... and that's exactly what I did ;)

 


Thank you to my lovely host mama for my beautiful and delicious (and cheap!) pineapple fresh from the streets of Ayiti!

Andrew and The Ladies

We got to visit with some friends from the US the other day... They stayed for a week at The Village of Hope, and we visited them for a couple hours to talk, eat dinner, and tour the village. The girls have already left, but it was refreshing to spend time with them and share our experiences with each other.

We also took our first moto ride on the way out there! A moto is another form of transportation- a guy on a small motorcycle that fits 1 or 2 passengers and takes you directly to where you need to go, with no stops. A little more expensive, but quicker than a tap-tap which is constantly starting and stopping to let off and pick up passengers. It's also scarier...! I won't go into details to spare our parents from anxiety... but our first experience was very safe and succesful ;)

riding in style

Our tap-tap the other night looked like it had recently been on an episode of "Pimp My Ride" (or "Pimp My Tap-Tap"). It had completely cushioned seating and a freshly painted interior, and was decked out in fluorescent multi-colored lights around the words "Jesus Love." We are keeping it classy in Haiti!

first post on Medium

Andrew was recently invited to write his first post on Medium, an online collaborative journalism resource divided into collections based on subject matter. Andrew's piece was published in the "Medium for Haiti" collection, and can be found here.

This picture was taken the other day where Andrew found a group of guys playing different games, and he decided to join in on the basketball. He was challenged in a 1 on 1 game... and won ;)

home sweet home

For an update on our living situation, click the link below...

becoming secret agents

We have a friend from church who works for the UN and recently was relocated to Port-au-Prince after being near Cap-Haitian for the last two years. Yesterday, he took us on a tour of the base and we got to see their camp and living quarters, some of the offices, and eat lunch in a cafeteria with many UN officers from countries like Uruguay, Argentina, Canada, France, Bolivia, and even the good ol' USA.

We had to wear these name tags for security, which made me feel like someone important on a secret mission.

This officer drove us around in a big UN Police vehicle. We didn't take any pictures of the base for security reasons, but we had to sneak this one of our driver because he was dressed so fancy ;)

I felt like Jessica Chastain in the movie, "Zero Dark Thirty," walking around the dry, dusty landscape with my sunglasses and security tags. 

Through all of Andrew's political and historical research the last several years, we find there are many mixed and intense opinions about the presence of the UN in Haiti. It was exciting to be on the "other" side for a few hours. So maybe we weren't really "secret agents," but now we have a fuller picture of a world that is so mysterious some.

Happy 2 Weeks to Us

Today officially marks two weeks of being in Haiti //
Because it is such a completely different world than back home, and we are so intensely immersed in it, it feels so much longer. We bought our tickets a few days ago for our second chunk of time here. We leave Haiti for our first visit to the U.S. on September 16. We will return to Haiti October 4, and will be here until December 12, when we fly back to the U.S. for a few weeks for Christmas.

In the mean time, here's a picture of us with the kitty that lives with us :)

(more details on our living situation to come) xo

saturday morning in the mountains

Yesterday morning we drove with some friends from church to Kenscoff, a town in the mountains of Port-au-Prince...

old faces in new places

Yesterday we got to spend some time with our friend, Brenna. She and I were roommates my junior year of college, back in 2009, and we also took our first trip to Haiti together in 2010. She is currently a student at The New School in New York, and is visiting Haiti for the next two weeks to gather research for her thesis in order to graduate next May. Her and her friend are staying at Pacot Breeze, a nice hotel located in Pacot, with a gorgeous view of downtown Port-au-Prince and of the ocean (pictured above). It was nice to spend some time with someone with whom we share a little history, as every relationship here is so new and unexplored.

Andrew just texted me, informing me that he is eating food from a street vendor in Pacot, hanging and talking with Haitians-- so don't worry, we are building our Hatiain relationships, too ;)

church in Mirebalais

This past Sunday, the church in Port-au-Prince drove to Mirebalais for worship to encourage the church there at their inaugural service in their new building... 

Tropical Storm Chantel

We have been getting text message warnings (in French...) about tropical storm Chantel for the last couple of days. And now that she's come and gone, we wish she would return ;) It really didn't rain nearly as much as we anticipated, and it has completely cooled down the city. I am even wearing jeans and a t-shirt (with sleeves!) today!

Yesterday all of our plans got cancelled due to the storm, so we decided to walk to the nearest market for some sweets- cookies, ice cream, soda... we went wild. No rain today, though it is still completely overcast, and totally bearable.

Now, I am back in our new favorite coffee shop in Petionville while Andrew grabs lunch with a friend. Tonight we have plans to meet up with our old friend, Brenna, who is visiting Port-au-Prince for two weeks to complete some school related work/research. Several people, actually, have contacted us about visiting for various reasons over the next few months, and I am looking forward to finding comfort in seeing some familiar faces! 

xo to all that we love.

coffee shops make the world go round

We got word that there is an upscale coffee shop in Petionville. So yesterday, we boarded a tap-tap and rode the 10 gourds worth up to PV-- and found a coffee shop!!!

It's called Rebo Expresso, and had A/C, wifi, and toilets that flush! We felt so fancy, and like normal people again. Isn't it pretty?!

I got to FaceTime with my momma, and we caught up on emails while Andrew enjoyed a $1.00 (40 gourds) cup of coffee :)

We left with lifted spirits, feeling like we were back at Walker's in Athens like old times.

missing home today

the last couple of days I have been feeling a little homesick. Missing family and friends, and I've also been craving a movie in an air conditioned movie theater with popcorn and a giant soda :)

"I Always Feel Like Somebody's Watching Me"

When I say everyone stares at us everywhere we go, I'm not kidding. Here are some hilarious pictures I secretly snapped under-cover while Andrew was purchasing an internet stick off the street the other day...

"That's Haiti"

<---

The other day we hopped on a usually over-crowded tap-tap to find it almost empty, except for a woman and this little guy, on his way to become supper...! There's a saying we've learned for moments like this, when something is typical for Haiti (a really bad road, no electricity, or a chicken on a tap-tap): "Sa Ayiti"-- "That's Haiti."

Once they left, we had the whole tap-tap to ourselves... and then realized we had ridden 20 minutes in the wrong direction, turning our 45 minute commute into a 2 hour road trip.... Sa Ayiti!

Mango Lovin'

Andrew went to Haiti for the first time in June 2009 before we started officially dating. After his trip, he would describe to me the mangos in Haiti- that you could pick one right off a tree and eat it right there! Mangos eventually became one of those foods that we would eat all the time as a go-to snack.

The other day, we experienced our first Haitian mango on this trip! It was so sweet and juicy, and we felt cool buying it off the street :)

But what's cooler than buying a mango off the streets of Haiti? Picking it right off of a tree and diving right in ;)

Searching for an Apartment

Our biggest priority right now is finding an apartment to live in more permanently. We have been staying with Mimi since we arrived, and she is a wonderful friend to us! But we are craving our own little home. We have been looking near a town called Pacot, which is where many Americans live (called Ex-Pats). We don't want to be in the American bubble and exclude ourselves from the rest of the Haitian world, but we would like to be in walking distance from some Americans so that we can have some of the comforts of home close by. One of our main concerns is having a place with somewhat consistent electricity-- we have been without power for 24 hours, and a friend from church is graciously having us in their home this morning so that we can use our computers! Please pray for us as we try to find a nice spot in a safe and convenient area, and within our budget.

In the mean time, here's a picture of Andrew drawing our bath water from the well ---

Another fun fact: Haitian men mostly wear long pants. If they wear shorts, they are way below the knee. Mimi explained that it's a cultural thing, that makes them feel more professional. So you can imagine the looks Andrew gets as they look him up and down. If only they could see some of the guys on the UGA campus... ;)

What is a tap-tap?

                               

The tap-tap is one of the public transportation options in Port-au-Prince. It is basically a pick-up truck with a built-in bench on either side of the truck bed, and a metal cover over it. They are usually decked out in bright swirls of color, with portraits of Jesus or LeBron James ;) About 6, sometimes 7, people can fit on one side. You get very up close and personal very fast... 

                               


The system is nothing like a normal bus system back home. There are no signs, no maps, nothing official about it. There are dozens that fill the streets at one time, and they all go on different routes. You basically have to ask the driver before you get in if they are going to your destination. As far as payment, you just have to "know" how much it is- again, there is no map or official system. We have been asking Mimi which routes to take, and how much each will cost, so that the driver can't rip us off just because we're American and don't speak Creole.

Driving in general is insane. There are a few paved roads, but most have potholes left and right. Cars and motorcycles weave in and out of traffic, freely honking as a means of communication. It is so fast-paced and sporadic...

So, to sum it all up, here's a video that perfectly depicts how I feel riding through the streets of Haiti:

Images provided by Google Images.

A few photos from our 4th...

 The last few days we have been spending our mornings reading on the front porch, where there is a nice breeze...

The gate that leads to the street from Mimi's house. We spent the whole day navigating tap-taps all on our own!

We found this little hotel restaurant while we were waiting to meet up with a friend, and had some egg sandwiches and a coke (all for about 5 bucks!). Yes, that's Edward Scissorhands on tv ;) and in english!

We helped this woman and son by paying for their tap-tap fare (only 10 gourds a person, which is about 25 cents), and then she helped us by leading us to the building we were looking for. We have interacted with so many people that are genuinely concerned and want to help us find our way around! P.S. That is a tap-tap on the right. I will describe those in more detail soon!

We also spent time at an American friend's house, where they had about 30 other Americans over to hang out and eat burgers. Pretty much everybody there was in some job having to do with development, so Andrew loved every minute of meeting people and exchanging phone numbers :) 

Now we continue our search for an apartment close to these new friends!

I have this friend who knows someone...

Have you ever been told, "I have a friend who says he has a friend that is named 'Ladasha, but their name is spelled: 'La-a'..."??

Let me tell you... if you have been told that, you have been tricked. Andrew and I always laugh about this because it seems people are always telling us this, and we are thinking, "surely there can't be this many 'La-a's in the world, and surely this many people can't fall for this joke..."

Well, yesterday we found that La-a (La-dash-a) really does exist. She is alive and well. And she left her mark in Haiti.

;)

Happy 4th of July!

What is everyone back home doing for the 4th today? We have been navigating around via tap-tap (on our own!!) all day-- more to come on that story later. We also got invited to a party tonight, hosted by some of the guys Andrew has been talking to the last few months who live in a city called Pacot. We are looking forward to being able to speak normal english to people other than ourselves, and are hoping for a cookout or sparklers ;) 

In the meantime, click below for some pictures to summarize our last few days...

learning and growing

This is our first time having internet since we arrived in Haiti...