two month tribute

As of today, we have officially been in Haiti for two months! Our first break home is only a few weeks away (September 16), and riding home in the tap-tap a few days ago...

a weird thing I miss...

A really weird thing that I miss and think about almost daily is... hardwood floors. So random! The majority of the floors in homes here are tile, and there is something about hardwood that is just so homey and "American" to me. Even weirder, I get visions of just lying down on them (specifically my mama's because they're so clean!). Our feet get so dirty walking around barefoot even in our "home". Everything in Haiti is just so dusty. So for some reason the idea of clean hardwood floors (okay, or carpet, too) just makes me want to lie down and rest. Ha!

What do you miss when you're away from home?

cute friends and a shark

When we were working in Anse-a-Pitres last week, we stayed in the Dominican Republic in a town called Pedernales. Sunday afternoon we got to spend a couple hours at a local beach. While the beach itself was kinda weird (so many ants and giant sea slugs...), the cutest group of (unsupervised) kids swam and played nearby.

Andrew found the remains of a shark head (above), and the kids were fascinated with it... and with Andrew (see below) :)

xo

goats yelling like humans

Did you see the trend of videos a few months ago, "Goats Yelling Like Humans"? Videos of goats making sounds that surprisingly sound a lot like people. If you close your eyes, you can easily imagine the screams coming from a person! They are the kind of humor that I call dumb-humor (so funny because it's so dumb), and also so weird! Anyways, when we were visiting Ayitimoun Yo last week, a goat on their property reminded me of the videos, so I had to share it. Just something humorous to brighten your day :)

P.S. This was my favorite "Goats Yelling Like Humans" Remix.

not for the faint of heart

Traveling to and from Anse-a-Pitres last week was quite the adventure. From our house to the small coastal town is only a 90 mile stretch, but the journey itself took a little more than 9 hours each way. I wanted to document a few pieces of our adventure, but it's turned out to be a long post. So, if you're interested in the crazy details, click the link below! Mothers, you've been warned...

the golden birthday

Happy 24th birthday to my love. You make life so fun!

Today is special not only because it's Andrew's birthday, but it's also his golden birthday, meaning- he is turning 24 on the 24th!

I experienced mine at the ripe age of 4. Have you already had your golden birthday? Did you do anything special?

We had a small "Haitian" party last night with some friends, and today are taking it easy with plans to hang out at the Best Western Hotel for a couple hours later. We're party animals! Wishing we could be celebrating with our family and friends. It'd be so fun to have a "golden" themed party. But we are happy to just be together and do things a little simpler than usual.

Happy Birthday, Andrew! I am happy to celebrate each year of life as we continue on this adventure together. 

Have a good weekend xo

Top photo by Gracie Blue Photography our wedding day // 
photo of young Andrew found on Aunt Michelle's Facebook // 
bottom photo from friend's wedding May 2012 //

what makes a good party?

Last Saturday at Ayitimoun Yo, there was a party for the children- 1) because it was someone's birthday, and 2) because a staff member's phone had "gone missing" (potentially stolen by one of the kids), and had recently been "found"(honesty calls for celebration!). It was quite the celebration. So, I have to ask, what makes a good party? Click the link below to find out all the party secrets...

children of haiti

Below are a few pictures and some brief information about our recent site-visit to Anse-a-Pitres, if you'd like to see...

truly on the map

Remember that post I did a couple weeks ago about Athens and how great it is? I am still seeing so many articles making rounds on Facebook. Now, that might be because the majority of my Facebook friends are current UGA students or alumni, but still. Recently I saw this article, where Forbes names Athens, GA as one of America's prettiest towns. Also, this article has been bouncing around the internet world this week and it gives an excellent description of all the reasons we love this town so much. Maybe it's the UGA Bulldawgs current ranking that is leading to this influx of attention on Athens, GA. Whatever it is, all the hype is making these next 3 and a half weeks in Haiti almost unbearable! We can't wait to be reunited :)

what's the best name for a pet that you've ever heard?

Andrew seems to have a not-so-secret admirer. No matter how many times he tells this cat to go away ("Ale, chat!"), she still wants to give him some love ;) Her name is Mimi... and apparently so is every other cat's name in Haiti. We were informed the other day that when a cat doesn't have a real name, everyone just calls it "Mimi" because of their constant meow. Ha!

Today we are on the hunt for a working ATM. The majority of the ATM's are owned by one major bank- so one doesn't work, none of them work. And this always seems to happen when we only have about $20 cash left in our wallet... yikes!

Yesterday my dad informed me that we have 26 days left until we come home for our first visit. I've literally had more than one dream of visiting Chick-Fil-A, so it's a good thing that number is finally less than 30 :) I have a few posts about our trip to Anse-a-Pitres lined up, starting tomorrow... so stay tuned!

around the country and back again

Back to the blogging world! And the world in general. This past weekend, Andrew and I visited an orphanage (the French-founder pictured above) in Anse-a-Pitres, a town on the most south-eastern tip of Haiti, right on the border of the Dominican Republic. We had a great experience and have a lot to report. However, the trip there and back was completely exhausting (reference pictures below). We are taking a few days to recover and catch up on some work, so I will give a more official update soon.

In the mean time, here are our "how I feel right now" pictures we took last night after traveling back home- 1 border crossing, 1 moto ride with 3 flat tires, a 3.5 hour-long moto ride through the winding mountains on gravel roads, and 3 tap-taps in 2 hours of traffic later... 9 and a half hours to travel only 91 miles. Se Ayiti...

We also have excellent farmers' tans, as you can imagine. See you when we recover...

xo

those sandy beaches...

Don't you love long walks on the beach? I think it's one those things that almost all people, no matter who they are or where they're from, can appreciate. Perhaps as humans, there's something inside of us that likes recognizing and being in awe of just how small we are, and just how beautiful the earth really is. But then there's that smaller few (and possibly older...) that find their pleasure in searching for shells and other treasures that the ocean waves bring ashore. Well, I've crossed over to that side- and this beach was a collector's dream...

caribbean waters

It's true that the Caribbean is home to some of the most beautiful water- clear, blue, and warm. Often times when I go to the beach, I like swimming in the ocean but get too scared of sharks or jellyfish or crabs or even fish to stay in for too long. The water here was so clear that it erased any mystery of "what lies beneath," and we fearlessly swam, floated, and dove to the depths...

twa jou

view from our bedroom window

One of the nicest things about our trip last week to Club Indigo was that since we decided to go during the week, there were almost no other guests. We had the beach and the water all to ourselves, quiet nights, and no lines during meals! 

Definitely the way to go... 

the island life

This past week we got to spend a few days at the beach and hotel resort, Club Indigo. It's about an hour drive north of Port-au-Prince, and a popular vacation spot for Haitians. The water was clear & warm, the sun bright, and the food plentiful. It was wonderful to have some time to relax and to be able to sleep in A/C for the first time in a month (and to also have tv in english, even if it was only 7 channels)! Over the next few days, I will be sharing some pictures from the trip. 

This week we plan on making visits to a few orphanages to gather some remaining information as the first phase of our work for OEF comes to an end. We also have a few potential new living situations on the horizon, if you can keep this specifically in your prayers as we hope to secure an affordable, safe, and comfortable place before our trip to the U.S. on September 16. 

xo

Athens, I love you.

I came across this video a couple days ago (via my friend, Erin) and was reminded again that Athens, GA truly is the greatest town in the world. It really doesn't even begin to capture half of the beauty that is Athens (mostly because it only focuses on downtown Athens)! The food, the music, the fashion and shopping, the history, the campus, the dawgs, the busy-ness of a small college town amidst the serene quiet of a surrounding gorgeous, rural landscape...

Athens has been receiving a lot of press recently. While I am glad that the world is finally beginning to notice just how wonderful this city is and is giving it the credit it deserves, I also hope it can stay under the radar as a small country town and America's best kept secret. I also stumbled across this article written about Athens in The New York Times, and this short video from MTV.

Athens, I love you, and I can't wait to be reunited with you and all of your sights and sounds... oh yeah and the people that you have, too ;)

Update: I finally got to watch the whole MTV video, and realized that Andrew and I are IN the video! Okay not really... but where they talk about The Grit (our favorite restaurant) and they film 3 people talking about it, we are sitting at a table in the bottom left corner. We were there that day watching and listening to everything they were saying, wondering what they were filming. Literally we were so close it was awkward, and we couldn't really have a conversation because we thought the camera would pick it up. Anyways- too cool!

He's got the whole world in His hands

Earlier this week, we had lunch at the home of some new friends/mentors/potential business partners. They live in a gorgeous, under-construction house in a more elevated area. On the way up, we stopped at this overlook where you can view all of Port-au-Prince. It was beautiful and we could have stayed all day, but were only given five minutes :) We spotted places like the landing strip that is the airport, and some larger buildings we use as landmarks when navigating the city.

Overlooking any city from up above is always mesmerizing, but there was something eerie and captivating about the quietness of gray buildings littering the green hills. It’s all just so… flat. No skyscrapers here! Plus the ocean, the mountains… if you visit us, know that this will be one of the spots we take you ;) 

furry friends

right outside the house we were staying at!

Something that quickly became normal for us, but would totally be outrageous in the U.S., is how many random animals wonder the streets of Haiti. Not only are there stray dogs every few yards, but pigs, goats, chickens, even cows, fill the trash pits that line the streets.

The majority of my thoughts while walking through the streets are consumed with trash pick-up program ideas and dog rescue visions. Not that that’s at all my interest :) but it’s definitely a smaller project than solving world hunger…

photos taken our first week in Haiti while walking some back roads near where we were living

waterfalls and caves

As promised, here are some more photos of our time in Hinche last week. We had the opportunity to explore a local tourist sight, a waterfall with the name Bassin Zim. We drove down a long winding gravel/dirt road so steep and full of holes that most people driving a normal size car have to pull over and walk the rest of the way. Once at the waterfall, we hiked up the side of it to the top, led by two children "tour guides" looking to make some money. Click the link below to view the pictures from our journey.

taking the scenic route

During the drive to Hinche last week, we were amazed by the beautiful countryside. The most mesmerizing of it all, though, was Haiti's longest river, the Artibonite River (and also the source of the November 2010 Cholera outbreak, unfortunately). We also stopped at the Peligre Dam, a hydroelectric dam completed in 1956, which generates and sends electricity throughout most of the country. Click below to see a few more pictures!

campus ministry retreat

driving into the city

Earlier last week, we had the opportunity to travel to Hinche and spend time with our church’s campus ministry at their annual retreat. The drive there was about 2 and a half hours and absolutely beautiful, as was the local countryside scenery- I’ll have a few posts in the next few days with pictures.

our sleeping quarters

The retreat lasts about 5 or 6 days, but we only stayed one night- and it was a looong night. Without getting into details, the heat and the mosquitos left us with literally, absolutely NO sleep. Our once hesitant-attitudes towards a 5am prayer time quickly shifted to eager anticipation as we counted down the hours through the night to 4:30am so we could finally get up and begin our day.  Andrew and I have found a lot to laugh about from these last couple days…

locals playing futbol on the retreat property

We were asked to speak/teach on Tuesday morning, in which we focused on finding your identity in Christ and shared some of our experiences from leading campus ministry the past couple of years. Afterwards we had a short Q&A, where we got to learn more about their ministry and provide some insight based off of our time in Athens. It was good for our hearts to be with such generous and god-centered young people, and also to learn of needs and find ways we can begin to serve the church here.  The time made us nostalgic for our own beloved campus ministry in Athens (we so wish the two could meet!), but we are looking forward to developing these relationships and being able to watch this ministry of about 40 learn and grow this coming school year.

us with the campus ministry students that attended the retreat

xo