homeward bound

We are currently in route to Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Our flight got into Ft. Lauderdale, FL around noon. The trek through customs was borderline ridiculous, but a friend picked us up from the airport and brought us directly to a Chick-Fil-A :) We are already in awe of the fast internet and cool A/C. Looking forward to getting into Atlanta later tonight around 11:30. This past saturday we spent a day and a night in Jacmel, about two hours south of Port-au-Prince. I will post a few pictures later this week, but might take a little break from blogging at some point now that we're (almost) home. 

Goodbye, for now, Haiti! Na wè pita.

xo

happy friday!

We visited a home for children last week and while it was great and the people were wonderful... I was a little distracted by and smitten with the tiny baby kittens that insisted on sleeping in my lap. whoops :)

We also visited this spot again a few days ago, and ordered akra and french fries (so fancy) from the nearby restaurant. 

This week has been a little slower- not as many meetings as we had anticipated. But we are planning to take a short trip with some friends to Jacmel, and then will spend what we have left of the weekend packing and preparing for our trip to the US on Monday!

xo

flowerland

Drew Barrymore joined instagram the other week and guess where she took her very first picture?!

Yep, that's Athens. This shop sits on the corner of Prince and Milledge Avenue. Not that I'm a huge Drew fan or anything, but still pretty exciting :) Here's the link with the full story!

small steps will become bigger

Yesterday, Andrew had a very interesting meeting with the Education Specialist at the IDB. So many huge companies have so much money to spend, but for some reason or another don't find a way to spend it and nothing gets done and nothing changes. He's had the opportunity to make so many contacts with people in the business development world, and it will definitely provide us with a lot of resources moving forward. 

With how much isn't being done in this country, it's always refreshing to see the things that are actually being done, and being done right. We received these pictures the other day from our newest partner Ayitimoun Yo. The students have begun school with the two teachers that OEF is currently supporting. While the students don't yet have their uniforms (should arrive in a few weeks), nor have they been able to open their doors to the other children in the community (a few more weeks), they are still focused and determined as ever to provide these children with quality education. 

how to become a hero

We love this little guy. He is full of curiosity and passion and many wild ideas. I hoisted him up onto the back of the moto while Andrew was parking it in the driveway, and his face just lit up. You have to watch until the very end- his reaction is priceless!

(click the icon in the bottom right corner of the video to enlarge it)

how 'bout them dawgs?

This past weekend, in case you missed it, UGA beat the gamecocks (USC) 41-30. Its' been 3 years since we won against them, and victory sure is sweet :) (sorry mom and dad!)

We sure missed being in Sanford Stadium, but Andrew and I made up for it by watching the game from our laptop in the Best Western hotel lobby. After the game, the camera ended on the very last shot of the fans running towards the famous hedges, and we caught a glimpse of our friends and their home-made sign, "It takes a real man to be Gurley." (in reference to UGA's running back, Todd Gurley, who is currently one of the top RBs in the country!)

 Within minutes our facebook newsfeed was full of snapshots that people took of their tv screens of our friends. I know this kinda thing isn't that big of a deal, but still so exciting! Five minutes (or 10 seconds) of fame. Have you ever been on tv before?

Maybe the dawgs won especially for us, to give us the energy and excitement we need to finish off strong our last week here ;) I woke up sick today, so we're not sure how our plans will pan out. We'll be using this week to have last minute meetings, pick up a gift or two for people with birthdays back home (shhh), and organizing our new fundraising ideas for OEF. Have a good Monday!

P.S. Read about UGA's win in the New York Times.

xo

saturday in Athens

Today marks the official first saturday in Athens, as the Dawgs will play USC between the hedges! So, of course I have to leave you all with a UGA blog post and a GOOOO DAWGS!!! Even this little cutie is sporting his dawg gear :)

Playing this song on repeat today, in honor of each home game tradition (especially 3 min and 15 seconds into the song)

And also being flooded with nostalgia and love for my alma mater with this video. (Saturday, Saturday, Saturday!)

SIC 'EM!

bonbon chocolat?

What is everyone up to this weekend? We have been working from home today after a busy week out and about. We've been spending a lot of time with these guys and every day the first thing they ask (in Creole) is if we can give them a "bonbon chocolat" or "biscuit" (referring to our stash of chocolate wafer cookies and saltine crackers). Andrew's parents moved to Atlanta yesterday, so we are looking forward to visiting them in their new place when we head back in just ten days. Hope you have a relaxing weekend!

xo

official announcement

If you have been keeping up with our business updates, you know that we have been spending the majority of our work-time meeting with important people from multiple organizations, orphanages, and schools in hopes of finding and creating new partnerships for OEF. Well, we would like to officially announce that OEF has made the decision to financially support two teachers at the school run by Ayitimoun Yo!

Both of the teachers are already trained with the program we endorse and train our teachers with, and actually both teachers have worked with OEF before! It's really crazy how it all worked out. One of the teachers and Andrew & I each discovered Ayitimoun Yo on our own and got connected with them without knowing that the other had also done so. When we went to visit Ayitimoun Yo, that teacher completely coincidentally happened to be visiting that same weekend (and that's not an easy trip to just happen to be there at the same time!). We feel great about working with people we can trust and in whom we can put our full confidence and support. We look forward to keeping you updated with the progress there, and are in the process of not missing a beat and beginning the first stages of fundraising. We are excited to see what this school year brings for the kids at Ayitimoun Yo and for the families in the community of Anse-a-Pitres.

belated birthday pictures

I never posted pictures from Andrew's birthday two weeks ago! It already feels so long ago, but I have to share the pictures from his first birthday in Haiti, celebrated with a Haitian birthday party :) Click the link below to read more and see pictures!

how is that spelled?

I am still surprised when I have heard and said the name of a city in Haiti several times and see it spelled for the first time. It is almost always spelled so different than how I pictured it in my head! I think how it sounds must be how it's spelled, forgetting that this is French and French has all kinds of random letters they like to throw in there :)

For example, what I thought, because of how it is pronounced, was "La Cay" is actually "Les Cayes." For years I have referred to a town we visited on our first trip and spelled it as "Quadabouque," but really it is "Croix-de-Bouquets." Ha! And then there's Anse-a-Pitres (which I have been referring to a lot recently), that when I first heard it, imagined it as "Ansapeid."Also, what I thought was "Gontye" (and confused with the popular band, Gotye..) is actually "Ganthier."

One of the best ones so far, though, is "Chote"... which is actually spelled "Thiotte." I might need to stick to Spanish...


P.S. A parody of pronunciation videos.

preacher man

Andrew had the opportunity to preach at church yesterday, with the help of a translator :) 

Two weeks from today, we will be on American soil. We unfortunately have a 9.5 hour layover in Ft. Lauderdale and could drive home faster. But, we will be in America none-the-less and already have plans to scout out a white sandy beach and a Chick-Fil-A... Do they have those in Florida? Please don't burst my bubble and tell me no... 

We are still in a transitional state- still looking for an apartment that is the right fit for us, and waiting to hear back about a job Andrew interviewed for, etc. Praying and hoping to be led to what is best for us.

xo