a word about these past 3-6-5

I can't believe it, but it was one year ago today that we hopped on a plane to move our lives to Haiti. How can it have already been a year? Time seems to have stopped from June until about this past April, because life as we knew it was so different. Now that it's summer again, I find myself thinking of and missing Haiti almost every day. The heat, the smell of gasoline, the busyness of city dwellers as I walk through the streets- it all awakens glimpses of memories of our every day lives there. I remember so much about each day so perfectly, it doesn't seem that 365 days have already come and gone...

a short video from living in Haiti

Last weekend I had a little fun messing around with iMovie and created a short video of our time spent living in Haiti. During our time there, we occasionally filmed moments and interactions for the sake of memory, but never had the intention of actually making anything of them. The filming is shaky and the quality is low, but it's fun to look back and remember bits and pieces of what made up our days there.

You can click this link to view the 5 minute video, but don't forget to make it full screen and turn up your volume so that you can get the full experience ;)

xo

Jacmel photographs and Haiti musings

While I still feel confident and happy with our decision to move back to the U.S., I find myself thinking about Haiti- what we would be doing, how I might be feeling, what our friends there are doing at this exact moment, what the weather is… I got out of the shower this morning and remembered how I spent three months without hot water, sometimes showering from a bucket of water, flushing with a bucket, using only bottled water to brush our teeth… And then how quickly hot water felt normal once coming back to the states, using sink water was immediately once again habit… how luxurious it would have all felt in Haiti. 

While we were in Boston last week, we got the chance to see one of our friends from church in Port-au-Prince. She had to move to the U.S. for a few months, leaving her new husband (as of June) in Haiti because he does not have a visa.  She is living with her mother outside of Boston, and taking English classes. Seeing her reminded me of the bond we have formed with these people- one that is so strong that it transcends countries, cultures, and languages.

xo

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 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.

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...

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

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...

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