Our host families adopt us into their families, we eat the same food, help with chores around the house, and learn more about the culture in which we are living. Here in Haiti, the host families don't speak English {only their native Creole}, though the language barrier can be a challenge, we are able to communicate with a translator and work past it with basic English and French words and a LOT of hand motions. In the afternoons we teach English to children and adults. Whether we are hauling water from the well to bathe, or flying around Petit Gauve on the back of a moto, or even just letting my host sister braid my hair, everything about this life is amazing and filled with love.
My host family consists of Gina and Kin, two sisters, and Kin's children, Abileen and Dociello. Ginas husband was injured in a moto accident so he is staying in a house that is easier for him to get around in as he is still recovering from his surgery. Kin is staying with Gina to help her out. Two of my teammates are also here with me, Vanessa who hails from Las Vegas and is the resident comedian and Bekah who is from Alabama and almost as obsessed with peanut butter as I am. Shoutout to these two for teaching me the ropes and putting up with my 4,000 questions before 9 am.
The weather here is hot, but with a breeze it's gorgeous. Most days are clear and sunny with puffy white clouds rolling over the tops of the Palm trees. In the mountains where we play soccer it's nice and cool, and if you walk past the ocean you are guaranteed a nice breeze. The city is humid and the rain is the only thing that relieves the heat.
The city of Petit Gauve is about an hour from Port-Au-Prince. It's smaller then PaP but still just as busy, especially if you're walking through the market. The rules of the road is simple, "Stay Alive". In other words there are none, so when we walk through the streets to other team members houses Its best to stay alert. The people who live here are all bound together by a very strong sense of community. I think a lot of towns in the US could take a few lessons from the Haitian people in how to "love thy neighbor". Pick up soccer in the streets outside happens almost every night. Gina's neighbors walk in and out of the house on a daily basis, helping with preparing a meal, or doing each other's hair in the cooler evening hours.
I feel bad about attempting to condense my adventure and experiences from the past two weeks one blog post so here are some highlights from my time spent in Hait!
*Starting and finishing "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan and "7" by Jen Hatmaker {Thanks Sabrina for letting me borrow it!}. Both books I recommend highly.
*Getting my hair cornrowed by Kin!
* learning how to flush the toilet by myself. {don't ask}
* Bucket Baths... Cold but so refreshing after a long day in the hot sun.
* Haitian coffee
* being unplugged from social media and enjoying living in the moment.
* learning some Creole phrases from Renald our translator.
* making friends with everyone from school and church and playing with the kids.
* Daphene's Birthday Dance Party
* soccer in the mountains
* tanning/star gazing on our roof
* trying new foods like pasta for breakfast {there's lots of heavy and spicy things here}
* growing closer to God every single day.
* celebrating my 21st birthday with my Immersion Family.
* visiting the ocean
* doing laundry on the front porch with Gina.
We only have four days left before we leave for Miami, and from there we will be heading to Jamaica. I can't believe how fast time has gone, island time passes very slowly; so slowly some days I feel like I can fit five days into one.
The other day I was looking where I was just a year ago. I had all these plans for my life, and if you had told me then that I would celebrate my 21st birthday in Haiti because God called me to drop everything to go on a six month mission trip I would have died laughing. But here I am, so I guess God gets the last laugh. I am loving every minute of the adventure that God had called me to. I don't think I would change a thing about my mission trip story. God has a very specific reason why he called me here. When I first signed up for Immersion I did it for selfish reasons, so that I could get away from bad experiences that happened. I did it so that I could shut the noise of the world out and concentrate better on God, and learn what I should do with my life. Of course I wanted to help people, but that wasn't my main focus. My main focus was "how will this mission trip bring out a better me?" I had no idea when I submitted my application to EM {at 3 am after some prayer and a lot of procrastination from my finals} that this adventure would be starting. But here I am almost 3 months later, asking God to lead me where He wants to go and to teach me the things I need to learn. By stepping out of my comfort zone, God had taught me how to love.
When I left home I knew how to love people who spoke my language, dressed like me, and ate the same food as I did. It was easy to love someone who isn't that much different than yourself. But this is a whole new kind of love. These people are different than I am, but they are still the same in some things. We all feel love. We all feel pain. We are all human. Loving someone regardless of race, gender, position, or even when they don't love you back; that is true love.
Everyone loves falling in love. On the 10 hour car ride from Indiana to NYC I realized, I get to fall in love with people every single day. The concept of which absolutely blew my mind. I get to show them how much I love them and how much God loves them every single day. I get to experience the butterflies in my heart every time we go somewhere new and I meet new people. People, it's just as awesome as it sounds.
God is good. All the time.
Please help to support me while I am gone on God's adventure. The link to my fundraising page is in my bio. If you donate on my profile through EM's website it's a tax deductible donation. With your help I hope to be 100% sponsored by the time I get back in July. Keep me in your prayers as well and I'll definitely be keeping you in mine!
Sending so much love to everyone back home in the USA!
