Ten Days...REALLY?

6/20/2012

I can’t believe how fast time is going. After so many weeks and so many experiences it is almost time to go home. I can’t even believe it! Ten days from today I will be waking up in my own bed. Drinking a cup of coffee and spending my first day back in the States with my family. I can’t even begin to describe how happy this thought makes me feel! I am so excited! 

But, on the other hand, I am not ready to leave. I don’t want to say goodbye to my friends and my new students. I do not want to say goodbye to Haiti and the country that I have grown to call ‘home.’ It is a total whirlwind and I can’t even describe the thoughts I am thinking and the emotions I am feeling. It’s all just one big bittersweet mess of emotions! 

This is what the market looks like. All
over the place people are selling their
produce on the streets like this. 

Yesterday was a super long day. We got up and headed to Pettionville early in the morning to do some shopping and to go to the doctor. Lauren is pregnant so she has her doctor up in Pettionville. It was quite the experience. Being in Haiti, you really need to plan ahead in terms of meals. You can’t just run to the store real quickly if you forget something. Everything is written out exactly what is needed and how much is needed because you never know when you will be going to the market again. We spent time getting groceries from the ladies on the street. We then went to Carribean. This blew my mind. For so long I have had a preconceived idea that Haiti is poor and doesn’t have anything that the United States does. Well, to some extent, yes Haiti is a very poor country. There is no doubt that these people live on nearly nothing. But, they do have basically anything you can ever want from America...just a million times more expensive. This grocery store was beautiful and it was massive. They had anything you can think of...Starbucks coffee, Doritos, Chocolate Milk, anything. It is incredibly expensive compared to the states, but you really CAN get whatever you want if you are willing to pay the price. It was amazing and for a brief hour of shopping I didn’t feel like I was in Haiti. Until we walked back outside to the humidity and 97 degree weather I had forgotten I was all the way in Haiti. It was crazy! 

The doctor was a lot different than what I expected too. I expected a tiny whole-in-the-wall home that was super sketchy. But, because we were in Pettionville (where the elite live), the doctors office was much more advanced than what I originally thought. We sat forever in the waiting room because one of the Dr’s patients had actually gone into labor, so they shuffled their schedule and moved the others back so that this lady could be brought in right away. After a while in the waiting room it was Lauren’s turn. They took her back then a few minutes later they came for me and Jamie. We got to meet Baby James! I have never seen an ultrasound before so it was a neat thing to experience and can’t help me wonder what it will be like to look at the little screen and someday know that it is my baby! It was a neat experience. 

We came back home after shopping and unloaded the groceries. I took a quick nap and then it was time for class. Class yesterday was harder. Everyone was tired, it was REALLy hot and talking about food and American Hamburgers was getting everyone hungry. We made it through our 3 hour class and the day was done. 

There isn’t a lot to do here in Haiti in the evenings so we watched some more TV and then headed to bed exhausted. Yesterday was 10 days until I finally make it home. I only have 8 full days left in Haiti. I can’t even believe it. And, I know that the days are going to go faster and faster. Tomorrow we have Bible Study, then Gail arrives (another family friend from back home), we will teach and the day will be over. Friday we are going to go visit a ministry called ‘A Parent Project,’ then we are having a party with some of the neighbor kids. Saturday we are going to the beach! Then Sunday is here and my last week of being in Haiti. 

The days are going to be busy but I know that God is with me non-the-less and that He has everything planned out from my daily happenings, to my life-long adventure ahead. God knows and because of that I am content. 

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.” Isaiah 26:3-4