Home again

I love this country. Sometimes when I'm home in the states enjoying the people that I'm with and the things that I'm doing I forget how deeply I love this country. Sometimes I treat it as a chore or a sacrifice to come home to Haiti, but the minute I step off the plane I remember my love for this place. The smells, even the bad ones, make me love Haiti. The language all around me, reminds me of "home". I couldn't help but smile when I saw the airport people with their little plaid shirts on and caps walking around and talking rapidly with one another. As I thought about all of this, little tears welled in my eyes. "I'm home." It is so weird to call another place home, but I do. This is not a beautiful place, or an easy place to call home. Only God, in His wisdom and with His grace and understanding could put a love for a place like this in my heart. Its also strange that 3 weeks ago I was longing for another "home". I felt the same way when I stepped off the plane in Houston. The smells, or lack thereof, the language. All of it made me feel home!


On Friday morning, I woke up a little later than I had planned due to a late night catch-up conversation with Betty. She is such a wise and understanding woman. She is a wonderful listener, and I am so blessed to have her and Gersan in my life. We ate breakfast on Friday morning and headed off to the airport. Once in Cap Haitian I was greeted by Tchaly, Guerline, and Boss Varis. Oh! How wonderful it was to see them again! In true Haitian form, only one of my bags had arrived at the airport, so we ran some errands in Cap Haitian and then went back to pick up my remaining bag. On our way back to the village we had a bit of car trouble and were stuck on the side of the mountain for an hour or so. I was caught off-guard by none of this, I caught a nap in the car while waiting and then was actually suprised that it only took an hour or so to get going again. So while I arrived in true Haitian form, late by about 4 hours (because of the bag issues and car troubles), I was not greeted in true Haitian form, usually when an American drives by they are greeted with either blank stares or chanting of 'blanc, blanc". When people saw us coming in the car they ran to the street clapping and shouting! I heard some chanting of "Men, Noelle! Men, Noelle!" (Here's Noelle! Here's Noelle!"). A crowd of old men stopped their game of dominos to wave, and a crowd of young boys paused their game of football to cheer. Guerline commented that I was greeted with a party fit for the president (The current president was a former rap star, so I felt like that was a big complement!). Within 6 minutes of arriving, there was a small crowd gathered at the gate. The sun was setting more rapidly than I could talk to everyone. I got to see some of the little boys that live nearby, Kendy, AdeKa, Devon, and some of the other neighbor kids. Baby Jenny and her mom came by to say hello as well. It was so sweet, and such a precious time.

That evening I got to brush my teeth outside again. This is something I didn't realize that I had missed. But how many of you look at the stars while brushing your teeth? I had missed that special time and it was so sweet to look at the stars and brush my teeth again. I slept better and harder than I have in a long time, which is truely amazing considering how stellar the holes in my bed here are.

I'm so thankful to be home. And looking forward to the next few days here! I don't have long left here, but I will hopefully make the best of it all!