Dramamine & Jazz music

Dramamine is a total essential for me in Haiti, and really, if I'm being honest, if I'm not behind the wheel, its an essential for me even in the U.S. But especially in Haiti! My dramamine intake has dramatically increased in the last 3 months. It makes for a more pleasant ride. Instead of focusing on trying to regulate my breathing, dealing with the cold/hot sweats, or thinking about my face turning green, or what would happen if I vomited. I can focus on the people I drive by, the country, the mountains, the rice fields, the driving, the potholes, etc. A few weeks ago I rode into Cap Haitian to pick up Daniel and Hudson when they arrived here to spend their spring breaks here working on projects around camp. I thankfully remembered to take my dramamine and it was a very pleasant ride into town. I was able to focus on looking out the window and also be engaged in things that were happening inside the car. One of those things being the Jazz music that Gersan was listening to. I was thinking to myself, "I don't really like Jazz all that much, I like the sound, but its so disorganized." As those thoughts were in my head Gersan mentioned a friend of his that said she didn't "get" Jazz. Immediately I felt an "AMEN!" That's my problem, its not that I don't like it. Its that I don't "get" it. Then, as is so normal for Gersan he dove into the reasons why he loved it, and tried to explain it to those car, as if to make his non present friend understand Jazz. He said there is the main drumline, or the main baseline. They set the tone and keep the song going, the trombone or the sax or the trumpet just kinda do their own thing and try to make it work with what the drums and bass are doing. Sometimes the sax and the trumpet clash for a while, but then sometimes it all works together and sounds great. As I was staring out the window, and had a clear, vomit-free mind, and contemplating the nuances of Jazz music, I realized that Jazz and Haiti are a lot alike. I don't "get" either of them. There are so, so many things about Haiti that I don't "get". There are days (and Jazz songs) that I totally get and love. And would listen to, or live over and over again. There are days (and Jazz songs) that I don't get at all and not only that, but they are frustrating and I honestly look forward to nothing more than them being over. Everyone in Haiti, to some extent marches to the beat of their own drum Saxaphone. There is a baseline, or, in voodoo culture, a drum beat that defines the lives of everyone. Many of the people have the same baseline, but what they do with their trumpet and sax can be oh, so different! Sometimes they work together beautifully, but sometimes it makes me want to reach for the "skip/search" button on the stereo. There are things that hold them together, poverty, hardship, language, etc. But there are so many differences, jobs, family relationsips, religion, etc. Each person chooses to be part of a team, or to make their own tune.

As I listen to the music of Haiti, I find myself sometimes reaching for the dramamine. That way I don't have to deal with the ugly or hardship that makes me want to turn green and vomit. I want to be comfortable. I want to pretend that everyone else is comfortable. See what I want to see. But I pray that I won't. I pray that I won't be comfortable with things around me. I have heard the term "compassion drainage", where people, like me, who have seen poverty and pain will see it as normal. It is not normal. Nothing about this country is normal. Nothing about orphans, sickness, poverty, or voodoo is normal. I pray that I will look at Haiti without dramamine eyeglasses. Its good to be uncomfortable sometimes, it makes me trust my Lord more, and praise Him loudly when I step foot on solid ground again.


As I study Haiti. I want to hear the beauty in every Jazz song. Every sax solo, and every compilation. I don't want to have to take dramamine to keep me from getting motion sickness. I want to experience it all, happy, sad, painful, joyful, or heartbreaking. As God intended. It is all music to His ears.

Saturday: Week in Review

Well I haven't been online much this week because my internet has been so painfully slow. Also, my dad and sister, Grace have been here all week, so we've been hanging out too! I've enjoyed them being here so much. They brought a little bit of home with them along with lots of laughs.... and chips and salsa!!

The weather has been strange this week. Pouring rain. It has made lots of mud that slowly and steadily crept into my house. This morning I did some major cleaning because I just couldn't handle it anymore.

My dad has been such a help around camp. He built 5 amazing picnic tables, some really awesome shelves for our storage area, and designed a linen closet for all the sheets and blankets that we are beginning to accumulate. I'm so glad that he got to come and meet the people I spend my time with and see where I am and what is actually going on here. Unfortunately, because of the rain, the school was closed or finished early every day, so I only had class once this week. They got to meet my older, and much smaller class and observe me teaching a class.

Gracie has been so fun to have around too! He has been helping me with random things that need to be done, and provides the humor to get me though the day. Today at breakfast she made me laugh so hard I almost choked on my peanut butter. She happily made valentines for my entire class on Wednesday afternoon, but then when we showed up for school all the kids were gone. I am planning on giving them their valentines on Monday, but I wish they could all formally meet Gracie and my dad too! The other nice thing about Gracie being here is that she is taking lots of pictures!! Which I love!

Last Saturday I traveled to Port Au Prince, so that I could be there to pick them up from the Airport. I think this was my first time to travel solo in this country, but it went really well. Thankfully my Kreyol is getting better. While we were waiting for my plane to leave I decided to bust out the camera and take some photos. Last week I printed some pictures that I had on my camera of me, and some of the other team members with some of the Haitian Staff here. I didn't realize how everyone else would get jealous... or at least pretend to be. So here is the picture I'll be printing out for Boss Varis... along with the one from when he retrieved my keys!

On Sunday afternoon after getting Daddy and Gracie from the airport. Gracie ran so fast to hug me that she forgot to not headbutt me in the process. Although it gave me a headache, I took it as a compliment, and a sign that she missed me!

This is Tuesday afternoon preparing for school. I made Daddy and Gracie help me make Valentines for my students. I printed out a few Bible verses on paper and then we decorated!!

Jan 3:16 "Paske, Bondye sitèlman renmen lèzòm li bay sèl Pitit li a pou yo. Tout moun ki va mete konfyans yo nan li p'ap pedi lavi yo. Okontrè y'a gen lavi ki p'ap janm fini an."

 

1 Jan 4:7  "Mezanmi, se pou nou yonn renmen lòt paske renmen soti nan Bondye. Moun ki gen renmen nan kè yo, se pitit Bondye yo ye. Yo konnen ki moun Bondye ye."

 

1 Jan 4:10 "Men kisa renmen an ye: Se pa nou menm ki te renmen Bondye, se li menm pito ki te renmen nou, ki te voye Pitit li a pou nou te ka resevwa padon pou peche nou yo, gremesi Pitit la."

 

I decided to teach on family relationships in honor of my family being there. I taught them words like Mom, Dad, Brother, Sister, Cousin, Grandma, Uncle, etc. Whenever I got to Uncle and explained that Bobby, (who is wildly popular in the village) is my Uncle they were all beside themselves with excitement. So, Uncle Bobby, if you are reading this, please know that you are missed...and they may all call you "Uncle Bobby" instead of "Bobby" from now on.

I know it looks like I am forcing these little girls to take a picture with me... We are still working on smiling for photos instead of frowning.

Or maybe they just like Gracie better?

On wednesday I showed up to teach school, (with 60 valentines that Gracie made) only to find out that they were let out early, so everyone was gone. We stayed and played with the 5 or so kids that were there for a while, then decided to  head home. While we were there I was taught the ancient game of "roll the wheel using only the stick." I'm really pretty terrible at it... If we are being honest.

Also this week I got to learn how to make the best jam/jelly in the world. It is made out of the rind of grapefruit, and I am obsessed with it. I've been dying for Alicia to show me how to make it for like 3 weeks now, and yesterday and today she showed me... Here are a few pictures that I made Gracie take, (So glad she's here!), along with some basic directions. These are not exact. TIH.

Soak rinds in water overnight, or until they are a little clear-ish.

Squeeze excess water out of rinds and set rinds aside.

Add a ridiculous amount of sugar (about 5 cups). Maybe that's why it tastes so good!

I'm not sure wheather this sugar is white or brown. Its the color brown, but has the consistency of normal sugar... like beige sugar maybe?

Add about 5 cups of water, stir together and put on to boil. I'm not sure how long these were left to boil, but it was until it had the right consistency for jam/jelly. Not too soupy, but not too thick either.

It has been a wonderful week and, like I said, I have immensly enjoyed having my family here. They have been a total blessing!

I'll be posting a prayer update very soon.

Be looking! Thank you for all your prayers!

Here in Haiti!

I wrote this randomly throughout the day... sorry for the changes in time. I don't have enough time to go back and re-do it. So here are my thoughts all throughout the day :)

Well here I am on the plane! I can't wait to get back to Haiti and hear everyone around me speaking Kreyol and smell the smells and everything!


A week or so before I leave I usually go through a period of "OH my goodness! What am I thinking!? I can't do this. I can't go on this trip. or I can't LIVE THERE ALONE!!!" I went through that for a little while, but for about a week now I've been at the point where I am just ready to go. Usually the night before I leave I can't sleep, but I got a good night's rest. Thankfully because we had to get up at 2:45 to catch our plane!

I'm going to recap my last few days in Texas and all the things that made me thing "oh I should write about that!"

On Monday night we had a few close friends of my family over to my house to pray for me and send me off. I can't even express how glad I am that we did this! I almost decided not to because I didn't want to have to get up in front of people and talk and be the center of attention, but I really appreciated the prayers that my dear friends offered up to the heavens for me! Some prayed for exactly what my fears in my heart are, and some prayed for things that needed to be prayed for that I hadn't even realized until they were praying blessings over them. It was suh a blessing to be surrounded by those who love me and to be thouroghly praye d for! My only regret is that we didn't get pictures of everyone.

Tuesday afternoon the group from Frontier camp of 16 people came over to my house to pack our things. We have a capacity to check 1,600 lbs of luggage and I thinkg we packed everything that we needed and had room to spare! And I'm happy to report that I fit everything I will be using personally for the next 4 months in one carry on, one large "personnal item" backpack, and one checked bacg. Minus all the granola bars I am bringing for breakfast. Ever wonder what 4 months worth of breakfast looks like? I'll take a picture later and show you! My mom graciously offered our home to let everyone sleep after we packed, and I ate a delicious last American meal of taco soup. The weather decided to open up and pour buckets of rain, so my dad, being the genius that he is offered to pack everything in the horse trailer instead of trying to cover the truck bed with a tarp. That was a sight to see. I'm sure the security guards at the airport thought we were crazy by bringing horses to the airport... It didn't help that we would talk through the windows to our pretend horses to make them think we were actually bringing horses to check at the airport. I'm sure they got a good laugh when they saw us getting our 40 something bags out of the trailer.

Let me tell you... Getting 16 people and all of our things checked into the airport is no small feat! But we did it. I'm currently sitting on a plane looking out oer the wing and watching the sun rise over the clouds that look like a wavy ocean of white, red, orange, and purple while sipping my last starbucks until the summer. I had to indulge :)

We had a 50 minute layover in Miami,then we should arrive in Port Au Prince around noonish!turns out our layover was really only long enough to get our stuff off one plane and run onto the other one. (I realized as I was boarding the flight to PAP that I left my Nalgene bottle and a neat carabiener in the other plane... :( Good thing I brought a backup. TIH)

This will be the first time I have been back to Haiti and in Port Au Prince since the EQ. I'm honestly feeling good and excited about being back. The Lord has been so faithful in healing my heart and I know this is going to continue the healing process. It may be hard for me to see though, as I'm sure things have changed since I was last in the city!! I'm praying that I will not have any flashbacks or nightmares this evening, and especially, that there will not be any tremors. I know its geologically possible for tremors to continue to occur, and I don't think I'd handle that well. I mean. In all things God is faithful, but It would be great if all things were smooth sailing!

We are spending the night at the Valcins house and will wake up bright and early to hop in the back of an open truck and drive 6 hours over the mountains and through the woods to the campsite in Ti Guinea. That is assuming that we don't have any car trouble or other unforseen issues. Which would be awesome, but I've been in Haiti enough to know the phrase "TIH- This is Haiti." That gets said more often than not when things pop up and suprise you and change all the plans you have. Hopefully we won't have TIH moments today or tomorrow, but we'll see!

So I should arrive in Ti Guinea on Thursday night, then I will get to hopefully meet my roommate and see where I will be living and get re-aquainted with camp since all the changes have occured. After that I will hopefully get my internet set up and be able to update.

Its 3am

And I'm getting on a plane bound for Miami!!

By this afternoon I'll be in Haiti!

I'll update as soon as possible!

Pray that we are safe and that my internet works once I get there!!

Packing

I'm in the midst of packing and shopping and packing some more. Wow. Who's stressed out?

My goal is to fit everything I will need for myself and for the clinic and for the school into one carry on, and one checked bag. .. Possible? I think so! crazy?... yes. (Oh and did I mention I'm responsible for packing all my breakfasts?)

I've never packed for a 5 month long trip. I mean, how much shampoo or toothpaste do you use in 5 months? How am I possibly supposed to think of EVERYTHING. There will be no Wal-marts, Targets, or CVS stores nearby. I can't just run down the street to grab an extra pack of toilet paper or soap. I'm more or less packing for a 5 month long camping trip. Which wouldn't be that difficult if I had actually been on a real camping trip before. I've slept in a tent. I've "camped" for like a day or two, but never for 5 months, and I've always been with at least 3 extra prepared people that were willing to share.

Anyway, I've come up with a system of packing... Prioritize my things into categories.
*Impossible to live without (like my water sterilization stuff for Cholera).
*REALLY really need.
*really need.
*Would be helpful or very helpful.
*Not a necessity, but a convienence
and last... but not and least
*Don't really need.

So long story short. I'm wondering what would you pack into these categories? What can you absolutely not live without? And what is something you could live without for 5 months?

Please be praying for me as a prepare for this trip both in my packing and physical preparation, but also for my mental and emotional preparation. In everything I know the Lord is faithful and He continues to be so!

Grumpasaurus

Who likes to people watch?

I definitely do. I love watching people in the coffee shop as the interact and study and I love watching everyone the first week of classes when the freshman are trying to find buildings and classes. Its so cute to watch them walk around with their maps and ask people where the academic building, or Rudder, or the Chemistry building it.

I spent a lot of time in the airport yesterday. I passed the time by people watching.

Oh. My. Goodness.

People in the airport are Grump-y!

-Some people RUN through the airport trying to catch their plane and push people out of their way.
-Some people ride those carts with the drivers who try to run you down and shout at the last minute " 'Scuse the cart!" or simply make honking noises with their mouths... (weird)
-Some people push and shove to try and get in line to board first. Even if they are in boarding group 4, they try to get in at the same time as the first class people. I don't understand that. You have in your hand a ticket that says "19C". They aren't going to give your chair away. Relax!
-Once I sat down the wiggling started. Thankfully the chair immediately next to me was vacant and the guy on the other side was asleep the whole time. However, the man in front of me and the man behind me were total wiggle bugs. I think the man behind me may have been mad about something because there is no way someone could "accidentally" kick my chair every 30 seconds for 2.5 hours. Good thing I wasn't trying to nap.
-No wonder flight attendants are so rude. They deal with rude people every day. Even the most positive person in the world would be worn out after a week of that job.

All this to say.

My goal of yesterday was to be optimistic and cheery.
I think I succeeded.

I tried to smile at everyone and just be relaxed and cheerful. It made my trip so much more enjoyable.

Next time you travel give it a try!

What's your best travel story? Best flight? Worst fiasco? Grumpiest flight attendant? Screaming baby or seat kicker?