Voted off the island?!?

When I visit the boys, there is normally a warm greeting followed by hugs, questions, and loud voices. Today I heard crickets. Chirp chirp, chirp chirp. The older boys were talking to me, but the little boys were silent. Now that's strange. I sat there for a while thinking that they would eventually come around.

Still waiting ...

Schneider asked if I talked to Susette about the little boys being disrespectful, which I had, and he said that was why they weren't talking. He also said he was going to talk to them (thank you Schneider!). Yesterday's behavior at chapel wasn't great ... and the teachers did meet with Susette. Now I know what it feels like to be a contestant on Survivor who was just voted off the island.

On the flip side, my time with the girls was exceptionally good. Oline threw her arms around me, Christella smiled; they were happy to see me. Daphne was her usual darling self and then fell asleep on my lap during worship. Pharra, Isguerda, and Katiana shared their gifts of song; we prayed, and I asked God to tender the hearts of the little boys.

And in honor of my last week, I (finally) opened the bag of Sour Patch Kids!

Can you say tourists?

Arielle, Brooke, and I took a toursit-type picture with the chicken at Epidor. Check out the enormous ice cream cone! Epidor reminds me of the food court at a mall. There was an area for pizza, an area for sandwiches, an area for burgers, and a couple areas for desserts. Unfortunately we were too full to get ice cream (sounds like an oxymoron, I know), so we stopped at Eagle Market to get ice cream for after dinner. Normally I wouldn't hesitate to spend money on ice cream, but I couldn't fathom spending 330 Haitian dollars on a pint of frozen goodness. That's about $8.50 US, so I opted for some dark chocolate instead.

And why were we not at school on this beautiful summer day? School was cancelled after we got word of manifestations in Port-au-Prince. This is an election year in Haiti, and there were political protests that may have prevented our Haitian teachers from getting to and from school. As for our safety, Pastor Dave (and many others) have said, "It's the safest place in the world if that's where God wants you to be."

Power on, power off

The first few nights I was here, I slept with earplugs to muffle the noises of Haiti ... fans blowing, dogs barking, and roosters ... making rooster noises? The word escapes me. There's also the soft hum of the generator reminding me that the power is out. Losing power has become a regular occurrence, and by regular I mean ALL the time.

The guest house operates on battery power, and on most nights, we get city power (aka EDH). If the batteries are not sufficiently charged and/or there is no EDH, we are on generator power. Please don't ask for a more scientific explanation. What I've learned about generators is that they are loud and produce heat. Add that to the current inside temperature of 91.4 degrees (51% humidity) and you've got yourself a party.

Energy is a little different at school in that generator is always on. Today, not so much.

The day started with me covering the 2nd grade class because Mr. Luchner wasn't there. About thirty minutes into 3-digit addition and subtraction, Katrina poured glue on my chair. Tibo and Keso alerted me before I sat in the sticky stuff, and I quickly escorted her to Mr. Ivens (new Haitian principal for the fall). We continued with math and then headed off to recess. Recess occurred without incident (I think), and then it was time for Community Circle.

At about 10:15 the fans stopped turning. Hmm ... I can still hear the generator. We made an executive decision to dismiss classes for the day, notified the teachers, and then watched as the fans turned on and off, over and over. The power may have stayed on after that, but trying to get 40 kids to come back to school when they aren't thrilled to be there in the first place is like herding cats.

As for the noise, it's become part of the ambiance. When it's time to sleep, I put on my headphones, set the sleep timer, and head off to dreamland.

Clarification on yesterday's post and recovery of lost pants!

This morning I got an email from my mom saying that she and my dad didn't understand my cryptic post from yesterday. So, I reread it and in addition to being (purposely) vague, it's a little fragmented. Here's another version.

1. Opened card from Priscilla


2. Found money


3. Note encouraged me to bless someone else with said money


4. Question asked, "Will I be obedient?"

Then I wrote about being obedient and waiting on God's timing, but I may not have articulated myself very well or connected my body paragraphs to my thesis. How's that for an explanation?

On an entirely unrelated note, I finally found the pair of pants I was wearing when I arrived. You may be wondering how one goes about losing their pants in Haiti, and there's a perfectly logical explanation. That's Haiti logic of course. As a longer-term guest (as opposed to a week-long guest), I can put my laundry out three days a week. It's sounds cushy, and I feel very blessed that someone other than my Maytag is willing to wash my sweaty clothes.

Clothing is hand washed, wrung out (sometimes a little stretched out), and then put on the line on the roof. They don't use clothes pins, and gravity holds them on the line as long the clothing is wet. I was warned that some articles of clothing may blow away or end up in the barbed wire around the perimeter of the property. As of this afternoon, there were two items from my wardrobe that were MIH (Missing in Haiti). Jamie suggested that I look in the Costume Closet aka donation room, and I found my missing pants! I have yet to locate that $2 tank top from Old Navy, but I still have 9 days to go.

What would you do?

This morning at breakfast I remembered that I didn't open my card from Priscilla last night. What an exciting Tuesday morning treat! As I broke the seal on the envelope, I noticed that there was something familiar inside. For a second I was excited, and as I read her note I realized that the contents were not for me. So, I've been brainstorming all day ... who do I give it to? Should there be some sort of criteria for selection? How will I know?

I shared my dilemma with Caitlin, and she said that I would know when it's time (thanks Pumpkin). Her response and this situation remind me of the importance of waiting on God's timing. Too often we (read I) become impatient and want things to happen when we're ready. This trip has provided many reminders that my plans are not always the same as what God wants for me.

Micah 7:7 says, "But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord; I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me."

To do list vs. What I did list

What I intended to accomplish at school today versus what actually happened:

1. Prepare Community Circle notebooks ... started on this project, then assigned it to a student who was asked to leave class. Is using a glue stick punishment?

2. Work with Lukenson on intervention ... was busy supervising student mentioned above as well as another student who was asked to leave a different class. I was so excited about making progress on the alphabet. Hopefully tomorrow is different.

3. Visit with younger kids during morning recess ... made a quick appearance, provided snacks, then rushed back to my office (kitchen) to continue supervising a student finishing work and writing sentences. In the meantime, counseled another student who tried to tell me that his teacher ate his snack.

4. Teach Community Circle class to the 6th grade boys ... they were off site in preparation for their government exams. I took the opportunity to run back (figuratively of course) to the guest house for a water refill and relay a message about school needs (diesel, Clorox, and dish soap) to Fritz and Erta.

4. Breathe for a few minutes before older kid recess ... ACCOMPLISHED!

5. Supervise older kid recess and observe positive behavior ... played referee to older kids, counseled crying girls who wanted to jump rope, put kids in time out (though I didn't time them), had a quick chat with kids about playing nice or losing recess, then supervised a student writing sentences about playing nice ... I guess the chat didn't work.

And at this point, it was only 10:30 a.m.

Friendship

Today I was reading a newsletter/devotional from Girlfriends in God and it was all about friendships. One of the passages highlighted our need for such relationships, and rather than reinvent the wheel, here it is:

"We all need friends. We need people in our lives that will love us where we are and help us get to a place of higher living. We need friends that will hold us accountable to God's standards -- friends that sharpen us."

I'll be honest, I miss my friends. God has blessed my life with amazing friends who make me wiser and better. They know all the quirky things about me that make me who I am. They know how to read between the lines of what I say. They know that my lack of a response is a response in and of itself. They know how to give me the honest truth even when I don't want to hear it. And they are always there to celebrate the happy times.

The friendships I've made since I've been here have provided much of the same love and support that I'm used to back home. Gods knows the needs of my heart and he provides. Over the past three weeks I have developed new friendships. And while some of the connections may be transitory, I know that others will be part of my life forever. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 reminds me of the importance of friendship, "Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!"

So thank you for listening, thank you for laughing, thank you for helping me up when I needed it. I am grateful for the opportunity to share this amazing experience with you!