Monday, October 10, 2011

Back in Haiti - Day 3 &4 - Right at Home

These past two days have been pretty low-key, but very nice.

Yesterday Mike Willis came back to Haiti. Mike was my first boss in Haiti and it had been a while (I think since February...?) since I had last seen him. Always good to be reunited!

We stopped for lunch at a nice place near the airport - La Maison. It was just Oge, Mike, and I which felt strange and wonderful at the same time. The old crew back together again. We chatted about a few things and just had a nice, relaxing lunch hour.

After returning to the Guest House, Mike attempted to get some work done to prepare for his trip to Les Cayes and I attempted to work on studying for my Theology mid-term. It sort of worked except streams of kids kept on coming by to say hello to Mike. As Mike was here the entire time the tent city was on our campus, he has a lot of friends outside the Guest House that are always anxious to see him.

After dinner, I spent about a half hour with Belorne showing her how to scan documents onto the computer and attach them to e-mails. She was so happy to learn how to do that and I felt blessed to have the opportunity to teach her. It was wonderful watching her light up with joy whenever she proved to herself that she could do it.

I also got the opportunity to watch a few episodes of The Office with the UMVIM crew (plus Mike) last night. Good times filled with lots of laughter, that's for sure.

Today was also pretty low-key. Mike left very early in the morning for Les Cayes so I didn't even see him leave. I said my goodbyes last night. We have a team here, though, that is working in Duplan and I decided it would be fun to tag along to see the site. Duplan looks wonderful and lively. Great to see the kids utilizing the new spaces that were created for them. Oge and I also got the opportunity to visit again during recess today and it was a joy to see all the kids dressed in their adorable yellow and grey Methodist uniforms smiling, laughing, and playing with each other.

Of course, as it always in Haiti, the kids were mesmerized with my camera and once it was discovered that I was taking photos... each child wanted a picture. It's cool, though, because I had a ton of fun taking pictures. I've also been working on taking pictures of each member of the Guest House staff so that's been fun for me, too.

After that brief visit, Oge and I stopped for lunch. We were going to try to do a nice meal out (as we were originally supposed to go to the beach today but that didn't work out due to it being kind of a rainy/dreary day) but all of the nicer places are closed on Mondays. (I tell ya, Haiti is a whole different country! :) ) I asked Oge where he wanted to go instead and he said, "I think we should go to Rebo again." I was happy to oblige. Rebo has really great sandwiches and, of course, coffee. :) We had more great chats there. Have I mentioned how wonderful it is to hang out with him again? It's really wonderful.

This afternoon I also saw Pastor Paul (the President of the Methodist Church in Haiti) and that was fun. (Although he was upset with me for not telling him that I was coming back to visit - whoops!) He wants to meet some time this week so it will be good to sit down and talk with him.

Beyond that, I just chatted with Oge, Erick, Maxo, and Peterson. Also, since I showed Oge how Skype works on Saturday I've had a few requests for help with setting up Skype for others. That's also been fun. I'm happy to expand their communication possibilities by adding Skype into their lives! :)

Tonight I'm going to a place called "Hang!" for dinner with the UMVIM crew. Although, if it keeps on raining, then we might be going somewhere else instead. I've heard it's a fun place with great music, though, so I'm excited to try it out. Could be good!

I called this entry "Right at Home" because that's truly what it feels like. It feels like coming home. Also, it's been fun for me stepping into my old role here in small ways. I've enjoyed having the opportunity to assist in whatever ways are most helpful. It has been good to re-live that time of my life in small ways this week.

Anyway, I'm off - tomorrow's going to be a big day, though... trip to Arcahaie in the morning and bracelet making in the afternoon. Exciting!

1 comment:

  1. Everybody loved it when I installed Skype for them when I was down there. I wanna go back, but I dunno when that will happen.

    ReplyDelete

Page Stats