Haiti – Titayen 2

Hey friends!

Well in case you haven’t heard: The government postponed their decision on who can run for President until Friday. This did not sit well with the people who fear they are being screwed and so they started rioting anyway. Last night the streets going in and out of the city were blockaded with burning tires. So Cite Soleil medical team joined us today.

It was a much smoother day. My teammates all call me BOSS and I usually remind them not to forget the Y! I truly feel in my element here and I love the interaction with the Haitians and the volunteers that come and go. It’s nice for me to have the advantage of being here before and being here for an extended period of time. I have already seen team members come and go and am able to help ease new members into their role.

There are a few funny stories that I forgot to share with you so while I am waiting for my video with Balthazar to upload I thought I would share them…

As most of you know, this organization that I am involved with is part of Franklin Graham ministries. That being said it is Christian based. Now they don’t expect us to live like monks and nuns but it is expected that we maintain appropriate conduct. Anyway… we have this air conditioned lounge that we all meet in to watch movies and the other day we chose one that wasn’t inappropriate, it just happened to have A LOT of cursing in it… Which is par for the course but it also happened to be the day that new staff was arriving and as they toured them around the compound they would walk in and be greeted with an F Bomb every 5th word.

So me, not wanting to miss the movie but also not wanting to make it look as though I had anything to do with the movie selection would ‘fake’ sleep every time the door opened and they would bring in the new folks. I had my line all ready to go should they ask: ‘Hey who changed the channel? I was watching Little House on the Prairie!’

Smoooooooth eh?!

Anyway on Saturday when we went to the waterfalls a few of my guy friends helped me climb the falls. Along with the Haitians who want to help you so you will pay them. Anyway I had just made it out into the middle of the opening and was talking to my friend on a rock about 4 feet away. The plan was for him to reach over to me and support me while I jumped over to him. As we were planning this leap our friends were on the side of the waterfalls saying “I wonder if Stacey knows that there is a big hole right in front of her’

No sooner had they said those words and I slipped right into it and in doing so I pulled in my friend with me! I looked over to the team on the sidelines… laughing or shaking their heads as if to say… “Yup…”

The next day at the resort we went to the plan was to snorkel. After quite a bit of coaxing my friends convinced me to jump off the side of the outside bar and into the ocean, even though I was terrified of the sea urchins, jellyfish and whatever else would be lurking. But I crumbled under the peer pressure and took the leap into the waters only to discover that someone has set my snorkel up backwards so I ended up inhaling a litre of dirty ocean water before I even got started!

After they fixed me up properly (all from the deck I might add) I went on my way snorkelling around. I just want to say at this point that my goggles were foggy and therefore made things difficult to decipher. That being said… when I same up beside a black garbage bag I assumed it was a sting ray and had a freak out… as I was swimming away in a furry I swam into a clear plastic bag which I assumed was a jellyfish and had another freakout… all the while my friends are on the deck laughing at the sound of hearing my cries through a snorkel!

It’s all good. If we can’t laugh at ourselves than who can we laugh at? I truly am enjoying every moment here, the laughs, the tears, the cold showers, the rice and beans… all of it adds up to an amazing life experience. I think half of our experiences in life are what we make of them and how we interact with the others.

And yet… the highlight so far? Skype with my sister and hearing my niece say my name for the first time!!!

So today I would like you to meet Balthezar. He is my brother and friend. He has a precious heart and his love for his people and especially the young people of Haiti is admirable. He talks about his life in Haiti, the earthquake and how much the MP3 player means to him…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VadCuPL-KGY

One Love  xoxo