Always an Adventure!

Patience is an important thing to have when moving to Haiti. If you lack patience before you arrive, Haiti will give it to you- in spades.

This morning’s adventure was the most recent in an already long list of patience-increasing opportunities. I rose around 7:30 to a happy piece of news: our generator was running! I’d been in need of clean clothes for several days, but our power had been out for at least 48 hours. No power means no working washing machine. I happily sorted my clothes and took them to the machine. Now, have a gander at this little darling:

 Our Hyundai washing machine. Those clever Japanese people...

Have you ever seen a washing machine that looked like this? Didn’t think so. This was our first attempt at using it since my roommate/teammate purchased it in the DR. The Reader’s Digest version of how to work the thing is as follows:

1.     Fill a bucket with water and pour it into the wash/rinse tub on the left side. Add laundry soap and clothes. Pour another bucket of water on top.

2.     Select wash cycle and number of minutes; close lid.

3.     Come back in approximately 12 minutes, when wash cycle is done.

4.     Drain water from wash tub, transfer wet clothes to spin basket on right side. Close lid, select spin cycle.

5.     Come back in approximately 5 minutes, transfer clothes back into wash/rinse tub. Add water. Select cycle.

6.     Return in another 12 minutes to drain water from wash tub and transfer clothes back to spin basket.

7.     Select spin cycle, come back in 5 minutes, hang clothes to dry.

So doing a load of laundry, when the machine is working properly, is a minor feat. But a machine that works properly? What a silly idea. I got through Step 5 with no problems (with some help from a more-technologically-savvy roommate), but when I turned the knob from ‘Wash/Rinse’ to ‘Drain’, the machine started making awful noises and the water struggled to make its way up the drain spout. Teri (yes, the more-technologically-savvy roommate) came out to trouble-shoot with me. Between the two of us and a good half hour or so of trouble-shooting, we somehow managed to drain the water and complete a semi-acceptable spin cycle.

Just prior to this episode, I had been making oatmeal on the stove. I turned off the burner, covered the saucepan, and thought to myself, ‘I’ll be back in a minute after transferring my clothes, and this will be ready to eat. Perfect.’

Never assume, ladies and gentlemen, that life will go this way.

So. After fighting with the washer for thirty minutes or so, we pulled my clothes out of the spin basket to find that they were still rather wet. By this time, spirals of smoke were curling their way up from somewhere inside the accursed contraption (yikes!). We thought we’d better not press our luck by trying to spin them anymore, so I proceeded to hang my rather wet clothes, spacing them out so that their weight wouldn’t pull the line to the ground.

 My oddly-spaced-out clothes.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, several Haitian men appeared on our porch. I ignored them and came back inside to finish fixing my now-cold-and-gloppy oatmeal. Then they were at our door. Then they needed to look at one of our outlets, and of course it was the one next to the stove, which was where I was making my oatmeal. I moved out of the way, wielding my spoon and my saucepan of lumpy oats. Still wearing my pajamas, mind you.

Finally they leave and I scrape the remnants of burned oatmeal off the bottom of the pan. I am determined to enjoy my breakfast, regardless of its temperature or consistency. Thankfully, adding some cinnamon and sugar and a spoonful of peanut butter (you should try it- it’s super-delicious!) works wonders.

 Mmm...cold oatmeal. (It actually turned out pretty good, despite being cold.)

So that was our first adventure of the day- all before 9:30 AM. Who knows what other adventures the days will hold? :)

In all seriousness, though, such situations remind to me to pray:

·      For patience, as we deal with seemingly-constant challenges.

·      For protection against discouragement- Satan would love it if we became cynical and bitter about life here.

·      For Haitians, many of whom don’t have generators or washing machines or even filtered water to drink. We have so much, in a country full of people who have so little.

Will you join me in praying for these things?

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving! We have much to be thankful for.

Speaking a new language (on so many levels!)

Well, hello from Haiti! We’ve been in-country for about a week and are so far doing really well (thank you for your prayers, please keep them up!). We arrived last Friday and have spent the week getting settled in our new apartment, studying Creole, getting to know the children, and doing odd jobs at the school site.

One of the aspects of adjusting to Haiti that is hitting me full-force is my need to learn the language, and the sooner the better! Knowing French is a very helpful stepping stone on my way to speaking Creole, but I still have lots of learning to do. Phrases like “Bonjou” (good morning), “Koman ou ye?” (how are you?), and “Mwen kontan wè ou” (it’s nice to meet you) only take me so far. Praise the Lord for my teammate Teri (who speaks much better Creole than we other three) and kind, gracious Haitians who speak English or French and are more than willing to help us out.

Interestingly enough, Creole isn’t the only new “language” I’m learning here. Driving, for example, has its own complex communication system.  In the United States, if you’re honking your horn, it usually means “Watch out!” or “Get off the road, you idiot!” Does it mean that here? Sometimes. But it could also mean “I’m going to pass you now- don’t run into me!” It could be a friendly hello to someone you know on the street or in a passing car, or even a “Hey, jump in the bed of my truck and I’ll give you a ride!” It likely means other things too; I just haven't figured them out yet.

And time- “School starts at 8:00” generally means that school starts at 8:00. But “I’ll be there in twenty minutes” could mean “I’ll be there in an hour” or it could mean “I actually don’t plan on coming at all.” You just never know.

One of the things that was heavily emphasized at my training in Colorado was that, on the whole, different isn’t bad; it’s just different. And sometimes different, if we’re open to it, can be better than “my way” of doing things. What a foreign notion for us North Americans! It’s a good lesson for this type-A, slightly OCD, white girl to learn. :)

I’ve experienced the Gospel in some really unique and special ways this week- mostly moments of grace. My new Haitian friends have shown me grace upon grace as I have haltingly attempted to learn life here, and God has given me grace to begin to accept and even learn from differences that I cannot (should not) change. Lord have mercy, that I may continue to receive grace so that I might also give grace.

PS- Props if you made it through this long post. I imagine you’re eager for pictures- expect some soon!

A blog-worthy Jesus moment.

So I'm sitting with (teammates) Brent and Letitia in the Salt Lake City airport right now. Yes, you read right. Salt Lake City. I confess I've lamented a couple of times about the fact that we had to fly WEST in order to head EAST (and south...oh yeah, we're on our way to the DR as we speak!). Anyway. Now I know why.
We're sitting at our gate, chatting away, when Letitia nudges me and says, "Hey...that guy over there is looking at a map of Haiti!" Sure enough, he is. We strike up a conversation. Turns out, there's a team of fifteen or so who are on their way to Haiti on a medical missions trip! And they're on our flight to JFK! We'll part ways there, as they're headed directly to Haiti and we'll be in the DR for about a week first. Nevertheless, God knows what we need before we ask. He knew that I've been needing moments of encouragement and special reminders of His presence with us, and He has been delivering in a big way. Come to think of it, He's allowed me to encounter other believers on every leg of this journey so far:
Philly to Houston: Struck up a conversation with a middle-aged couple who love Jesus.
Houston to CO Springs: There were several people on my flight who were headed to the very same missions training as I was.
And now, I traveled from Denver to Salt Lake with Brent and Letitia and we just happened to strike up a conversation with a group of believers headed to Haiti.

Can we get a round of applause for Jesus up in here? Because He is awesome and faithful.

Signing off for now...I'll catch you from the island! Keep praying for us!