June 29th, 2014 – 9:15 pm
So, I risked my life to get this blog out. Literally, I
almost tripped and fell to my death as I was coming down the stairs. Anyways…
Last night was so awful. I couldn’t sleep. I have this issue
where I can’t sleep unless I have some type of sheet over me, but last night,
it was just not in the cards. I was here last year and I thought it was hot,
but nothing compares to this heat. It is miserable. I barely slept because the
heat was so violent and I’ve fought back stomach aches and headaches all day,
on and off. I took a shower a few minutes ago, and based on how I feel right
now, you would never know. As soon as I stepped out of the shower, the sticky
heat enveloped my entire body, yet again. I swear, the heat is like a clingy
child, gripping at your neck, your legs, your back… It slithers over every inch
of your skin until you sweat from places you didn’t even know existed.
Now, I imagine you didn’t click onto this page with the
intent of listening to me complain, so I’ll move on to more interesting, less teenager-y
topics.
Right after breakfast, we went on a tour of Main Campus. We
saw Maggie’s Kitchen again (reference to last year’s blog), a garden, the
orphanage, schools and finally the church, which is where we ended the tour.
Our intern this year – who also served as our tour guide – is actually from
Kensington’s Birmingham campus! Thought it was pretty cool. He’s super nice and
has really intense blue eyes. Not that anyone cares… Just journalistic detail!
Church was, well… in a different language. For an hour and a
half. I was brutally awakened from my peaceful sleep when my little sister
reached over Evan to poke me at some point in the service. A small group from
our team was looking at me, smirking, and when I looked to my left, there was
Danni, in an identical position to my own, softly snoozing. If I can’t sleep,
neither can she, so I poked her awake as well.
But I will say that the Haitians really do get into their
service. I’m glad someone understands it. The singers were boisterous and happy
and passionate, and the preacher spoke with authority and heart. It’s really
cool to see Haitians pouring the gospel into other Haitians.
Plus, there was a little girl that like, decided to play
musical chairs with the white people. She literally went through 13 of us in
practically five minutes. It was awesome. And watching her cling to Evan was
absolutely adorable. And when he tried to put her hat back on, it was
incredibly funny. He was super awkward about it and it was just great – woke me
and Danni up!
We came back for lunch after that. We were the last group
that got to eat and there were no Pringles left. Sadness.
After lunch, we hopped on a school bus (which is like the
worst thing ever, because heat, and those fake leather seats… just no) and
headed to the campus on Bercy. I can’t even tell you how much I wished we were
staying on that campus instead. The sea was absolutely beautiful – it was so
blue! And there are so many new developments since I was here last. There’s an
entirely new building that looks like it could be in America right now, that
HAS AIR CONDITIONING. It’s basically a house for the staff with three different
sections… But like, air conditioning. My God. There were also foundations laid
for different buildings, but they were currently being used as basketball
courts. There were other developments, but I can’t remember them.
We got back on the bus and headed for Leveque after that,
which is a village for both the deaf and hearing impaired, where they can live
with the ‘normal’ people from their village. You see, in Haiti, the culture
kind of sees the impaired as being outcasts, so this is kind of a big deal. As
soon as we pulled in with our big bus – after heading down a ridiculously long,
rough road – children swarmed us. They were smiling, waving and singing up to
our windows. As soon as I stepped out of the bus, a little (but not so little)
girl ran at me, threw her arms up, and demanded that I carry her.
So, I was already dripping with sweat, and this girl wants me
to pick her up. Like, ugh. Seriously. But you know, she got so much joy from
just being around me, and hanging out. She took me to the brand new playground
and I pushed her on the swing before I went to check out the scenery. She found
me again though and climbed right up my side. Eventually, I convinced her that
it would be a better idea to sit on my back instead of letting me hold her and
the weight balance was sooo much better. Danni, Emi and I walked around the
back of the church with her still hanging on me like a monkey, and we finally
found some shade draped over a few random steps. We sat down and it was the
greatest relief. Until the little girl (who when I asked what her name was,
replied, “Maybe.”) found a pin on the ground and started poking all of us with
it. Not fun. Then she put it in her mouth and freaked us all out. Luckily, she
didn’t swallow it, but still.
I know you are all wondering about the title of this entry.
I shall now explain. Leveque is a very poor city, and most people have a hard
time trying to survive, let alone own suitable clothes. Many little kids run
around half naked. And I saw way too many little boys today without pants. They
were free in the wind. One even crawled up to the very top of the jungle gym,
balancing with each foot on a monkey bar, and started dancing. No one needed to
see that. So that explains that.
After Leveque, we got back on the nasty school bus, drove back
to Main Campus and had lunch, which was awesome. The teenage girls made our
dinner this time, and we each got a to-go container with chicken, rice and
beans, spicy coleslaw and fried plantains. Delicious! I loved it all. Ate way
too much. It was awesome.
After dinner, Haley, Danni, Emi and I traveled down to Madame Cheap Cheap’s. Emi and I picked out all the gifts for our families, Danni bought a rock, and Haley basically knocked down some things when her skirt got caught. Very funny to us, but embarrassing to her. Sorry Haley.
All the groups from both Main Campus and Bercy gathered back
together at the church tonight and got Vision Night. We watched some amazing
videos, listened to amazing people and sung amazing songs. Yeah, it was
amazing. I can’t really do any of it justice, so I’m not even going to try. But
let me just say, this place is legit. If there was ever a doubt about its
legitimacy, you need to take a trip and see for yourself. It’s great. They’re
doing so much for the Haitian people, and speaking from the perspective of an
IB Econ student, their plans are extremely economically sound. It’s incredible.
But seriously, ask your family members to tell you about it.
Anyways, then we had team time, in which Tami won the name game by naming everyone in the circle correctly, which is really impressive with such a large group. Different members shared their experiences and we prayed together. It was a nice conclusion to a long day. It doesn’t seem like we did much, but it sure feels like it – especially when a lot of us didn’t sleep well. Don’t take your AC for granted tonight. You have no idea how much we envy all of you back home. After that, it was basically all about getting to the showers as fast as you could.
Anyways, my battery is about to die, so I gotta log off. But
thank you to all of you who are reading. I enjoy sharing the stories with you.
Until tomorrow…
Katie Coming to You from Haiti
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