A New Chapter

I feel like there is so much to catch up on that I could never possibly fit it in one blog post! That's probably because I stink at keeping up with the blog, but want to keep it anyways :). To keep this from dragging on forever, I'll share the highlights and pictures.

Since last time I posted:

I finished my last semester of my counseling internship at a school I loved

Watched my best friend get married

Went to see Crowder (a fav. Christian artist of ours)

Had my cousin Mallory stay in Natchitoches with us... Twice!

Went to New Orleans for a conference with some of my favorite counseling girls

Went with Leslie to the first Demon football game he didn't have to work

And for the first time since we've lived here NSU won Chief Caddo back!

We had Thanksgiving in Natchitoches and Leslie's mom cooked for some of the basketball players

I went to Dallas to see another high school friend get hitched (don't have a pic with the bride, but we had a lot of fun in their photo booth!)

We had a lot of fun at our annual class Christmas party

I finally found out that I passed my National Counselor Exam (no pic for that, so here's Linus being cute)

Leslie was in our church Christmas play

I accepted a first grade teaching job (!!!) at Red River Elementary (check this precious sign my site supervisor made for me)

Leslie, his parents and my parents came to my hooding ceremony and Marsha joined us at the reception

I finally graduated from a program that changed me forever

We enjoyed the lights in Natchitoches with family (promise Marsha and the Oglesbys were there, I just haven't gotten pics from them yet!) 

We went to Dallas for Christmas with my parents and went to a Kenny G show

Got to finally meet my precious little cousin (okay so it was great to see her parents too, but seriously look at that face!) 

Spent Christmas being lazy (and a little under the weather) but thoroughly enjoyed it

Needless to say, we've been pretty busy since last time I posted. It's bittersweet to be done with school, but I can't wait to start a new chapter as a teacher! 

Mission Trip: Day 8

Saturday

We originally thought we would get to stay through lunch at least on Saturday, but Hands and Feet had another group coming in at noon, so we needed to leave earlier. We cleaned up our rooms and made up the beds for the next group. We had eggs for breakfast as a group then had a little time to visit and play. We said our goodbyes and got lots of hugs before we piled into the van. A Haitian mad drove us to the airport and he drove like a true Haitian! We did get to see some interesting things on the way there, like markets in different towns, but we also saw some sad sights.

 There were tarp villages and piles of trash all around in some areas.

 Once we got to the airport our van was surrounded by people trying to sell things. Several of us bought beautiful paintings from one man there. Once we got checked in and through security (which just consisted of scanning our bags and using the wands on us)it was around 1:00. Our flight didn’t leave until 5:45, so we ate airport food (hot dogs, sandwiches, coke, coffee, cookies) and read our books and chatted.

 Our flight to Miami was really turbulent because of storms and the pilot told us that we may have to land elsewhere. We circled Miami for 30 minutes and we were finally allowed to land. We hurried to get through immigration and customs and we thankfully got through with no problems. We got to our gate in time to grab some food, which we thought we would have to eat on the plane, and then our flight started getting delayed. We sat in the floor of the airport and ate our dinner and talked to family on the phone.

 

We were all exhausted and everything became funny. We got worried that we would have to sleep in the airport, but they finally let us board!  Most of us slept the entire flight. We flew through some lightening which cool to see, but also scary! We landed and got our baggage and arrived at the hotel with no problems. We were so thankful for warm showers and air conditioning! We slept hard and got up early Sunday to leave. We had a quick stop at McDonalds for breakfast Sunday morning and got back to Natchitoches right before church got out. The trip was amazing and I can’t wait to travel for other mission trips in the future!



Mission Trip: Day 7

 

Friday

Friday was our last full day in Grand Goave. We were all ready to make the most of it even though we were tired. We had eggs and toast for breakfast and then we went back to working on the ditch. God provided us with clouds so it was much more bearable than Thursday morning (which was very hot!). We finished almost the whole ditch in the time we worked! We had to leave a little space untouched so trucks could get onto the property to continue removing the trash pile. We had tasty meat pies (which made us feel right at home!) and french fries.

We ate quickly and changed into our swimsuits to go on a special trip to an island! This was a special treat since we only had half of the kids to get across the ocean. We drove to the beach and a Haitian man rowed us over in groups to the island.

 Josh and Leslie sat on the back of a boat during our trip and we took on a lot of water when everyone tried to get out- oops!

  The island was beautiful. It had white sand and lots of trees. There were even goats on the island! The water was the most beautiful blue and we found awesome shells and some interesting creatures. There were lots of hermit crabs, sea snails, and even some live sea urchins! 

We also found a puffer fish on the beach, but he was a little dried out.

 We played some with the kids in the water and explored the island.

We cleaned up when we got back to the compound and we ate homemade pizza for dinner. After that we had a debriefing time and then our usual team meeting time to reflect on the week. That evening we watched “Aslan” (as the kids called the Chronicles of Narnia).  The Suttons made popcorn and we had lots of different seasonings to put on it. We all snuggled up on the shakoun outside and tried to stay awake through the movie. Even though the movie was in English the kids quoted their favorite (very random) parts. It was too cute! Another favorite movie of theirs is Home Alone which they call “Kevin”. Their favorite quote from that move is “Kevin, what are you doing in my room” and since we had a Kevin with us, we got to hear that a lot during the week!

Even though we were all ready for bed we stayed up until it was over so we could get hugs and tell the kids “Bon Wit” or good night.

Mission Trip: Day 6

Thursday

We had pancakes and delicious fresh fruit for breakfast on Thursday. The group split up again with half going back to the mountain property and half staying behind. Leslie and I were in the group that stayed. Our job was to dig a 2 foot deep ditch around a property where concrete would later be poured when they laid the foundation. It was really hard work!

  We had a few shovels and a few pick axes and we took turns so everyone had a chance to rest.

 We stopped for lunch and had soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. They decided to burn the trash pile that was on the piece of land we were working on during lunch, so we had to wait a bit before we went back to work. We got to try fresh coconut and help grate it for Tablet (a really tasty dessert).

 Some of us also got to go to the gas station/store with Angie to drop off our orders for dinner. After the trash pile stopped burning/smoking we went back to digging. When we were done working for the day we ran around and played with the kids until time for dinner. The Suttons had two beautiful little girls named Faith (2 ½) and Glory (13 mos.) Faith was famous for asking everyone “What’s your name?” even when she knew it already! Her name is La Foi (sounds like Fwa) in Haitian Creole, so that’s what we called her most of the time. She entertained everyone and we had a great time playing with her and Glory!

Faith

Glory

 We got American food from the gas station and ate outside with the kids that night. We had cheeseburgers, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches, and chicken wings along with a few other options. After dinner we sat around and talked and played until time for worship. We sang songs with the kids in English and in Haitian Creole. They had the words on the screen so we were able to try singing along with them in their language!

It was a beautiful time of worship and Josh gave a short message. After worship we got lots of hugs from the kids before everyone headed off to bed for the evening.



Haiti Mission Trip: Day 5

 

Wednesday

 

We were all feeling worn out by Wednesday. Most of the team was less than excited to find spaghetti on the table that morning- a traditional Haitian breakfast. It was actually very good, and tasted a little like Lo Mein. It was just a bit hard to eat too much of it in the morning!

After breakfast, the team split up and half went up to the mountain property to work while the rest of us went to the market.

The market was very crowded and most people sat with their goods on the ground. They sold clothes, fresh produce, cooked food (for shoppers and for those there all day selling), and spices. A few people in our group bought clothes, and Leslie and I got some Maggie bouillon cubes to bring home with us.

 

 

One of the missionaries also got some coconut cookies and sugar cane for us to try!

Sugar Cane

 

After the market, it was our group's turn to go up to work at the Ikondo. It was a very steep ride up the mountain, so we couldn't take the van. We waited for the truck to pick us up and made the beautiful, but slightly scary ride up to the top.

 

The building is made by putting together Styrofoam blocks and filling them with concrete. The foam ends up working as insulation, and the way the blocks are formed allows the concrete to connect all the way through. This makes them sturdier than your average concrete blocks!

 

 

I was fascinated by how everything worked!

 

Support beams hold everything together while the roof dries

 

I was glad for our high ropes course experience when working on the roof! Kevin, Leslie, and I worked to get rid of Styrofoam and concrete in an area where a crossbeam will eventually go. We couldn’t find a chisel, so we made do with what we had and at Kevin’s suggestion used rocks! It actually worked surprisingly well.

No pics of me on the roof- you're welcome, mom!

 

Photo cred. goes to Josh for this one!

 

 

When we got back to the compound it rained really hard. We were expecting it since there was a tropical storm heading our way, and we were thankful that was all we got! We took the time during the rain to do crafts and hang out with the kids inside.

View from the mountain of the rain coming in

 

When the rain stopped some of us went to get ice cream for a treat for the kids. They loved it! The ice cream there is creamier than our ice cream and they had some different flavors like Sour Sop (a fruit that we got to try later).

 

 

 

This is Sour Sop... Tasty, but feels like eating a jelly fish!

 

For dinner that night the guys grilled hot dogs and we ate with the kids. We were able to hand out certificates to each of them for attending the CPR/first aid lesson!

 

 

We were treated with two beautiful rainbows after dinner. They were gorgeous!

That night we prayed for God to give us love and energy for the next day. We were definitely feeling tired and needed to remember to show God’s love to the kids and to each other!