Haiti Day 5

This trip has flown by faster than Zach’s hair poofed up in the humidity on the first day (just trust me, his hair is absolutely insane). We started off the week a stranger to our amazing host family, translators, and the kids of the community, but by the end they had meshed into our little family (which not only means we became spiritually close, but it also means that they became a victim to our malicious jokes and manipulative card game moves). Today was our official last day on Haitian soil, which is super hard to process. We are all gonna miss our new friends, the beauty and culture of Haiti, and especially each other (even though at the beginning of the trip, i’m pretty sure half of the team was scared of each other, but its okay because everyone loves each other now). For me, today was very bittersweet. Bitter because today meant the end to this “adventous" (don’t worry, I purposefully spelt that wrong, it’s yet another inside joke) week, but sweet because we got to experience another side of Haiti which reminded me that even in the seemingly most hurt places, there is still insane beauty (and also because I got to spend it with some hilarious people who manage to bring me out of my “turtle shell” (just another inside joke)).  On the way to the beach, us youths rode in a the bed of a truck (thats not exactly what its was, but its kind of hard to explain), while our adult leaders and hosts rode in the cab. For most of the ride we scream sang Bruno Mars and Taylor Swift (take into mind, there was no actual music playing, it was all acapella) while Adam (or as we now know him, “Dadam”) humorously glared at us through the window. Once we had nearly lost our voices, we arrived at the beach. As we walked out onto the sand, one of our hosts immediately exclaimed “wow this is the most white people I have seen in one place in Haiti ever”. Although the beach was packed, we still managed to have loads of fun. At first,  Jackson realized that he forgot to bring his frisbee (Georgina (which is the name of his “friz”) and became pretty sad. Then, he saw a frisbee on the ground and he and Caroline legitimately wandered around and asked a ton of the random tourists/missionaries if they knew whose it was. Eventually they found the owner who was a boy who looked to be about 11 years old. They awkwardly asked him if they could use it and he replied by saying, “guess so… yes, let me get it”. Once we had our hands on the frisbee, spirits were lifted and we played a terrible (yet still fun and only slightly violent (by slightly I mean Emma was only hit in the head one time)) game of frisbee. I know that most likely sounds like a totally random and pointless story, but in all reality it probably sums up most of our week together. We all really longed for God to do amazing things in our lives and for a connection with each other and this community. We put ourselves in awkward and uncomfortable situations to achieve our goals, and by the end of it all, we had obtained a victory. I am so thankful for this amazing team, all that they have taught me, and all of the painful side aches they have given me from laughing too hard. I’d have to say I feel pretty “connected”  (that’s my last inside joke, I swear) to these people.

Niaya ouuuuuut