Coming Home Again

Well, after nearly 21 months, I am finally getting ready for a return trip to Haiti. I am so excited. It's like I live here now, but that is home. Home is where the heart is, right? 

I've got a shopping list of things they need down there. If you'd like to help out, you can make a donation to my Paypal account or send a check to Bodhi Seed Yoga in Mt. Clemens and put "For Haiti" in the memo line. I can do the shopping for you. 

Flip Flops, size 3 kids to 11 men’s
Toothpaste all set
Towels, white cotton
Shorts, 5t to boy’s 16, khaki and navy (for school)
Shorts, 5t – 16, boys and girls, assorted colors for playground
Girl’s leggings, size 5t- 16, assorted colors (for playground)
Johnson and Johnson babywash
Snack stuff for afternoons: cheerios, dried cranberries, nuts, m&ms etc
2 or 3 hand held mirrors
Girls underpants sizes 4 – 10, (mostly 6/8)

I'll post pics when I get there, or when I get home. The connectivity is pretty sketchy down there. 

Peace! 

FWPIATWC

We developed a sort of Missionary/Expat shorthand for some of the difficulties  and challenges we just learned to live with, "That's so Haiti" or "TIH" = "This Is Haiti". This shorthand could be used for anything from bureaucratic exasperation to cultural frustration. It covered a wide range of ridiculously crazy and frustrating situations. 

It's so funny to be back to the first world and have a whole new appreciation for some of the challenges that I learned to overcome when compared to the constant litany of 1st world complaints I hear around me. 

I saw this today and almost peed my pants:

And So it Goes...

So, this is the end of my story...I must apologize for such vagueness and lapses in time and posts. 

This year turned into a lot of things that I had not intended it to.

There were a lot of stories that were not told.

I would be more than happy to sit with anyone and relate the tales of a year gone by over a meal, or drinks, or both. 

But for now, I will just say to those who kept coming back to check on the progress, I am deeply sorry to have left you uninformed.

I promise that when I return to adventures such as these, it will be on my own terms and with my voice so clearly heard at every turn.

Thank you for your endless support and for cheering me on and sending me encouragement when I needed it most. 

Thank you doubly for all the times you lifted me in prayer.

Always know that you were the difference between me seeing this through and throwing in the towel. 

I couldn't have done it without you!

I will be home soon and I look forward to passing on my tales when I see you.

Love,
Michele

A little redundant

Up until tonight I was feeling very bittersweet about leaving. And then suddenly...

I now understand why the Brits call getting sacked being made redundant. 

I totally get that now. 

I have never felt more obsoleted in my life. 

It was like the family meeting where you invite crazy aunt Ethel, even though you a) expect her to not contribute and 2) don't consider any crazy dang thing she says even if she does.

I'm not going to lie.

It hurt a little bit.

I think there's nothing I like less in this life than to be completely invalidated without even a kiss on the cheek. I think that sums up most of my year here. 

I will say a few prayers to get my ego in check and hopefully get a good night's sleep and be too busy with hurricane clean up to think about it any more. 

Happy Anniversary

Well, my year in Haiti is near completion. I've been here over a year and the end is in site. 

It's a bittersweet end. 

I have learned so many things about myself this past year. 

I've learned many things about my life and my path. 

About my strengths and my weaknesses. 

But mostly I'm thankful for the growth. And boy has there been. 

I've learned that I am capable of a good many things, but that I am not a wonder woman. 

I've learned that I have limitations...boy, do I have limitations.

I've met many people. Some I will be glad to say good bye to, but many that I will grieve as if I've lost them for good. 

Hopefully my departure will be met with some grief from those I leave also. 

I'm vain, afterall, and I would be lying if I didn't say that I hope I've made an impact. 

I hope I will be returning sooner than later. I am leaving a good portion of my heart here, and I will feel incomplete without it. 

What a difficult thing to comprehend, the purposeful ending of what was to be my finest moments, yet were some of the hardest times in my life. 

Pray for me. I am trying to find my direction in all this change. 

Sweet Kisses in the Moonlight

So last night I sat in on devotions to give Samanza her birthday present. She was my first birthday girl when I got here over a year ago, and now she is my last birthday gift as I pass the torch to Anachemy and Patty and Jeff. 

So shortly after we finished up and gave the nightly dismissal, "Good night boys and girls, hugs and kisses" the city power went out. What happened next was sweet, surprising, and just what I needed. 

For months now the boys have been very reluctant to show me any signs of affection, especially in front of the older kids. I suspect they have been harasses about it. Unfair, I know, but I catch glimpses of their adoration now and then, so I don't take it personally. 

But the moment the lights went out, I was tackled by an onslaught of excited boys, all of whom covered me in hugs and kisses in the darkness. I laughed and laughed with delight and reveled in my sweet, secret love signs. 

And then the lights went on, and off they went! lol 

Sometimes He knows just what you need and sends it via the most unexpected messengers.

Thank you Lord for providing for all of my needs, even when I don't realize it at the time. 

Ishka Bishka Bibbity Bobbity Boo

Ishka falls asleep during devotions in the gazebo - photo by Dandy Romain

Ishka, or Nikenson, or Markenson, depending on who you ask, is our sweet little, almost 5 yo (this month) High functioning Autistic. We don't have a formal diagnosis, but ten again, that's a first world thing...here, we just make do with his quirks and attempt to help him pass his days in as gentle a way as possible. 

He's always smiling, until he's not! Usually the smile cessation involves either someone taking a favorite toy, or cutting in line, or getting too much of my attention. But he's usually pretty easy to console, provided you give him a good hugging and some individual attention. 

He's a pretty happy kid for the most part. He has an almost unwavering love for me. And on those occasions when he thinks I have perpetrated some offense, I can usually cajole him back into my arms with a little tickling and some farty kisses. 

Last week he finally couldn't get into his tennies another day. He is growing by leaps and bounds and has suddenly sprouted a few extra inches in height and possibly foot length! SO I got him a "new" pair of shoes from the depot (thank you again Rebecca Strobel and http://www.cityofnewbaltimore.org/recreation.asp ) and brought them out to him. I got him in the new shoes and tied up and off he headed for PE. 

As soon as they were done, he came back to the gazebo to change into his sandals and told me I was not nice and he didn't love me any more. I asked whatever did I do and he said his new shoes hurt his feet. Well, I walked right over and inserted my fingers every which way to see if there was something sticking in his foot, or some bump or knot in the material that was making him uncomfortable. I checked his little feet for marks of an impression and couldn't even see a red spot or anything. I asked him if he was sure they were hurting him and he insisted they were. 

I figured we'd let a week go by and see what happens. Maybe he would forget they hurt his feet. Stranger things have happened!

So, fast forward to yesterday, PE day, and sure enough, as I put his shoes on them he began to tell me that they hurt his feet. So I asked him a few preschool teacher questions designed to get to the bottom of this situation. What I surmise is that the soles of these shoes are very heavy to him. Much more so than say, his cheap dollar store sandals. So I explained to him that these were special super hero training shoes, meant to make him grow big muscles in his legs so that he can run faster than a speeding bullet. I asked him to show me how fast he can run in these super hero trainers. He ran to the outside wall and back and said, "wow, Miss Michele, they are good!"

Crisis averted. Love restored. All in a days work for a preschool teacher! 

Ishka's 4th birthday, 30 August, 2011