Real Caribbean Beauty

One thing that I miss about Haiti is the beauty of the island. Since we were constantly surrounded by rubble it was easy to forget that we were working in a tropical Caribbean paradise! Near the end of my trip, we decided to take one day to enjoy the tropical beauty and go to the beach. We visited a few beaches near Leogane......

...but finally decided to travel to a beach resort north of Port-au-Prince for the afternoon. Rony, Zarry (a great friend of ours from Port-au-Prince), Paul (Zarry's brother), and I headed up the highway to the famous "Club Indigo". On our way we passed some of the tent cities out in the country where the government is trying to relocate people who were made homeless by the earthquake.

When we finally got to the resort, I felt like I had arrived in a completely different place...

The Beach at Club Indigo (Formerly Club Med)

The resort was beautiful, the beaches were pristine, the water was warm and I was in heaven. We swam in the clear blue water, walked along the white sand beach, and just lounged around.

Paul, Rony, Britt, Zarry

Rony diving into the pool right next to the beach

As the sun began to set I found myself sitting on a lounge chair underneath a coconut tree gazing out across the water...

I kept thinking that although this was one of the most beautiful places that I had ever seen in my life, this wasn't the beauty that I would always remember when I thought about my experiences in Haiti. I knew that the true beauty of Haiti was found in the faces of the people that we saw everywhere we went. It was the beauty of their faith, kindness, and strength. No sunset or tropical beach could ever compare. Few moments in my life have affected me as strongly as that one. I will always remember my visit to a "real Caribbean beach" and how I came to understand the meaning of true beauty.

Cerises, Cerises!!!!

One of the things that I miss about being in Haiti are the early mornings. The sun began to rise at about 5:00AM and the people in Leogane were on the move shortly thereafter. From the rooms in the church that we stayed in and eventually the balcony of our home, where we slept, the sounds of motorcycles, schoolchildren and street vendors soon filled the air. I enjoyed laying on my little (usually deflated) air mattress and just listening to everything. I think that I accurately represent all of the volunteers that I was there with when I say that the most distinct sound of our morning was always the "Cherry Lady".

We could always count on this woman to come down our street yelling, "Cerises, Cerises!!!!" I wish that I had an audio recording of her because she had a very distinct sound. One day as I was laying on my little air mattress I heard a woman coming down the street selling cherries, BUT she was definitely not OUR "Cherry Lady"- you could tell without even looking at her. The Cherry Lady soon became an expected part of our morning ritual. The day before I left, I was finally able to capture a photo of our dear friend.

Is this a random, perhaps unimportant memory of my unforgettable visit to Haiti? Maybe. But, for me, this is one of those memories that I will always carry with me. Who knows, maybe someday I will be walking down the street and hear a faintly familiar voice...... it may be the Cherry Lady, or it may not. But either way, it will be another key that will unlock this great memory as well as the floodgate of incredible memories that I will carry with me and cherish forever.

First Post from Haiti

Well, we made it!!!

The internet connection has not been the most reliable so I don't know that I will be able to blog as often as I would like to. We have had some incredible adventures this past week!! Things are coming together and we are preparing to have our first volunteers arrive in about a week. We are finalizing housing arrangements and in the meantime we are grateful to be able to stay at the church. There are some families there who were displaces by the quake and we have gotten to know them pretty well. I have made lots of new friends- mostly the little kids!! In the evenings I play lots of Uno with the little girls. I think that the reason that I have made friends with so many children is that they are the only ones who can understand me!! My French is not all that great! It has definitely been 6 years since I studied French. Luckily I can understand most of what people are saying, but when I try to speak it all comes out in Russian. Oh well, it is getting better and I am sure that it will get better throughout my stay.

I am going to post a few pictures. I am keeping a journal on my computer so I will be able to do more posts in a few weeks when I am back in the states and have more time and a more reliable internet connection. But, here are a few of our photos from the first week:

Well, they won't load so check out my facebook page.... I'll try again later!!

Things are great and we are keeping busy.

:)