Last week, I was incredibly blessed to have friends from my home church visit me. Kari, Therese, Meg, Natalie and Claire. It was so much fun to have them here! We went to House of Hope, had a Haitian lady cook us dinner, delivered clothes to kids at a nearby creche, and had great evenings just laughing and enjoying each other's company. Meg brought crafts and toys for my kids, which they absolutely loved! Miss Nila from church sent chocolate chip cookies for my entire class, which were absolutely delicious! She even sent me some of my own, plus some of her famous scotcheroos. Made my day!
We had a VBS for the street kids on Thursday, which was so much fun! Kari gave a lesson on Daniel in the lion's den, Mme. Thom translated, and some people from another group acted the story out. We asked the kids questions about the story, and then sang some songs. We had a small craft for each kid, as well as stickers, crackers and cookies. They loved it! We probably had close to thirty kids there, and several nearby adults got curious and came over to watch.
Kari was kind enough to bring me some things from my parents. It's amazing how excited I was about simple things, like a shower curtain, rain boots and extension cords. Things that are normally 15 minutes away at Walmart, but here...available only by boat order or a really awesome friend-thanks, Kari! I also got cookies from my sweet Ellie, along with some artwork (from both Ellie and Constance) and some letters from Kenzie and Elijah.
It was a great week, and I was really sad to see my friends leave on Friday. However, I am excited for what this week will bring. Every day I get to know my kids a little bit better, and I fall more in love with Haiti. I'm getting to know some of the local kids that don't go to Sonlight, like Bendjy, a little boy who lives across the street. The kids are starting to know me, too. Every morning, as I walk down the street, several kids will say "Good morning, Miss Katie!" They want to know where I'm going, when I'll be back, if I have crackers, and any other number of questions. My creole is slowly improving, I still can't get much farther than "Hi! How are you? I'm fine, thanks." but I recognize more words than I did when I first got here. Unfortunately, this creates some awkward moments, like when I understand enough to know that the people in the tap-tap are talking about me, but not enough to know what they're saying. Yep. Awkward.
I love it, though. I love learning, getting to know people, and just relishing every minute that I'm here.
Kari and I at the creche, along with Allie Hammond, one of the missionary kids.
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