Today we will talk with Jeanise. Jeanise is 11 years old and has a somewhat spunky demeanor.
Me: Jeanise, what is your favorite movie?
J: Ever After (Drew Barrymore.........I just don't get it)
Me: What is your favorite thing to do at Canaan?
J: Play soccer, especially beating the boys
Me: Who is your favorite singer?
J: Rihanna (the kids are constantly humming "Disturbia")
Me: What is your favorite book of the Bible?
J: Job (interesting choice from Jeanise)
Me: Are you a good dancer?
J: (emphatically shakes head no)
Me: How about singing?
J: MHM
Me: Do you like wearing make-up?
J: No
Me: Do you have any brothers or sisters?
J: One brother named Sonson
Me: What is your favorite food?
J: Rice (which is good since she gets plenty of it)
Me: Favorite drink?
J: Sprite (the caffeine free route)
Me: Jeanise, are you a hugger?
J: No.
Me: Kisser?
J: Yes (she's very forward)
Me: What would you like to be when you grow up?
J: Pilot, with American Airlines
Me: Jeanise, do you harass me about my IPOD?
J: NO. (She does)
Me: Do you like my music?
J: Sometimes.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Nuts & Bolts
This is the obligatory post dealing with the day to day conditions here in Haiti. First let me say that the conditions here in Canaan are far superior to what you would see in the typical Haitian village.
I sleep on a bunk bed in a mosquito net. I spend most of the night sweating and wondering what herd of animals are playing rugby in my ceiling. Visuals of the local wildlife have been fairly limited so that's a good thing. Most days are filled with trying to be somewhat productive while still trying to play with the kids. Very rarely is there power here during the day so everyone is pretty happy when 6:00pm rolls around and the generators get cranked up.
The food here is really good actually. My very attractive Mountain Dew gut is shrinking, but not because there isn't enough good food to go around. Sweating 24 hours a day might have more to do with it.
Saturday was my first real day out and about. A few of us went to Saint Marc to run a few errands and check on a baby that we had taken to the hospital a couple days before. To get to Saint Marc you have to walk down to the main road and find a tap-tap that will take you where you need to go. I learned that you definitely want to be sitting on top of the cab. It is by far the most comfortable place to be. Once you get to town you have to find a motorcycle that takes you further into the city. The key thing at this point seems to be getting the local rate as opposed to the anglo-American rate. We had to make some photo-copies for the clinic so we went to a place that turned on their generator and took 1.5 hours to make 500 copies. All in all it was a good day, and I was glad to get a few firsts out of the way.
Saturday was also the first time I had to say good-bye to visitors who left to go back home. Tyler, Melanie, and Katie had been here since May working with the Medika Mamba program. They made my first couple weeks very easy so I was sad to see them go. That is something I will have to get used to here.
That's all for now. Another edition of the Hot Seat coming soon.......featuring Jeanise I think.
I sleep on a bunk bed in a mosquito net. I spend most of the night sweating and wondering what herd of animals are playing rugby in my ceiling. Visuals of the local wildlife have been fairly limited so that's a good thing. Most days are filled with trying to be somewhat productive while still trying to play with the kids. Very rarely is there power here during the day so everyone is pretty happy when 6:00pm rolls around and the generators get cranked up.
The food here is really good actually. My very attractive Mountain Dew gut is shrinking, but not because there isn't enough good food to go around. Sweating 24 hours a day might have more to do with it.
Saturday was my first real day out and about. A few of us went to Saint Marc to run a few errands and check on a baby that we had taken to the hospital a couple days before. To get to Saint Marc you have to walk down to the main road and find a tap-tap that will take you where you need to go. I learned that you definitely want to be sitting on top of the cab. It is by far the most comfortable place to be. Once you get to town you have to find a motorcycle that takes you further into the city. The key thing at this point seems to be getting the local rate as opposed to the anglo-American rate. We had to make some photo-copies for the clinic so we went to a place that turned on their generator and took 1.5 hours to make 500 copies. All in all it was a good day, and I was glad to get a few firsts out of the way.
Saturday was also the first time I had to say good-bye to visitors who left to go back home. Tyler, Melanie, and Katie had been here since May working with the Medika Mamba program. They made my first couple weeks very easy so I was sad to see them go. That is something I will have to get used to here.
That's all for now. Another edition of the Hot Seat coming soon.......featuring Jeanise I think.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
The Haitian Hot Seat......Part I
Today is the first installment of "The Haitian Hot Seat." The hot seat will be occupied by Wesh this evening. Wesh is a very precocious 11-year old who is fond of asking me very interesting questions about American history. He is an extremely smart kid and actually helps as a translator down at the clinic. He has agreed to answer all of my questions as honestly as he possibly can. Let us begin.
Me: Welcome to the hot seat Wesh, how are you feeling?
Wesh: Good, I'm feeling good.
Me: Question #1. What is your favorite movie, and why?
Wesh: I have many favorites, but one of them is "The Forbidden Kingdom." It is very funny and I think Jackie Chan is cute.
Me: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Wesh: I want to be a pilot. When I first saw an airplane I thought it would be super cool to be a pilot.
Me: What is your favorite Bible story?
Wesh: David & Goliath. (he said this right after joking that it was David & Bathsheba)
Me: What is your favorite thing to do at Canaan?
Wesh: Eat. Especially mashed potatoes.
Me: Do you have any bad habits?
Wesh: I occasionally lie and cheat. (Have to appreciate his honesty)
Me: Who is your favorite actress?
Wesh: Angelina Jolie.
Me: What about Disney princess?
Wesh: (with enthusiasm).....Princess Jasmine
Me: Why should the people love Wesh?
Wesh: Because I am so smart and a cool guy. I am also romantic and fabulous.
Me: If you could have one superpower, what power would you choose?
Wesh: The power to make women fall in love with me. (Seriously, that was his choice)
Me: What animal are you most scared of?
Wesh: Tarantulas......well, all large spiders
Me: Finally.........who is the coolest American you know?
Wesh: You. (this answer was not coerced in any way)
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
So It Begins
We are coming to you from the multi-purpose (eating, working, general loitering) building here at Canaan. I arrived without incident on Monday night and have had a good couple days since. It's been good to reconnect with some of the kids that I got to know in February, and also get to bond with a few new ones. They are helping me with my Creole, and making fun of me while doing it, which I find totally acceptable.
I will indeed be helping with the school here, but I'm not exactly sure what that will look like. Apparently Canaan is being looked at as a model for several other schools in the country so I will be involved with that somehow. My feeling right now is that I will be doing more administrative tasks than I had expected, which is fine with me.
Yesterday I helped out at the clinic. Tuesday is Medika Mamba day which means the people who are in the program bring their kids in to get weighed and measured. It's a little startling to see some of the kids. The kids at Canaan are well fed and well taken care of, but things down at the clinic are quite different.
Internet is a bit fickle tonight so that's it for now. Thanks for reading and thank you to those of you who are praying for me.
I will indeed be helping with the school here, but I'm not exactly sure what that will look like. Apparently Canaan is being looked at as a model for several other schools in the country so I will be involved with that somehow. My feeling right now is that I will be doing more administrative tasks than I had expected, which is fine with me.
Yesterday I helped out at the clinic. Tuesday is Medika Mamba day which means the people who are in the program bring their kids in to get weighed and measured. It's a little startling to see some of the kids. The kids at Canaan are well fed and well taken care of, but things down at the clinic are quite different.
Internet is a bit fickle tonight so that's it for now. Thanks for reading and thank you to those of you who are praying for me.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Soon, Very Soon
This blog will become more interesting next week. I make the move to Canaan a week from today, so my next post will come from Haiti. Many thanks to those of you who have been so supportive over the past few months........which would probably be all of you.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
My Viking Heritage
If things don't work out in Haiti I may have to move to Norway.
The family and I got back from our cruise last night. Here are the highlights and lowlights.
Highlights:
- Weather: We had sunshine the vast majority of the time which isn't the norm in Norway.
- Family Game-time: We owned the game room on the ship. I think its fair to say that several fellow passengers will be purchasing Settlers of Catan when they get home.
- Scenery: Pretty unbelievable.
- The Policeman in Honningsvag: He drove us around in his cop car while listening to Guns n' Roses. He also commented that "tourists are annoying......just like the reindeer."
- Animals: We saw reindeer on a hike and had a porpoise go underneath our kayaks.
- The British: Good people as far as I can tell.
- The Puppet Show: This is one of those deals where the guys dress in black and stand there controlling puppets. I didn't just like the show......I loved it.
- The pool area: Let's just say that it's best to avoid the pool area on a cruise primarily made up of Europeans over the age of 65.
- Lack of darkness: Is it a little bit cool to see the sun for 50-60 straight hours? Maybe. Is it good for your sleeping habits? No.
- The French & Italians: I don't care if you do make decent salad dressings, I don't like you. (admittedly this feeling is based on a small sample size)
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Mission Tidbits
One of our classes at HEART had to to with cross-cultural studies. We learned a few things about culture shock, language acquisition, and cultural distance. I thought I'd share a few of the main points, since I found them pretty interesting, and this is my blog and all.
Would anyone care to guess the three most important characteristics of an effective long-term missionary? Did someone say "compassion"? No, that's ridiculous. Here they are......
1. Sense of Humor: The ability to laugh at yourself and your situation is extremely important.
2. Low goal/task orientation: This one was a little hard to understand, but I think the idea is that you can't be hung up on reaching certain objectives, either on a day to day basis or more long-term. The frustration and discouragement could be too much to bear for some people.
3. Fear of Failure (the lack of): I'm in trouble on this one. I generally don't like to get into things where the outcome is uncertain. I'll have to get over that. I think I can.
Phil, one of the leaders at HEART, just moved back to the States after 20+ years in Haiti. He says that only 10% of the people who commit to a stay of more than a year in Haiti actually fulfill that commitment. Let that soak in a little.
There are a lot of reasons why people leave the field. One of the major issues is culture shock, which many people have a tough time getting over. Culture shock generally hits twice. The first time is around the 6-8 week mark. Many people on short-term trips think they have experienced culture shock, but they have really only experienced cultural disorientation. The second, and more severe shock, comes during the 8th or 9th month. This second shock is where many people give out and end up leaving the field. Phil described it as a time where he just wondered what the heck he was doing in Haiti. I'm sure at some point I will have to deal with these issues, but when those times come I'll at least know that I am not alone and that they will pass. (I hope one of you is copying this and making a note to email it to me next March)
That's all I got. Hopefully it gives a little insight into some of the struggles that missionaries face. Turns out they mean it when they say they covet our prayers above everything else.
Would anyone care to guess the three most important characteristics of an effective long-term missionary? Did someone say "compassion"? No, that's ridiculous. Here they are......
1. Sense of Humor: The ability to laugh at yourself and your situation is extremely important.
2. Low goal/task orientation: This one was a little hard to understand, but I think the idea is that you can't be hung up on reaching certain objectives, either on a day to day basis or more long-term. The frustration and discouragement could be too much to bear for some people.
3. Fear of Failure (the lack of): I'm in trouble on this one. I generally don't like to get into things where the outcome is uncertain. I'll have to get over that. I think I can.
Phil, one of the leaders at HEART, just moved back to the States after 20+ years in Haiti. He says that only 10% of the people who commit to a stay of more than a year in Haiti actually fulfill that commitment. Let that soak in a little.
There are a lot of reasons why people leave the field. One of the major issues is culture shock, which many people have a tough time getting over. Culture shock generally hits twice. The first time is around the 6-8 week mark. Many people on short-term trips think they have experienced culture shock, but they have really only experienced cultural disorientation. The second, and more severe shock, comes during the 8th or 9th month. This second shock is where many people give out and end up leaving the field. Phil described it as a time where he just wondered what the heck he was doing in Haiti. I'm sure at some point I will have to deal with these issues, but when those times come I'll at least know that I am not alone and that they will pass. (I hope one of you is copying this and making a note to email it to me next March)
That's all I got. Hopefully it gives a little insight into some of the struggles that missionaries face. Turns out they mean it when they say they covet our prayers above everything else.
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