A"'truly" Haitian Experience???

Christmas has come and gone and I can't say that it was all that interesting or exciting to spend it in Haiti. There were two reasons why I didn't find Christmas in Haiti all that interesting. First of all Christmas is not really a major holiday in Haiti. New Years Eve and Carnaval are much bigger holidays as far as Haitians are concerned. The other thing is that even if Haitians had a huge celebration I would not be able to go because it would be at night and unsafe for me to go. When I tell Haitians that I won't be in Haiti for New Year's Eve they seem so dissapointed and tell me that I will be missing out. In reality I wouldn't be able to go to any of the celebrations so I'm not too dissapointed.
The Christmas Eve candle light service was very nice. After church we ate some street food (my stomach did not thank me later) and watched some Christmas singing program on TV. After the kids went to bed and all the guys left to go to various parties, I helped Karen wrap some presents and then went to bed. The highlight was that my family called and I was able to talk to all of them. Christmas day was also pretty tame. The kids opened their presents in the morning and spent the rest of the day playing with them. I relaxed and watched a movie at a friends house. At night I was determined that everyone would sit together for our turkey meal. No one was as excited about it as I was but they all sat down. We ate our turkey with rice (of course) and it was delicious. Overall a quiet but nice Christmas.
Tomorrow morning I will be flying out of Haiti and the time just can't come fast enough for me. I am so excited about being home and seeing my family and friends. E-mail is an amazing and wonderful thing but nothing replaces talking face to face.

Christmas Eve

Our school Christmas party was a huge hit. The kids sang and read very well during the program and they loved the games and music. We gave them a small gift when they left and they were thrilled. Unfortunately we included a noise maker in the gift bag and I've had to listen to it constantly since yesterday afternoon:)
Well, we had a vote two nights ago on what we wanted for our Christmas dinner; turkey or fish. Thankfully turkey won hands down!!! I doubt we'll be having it with mashed potatoes and stuffing, but turkey is turkey and will be much appreciated!!!
We went shopping this week for presents for the kids. They are still very strong believers in "Papa Noel" AKA Santa Claus. They have no clue that we are buying them gifts and aren't snooping around at all. Karen managed to buy two bikes for the youngest two boys - Manu and Jacob. They will be THRILLED, they want one soooo badly. The bikes are currently hiding at Cadeau's house so they kids won't see them:)
Tonight we are going to the Christmas Eve service which I'm really excited about it. Tomorrow morning the kids will open their presents and then we'll go to church again. I always enjoy church but for some reason it's even more special at Christmas time.
I've like to thank everyone who sent me a Christmas card. As I've mentioned before snail mail is always appreciated but it is even more appreciated when you are far away from family and friends. Something that I appreciate even more than letters is prayer and I'd also like to thank all those who pray for me and more importantly for the work that happens here at Coram Deo. Haiti is a difficult country to work in because of the security problems and we appreciate your prayers so much. I am continually finding out about more people who have added us to their prayer list and I am so touched when I am told that they pray for me and Coram Deo every day.
Well, to all my faithful readers. Have a Wonderful Christmas with family and friends. Picture me sitting in my shorts eating turkey with my new family and friends in Haiti.

December in Haiti

Sunday morning I woke up at Jenny's house and went for a swim. I thought to myself, it's worth all the risks to wake up on a December morning the week before Christmas and go for a swim:) Seriously, the kidnappings just keep increasing and everyone's getting a little nervous. Up until now I'd refused to think about it and had convinced myself that it wouldn't happen to me. Lately I've been thinking maybe I should have a plan just in case. The good news for me is that I am not an easy person to kidnap because I leave the house very rarely and when I do it's never at a regular time and it's not usually to the same place. The people that have been kidnapped are followed for a few weeks first to find out their pattern. Since I don't have a pattern this works in my favour. However I am being very careful. Everyone tells me not to walk places but I have yet to hear about a kidnapping that happened to someone walking. Also, when I'm in a car I always lock the doors and we always stick to main roads and avoid roads that are desserted. As well, we never return the same way we went. So all you worry worts out there, I want you to know that I am taking precautions.
Well, the party we had for the kids on Sunday was a hit. We bought some junk food, let them listen to music, watch T.V. and drink coke. Overall it was a big hit:)
Ten days until I'm home. I can't wait!!!!!!

Christmas Carols

We have just started a new tradition here at Coram Deo. We now have devotions every night with all the people in the house and any visitors that wish to participate. We read the Bible, read a Devotional and pray together. The second time we meet together Cadeau asked if we could sing some songs. I was surprised but pleased that he wanted to do so. Yesterday Karen bought some song books (the ones they use in Haitian churches) and we sang some Christmas Carols last night. It was a great time. They have a lot of the same Christmas carols, but of course they sing in French not in English. Sometimes the tunes a bit different but if you have the words it's not too difficult to follow along. I always find that no matter where I am in the world, when you sing together or worship the Lord together you don't feel like your miles away from home.
Things with the school are winding down. Next week is the last week of school. The students are writting exams and the last day of school we're going to have a fun day with a bit of a Christmas program. Should be interesting. I have to think up some games for 100+ kids with almost no space to play them:) Good thing I was a camp counsellor. Who know it would come in handy so many times in my life?? I truly think that one summer at SMC can help prepare you for almost any job:)
Last Sunday Ysmaille had a B-day party at his house. The kids wanted to go so badly but he said no. Later he felt bad so now we are planning a party just for the kids for this Sunday. They are so excited they can barely contain themselves. The have asked me about 30 times (each) when we are going to his house. Should be fun... I'll take some pictures and let you know how it goes:)

Commercialism

It's funny that when you live in Haiti you almost forget about Christmas and all the comercialism that surrounds it. I don't go shopping much and even when I do you can't really tell that a major commercial holiday is just around the corner. Of course there's a few Christmas decorations up and a few more for sale, but other than that you hardly notice a change. The weather also really throws you off. When you are experiencing balmy temperatures and you're still wearing tank tops and sandals, Christmas and major shopping sprees don't even enter the mind.
This year my family decided to bypass present giving and instead buy presents for everyone at Coram Deo. I was thrilled by this idea and have already written their 'wish lists' for them. (with a little help from Cadeau) It's kind of funny that everyone who knows that I'm going to Canada for 2 weeks is expecting a present when I return. I don't know where they get the idea that I have enough money to buy EVERYONE a present but they are quite confident that I will be returning with a gift for them. Even people I barely know ask me what I am planning to bring back for them when I return:)
We already had a small taste of present giving around here. When John came he came with an entire box full of brand new running shoes. I think shoes are a big deal to teenage guys around the world but they were especially appreciated here. Everyone who needed a pair received a brand new pair of Addidas running shoes. Needless to say there were a lot of smiles that night.
I have a great pictures of everyone posing with their shoes. Speaking of pictures, I have tried several times to upload new pictures onto my yahoo photo album but it's experiencing problems at the moment so I apologize for the lack of new pictures.
Fifteen days until I'm home and I'm really excited. Of course it will be a whirlwind of a visit but that's okay. Who needs to relax anyway???

Update

We just said goodbye to a visitor that I previously forgot to mention. John, from our Canadian board, just came for a visit to see how we are doing. It was great to show him how the school is running and talk about some future plans. I told the teachers that if he asked if I was a good director to say that I'm the best. Fortunately for me none of the teachers speak English and John doesn't speak Creole so he'll never really know the truth:)
Someone just wrote me and asked how the language is coming along. Anyone who knows me well knows that if I'm not complaining about something it's probably going well:) To be honest, the language is really coming along. I can make myself understand most of the time, however I still have difficulties understanding when someone talks too fast or uses a lot of words I'm not familiar with. This is not really a problem because I enjoy talking more than I enjoy listening anyway:) It really is a lot more fun now that I can speak more and understand more. Ysmaille had a birthday party on Sunday at his house and I had a good time getting to know his friends (girls finally!!!) and they were thrilled that I knew Creole.
As for security. Things are not improving but rather getting worse. There have been several kidnapping and one Canadian man was shot during the kidnappping. He has since been released but he had to have his arm amputated. We continue to take precautions and definately avoid any bad areas of town. I don't go out too much so that increases my chance of safety. Don't worry about us too much. Just keep praying!!!

Noel

Well folks, I keep promising myself I won't complain about the lack of hydro because I'm sure you're tired of my complaints every week so I promise this will be the last complaint. We haven't had over 1 hour of hydro each day for the last 2 weeks. This would be okay if I wasn't so addicted to e-mail or if I didn't need my computer for so many work related things. On top of this the generator hasn't been working so needless to say it's been a boring few weeks. I try to stay busy but it's difficult when you know the work is piling up and there's nothing you can do about it. I wrote some stuff by hand and now all I have to do it type it but I hate to do work twice.
Enough about that... As many of you know I am spending Christmas here in Haiti. Christmas started early for me this year!!! This past week I received MAIL and not only was it mail it was GREAT mail. I got a lovely card from my dear friend Sarah, my biggest fan (my mom) sent me a little package and my dear friend Amy S. managed to convince a large group of people from my church to write me a Christmas card (even bought a card for a few people - right Matt?). What blessings. Later this same week I was hand deliverd a note from my mom and a small gift from my friend Marg H. Wow, am I blessed or what???
Surprisingly enough I'm not missing the snow you are all experiencing right now. It's been great weather here lately. Not too hot during the day (unless you are standing in the sun) and the nights cool off quite comfortably. However, although I don't miss the snow I will be walking in it before too long. I am coming home for the first two weeks of January. I am very excited to spend some time with my family and also to do some work for Coram Deo back home. I hope to visit some schools and do some educational research that will be beneficial to the school here. I am very excited about going home and although the time is short and I will only be able to see a few people it will be nice to be back 'home' and with those I have missed much over the last 4 months.
Thank you to all the people who have kept me and Coram Deo in their prayers over the last four months. Your prayers along with God's promises have helped me survive the considerable adaption I have gone through since coming to Haiti. With your continued prayers and God's continual support I know that great things can be accomplished here. Thanks again.

New faces at CD

It's Sunday morning and it's the first time we've had Hydro for over 1 hour in a row. This week was brutal. As soon as I'd finish checking my e-mail the hydro would go out and I wouldn't be able to reply. I even resorted to going to a internet cafe this week. I had just sat down and written a nice long e-mail when some guy came and turn off my computer without warning. He mumbled something in Creole that I did not understand and then we had to wait 10 mintues for the computers to start up again. T en the "n" on my computer didn't work half the time:) Oh life in a 3rd world country:)
This week there was another kidnapping. What would life be like in Haiti without a weekly kidnapping? An American was travelling back from one of the provinces in a bus with 13 kids. He had just obtained the necessary papers for a VISA for one of the children. The whole bus was kidnapped but the children were released shortly after. The kidnappers were asking for $300,000 American. Who has that kind of money? As of Sat. night we heard that he was released but we found out that he'd been shot in the arm during the whole event. The kidnappers dropped him off at the UN hospital (how considerate) where he was taken care of. No permanent damage has been reported.
Well, our household as grown again. (As if 17 people was just not enough:) Manman Manise's children live in Cite Soliel (the worse slum in Haiti) with her husband and there has been ALOT of shooting in that area lately. One night I was sitting on the roof with her listening to the sounds of gunfire and she started to cry. (She's ALWAYS very happy and cheerful). I told her we have to pray and leave it into God's hands. (easy for me to say) Karen offered for her to bring her two kids here (one already lives here) until things die down. So we now have Stephanie (3) and Oltens (5) brightening up our lives. They are adorable and Stephanie loves to follow me wherever I go:)
Unfortunately nothing else exciting has happened around here. This week John (from the board) is coming so we'll have a chance to discuss how things are going in the school which will be great. I'm really glad with the progess so far.