I’m not going to lie; Haiti is not my destination of choice. Actually, about a week after I arrived in Haiti I wrote an entry in my journal about how I couldn’t wait to leave.
I hated how dirty it was.
I hated how dirty I was.
I hated that I didn’t have yummy food.
I hated that I couldn’t understand what anyone was saying.
I hated not being able to go out whenever I wanted.
I hated that I got sick for 3 days and had to walk 20 minutes to the hospital because there weren’t any available seats on Tap-Taps.
I basically hated all things Haiti.
I liked our ministry and the people were cool, but I just couldn’t seem to shake my bad attitude. It wasn’t an obvious bad attitude. It was more of an internal bad attitude.
I had a lot of time to think and pray while I was sick, considering I was in bed for two days while my team was doing ministry. God pretty slapped me in the face during that time. I had to get up off my tush and be the hands and feet of Jesus. So, that’s what I tried to do with my time left in Haiti. I put on a smile even when I didn’t feel like. I played with kids that hadn’t bathed in weeks. I made relationships with people in the house we lived in even though we couldn’t always understand each other. And, that time changed my heart. I loved everything about being in the house after that. Saying goodbye to the kids and friends I had made was hard. A lot harder than I would have pictured it being at the beginning of July.
Now, I am in San Juan, Dominican Republic. We arrived late Saturday night after 13+ hours of traveling. I woke up at 5:30am. Got on Bus #1. We rode for an hour to the closest bus station. There, we waited until 8:30am to get onto our second bus. Bus #2 was AMAZING (it had air conditioning and everything) until we had to drive up hills. I guess our American bodies and backpacks were too heavy for that bus. So we got off the bus in the middle of the mountains and hopped on Bus #3. Bus #3 wasn’t too bad either. Not quite as awesome as #2, but it definitely worked. We rode #3 for a few hours until we got to Santo Domingo where we got on Bus #4, only to drive about 30 minutes to get to another bus station in the same city. That’s where bus #5 came in. It was pretty nice. It had air conditioning, baby blue curtains, and seats for everyone. I call that class! All in all it was a great travel day with God’s hands in everything that happened.
San Juan is absolutely beautiful, and they have multiple restaurants with food other than rice and beans!!! WOOHOO. Last night we had a chance to walk around as a team with one of our ministry contacts for the month, Emily. We had such an amazing time walking around the town and ending up at a square in the middle of town where a band was playing under a gazebo. So much fun! Plus, we bought ice cream from a vendor that was so delicious. My team and Team Soar are going to be working in a slum of San Juan this month that I am so excited about. It is a bit of a shady part of town, so please be in prayer for our safety and that the hearts of the people there will be opened to us sharing our faith with them this month.
Plus, I’m eating fried chicken at a fast food restaurant that has the internet. score.
