So as we finish up yet another month, I took some time to reflect on how Haiti has left impressions on myself. Let’s begin:
· Crossing into Haiti – It turns out that the only road into Haiti from the DR is a narrow strip of land right near the ocean – it is barely wide enough for a bus and the ocean is a few inches below the road – so when it rains it becomes unusable
· Riding in an old school bus through the very crowded and tortuous roads of Port-au-Prince for two hours before arriving to our house
· Realizing how interesting our living quarters were (the following is a picture of one of our toilets)
· Finding out that the water in our house came from a tank in our roof. This meant that we had limited water and we were forced to set a schedule for showers – once a week per person. For some this may not sound too bad but then keep in mind that it is very hot and humid in Haiti and we were sweating constantly
· Speaking of such – there is no air conditioning in Haiti as I mentioned in my previous blog so we would have to find the nearest breeze to cool off to stop sweating
· Finding out the beauty of the sunset from our roof
· Most of the kids here were so excited to see us and it was fun to hang out with them
· Teaching English – a lot of people here learn English to open opportunities and we were privileged to be able to be there for them to practice on us. They would stop by our house every day to speak to us and learn new words. It was great fun and made me learn how blessed I am to speak English as a first language
Here's a picture of Josh Sturdevant leading an impromptu English class with Jeff and Jackie, two awesome guys from the neighborhood we were staying in: 
· Learning how to put up a roof “Haitian-style”. Almost all of the materials used were recycled from other building projects so that meant prying old, rusted nails out of old boards (This process may or may not have ended with me getting a nail wound on my foot)
· Enjoying one of our days off at a Haitian beach
· Teaching guitar to one of the kids who came to our house
· Riding in the local “taxis”. These vehicles were pickup trucks with metal seats welded to the back and they drove down the same street. To use one all you had to do was jump on the back and then pay the equivalent of 15₵. It’s quite an experience (and quite crowded too)
· Going to the grocery store once a week – mainly because they had AC and cold drinks
· Getting a chance to experience what it’s like to live with very little. It’s amazing how valuable things like AC and electricity become when you don’t have them for most of a month. For any of you reading this who have these things constantly – don’t take them for granted.
· Seeing how passionate so many of the Haitians were for God and how they worshipped. It's inspired me to pursue God with more love.
Thanks again for everyone and your support!
The next country we're heading to is Thailand, where we're going to be working with an organization that's fighting sex trafficking. More details to follow.
Please keep us in your prayers – we've got 4 intense days of travel before we can get to our final location in Thailand.
