Shopping Day

Today, we deemed a "Shopping Day". Ben, Jen, and myself all needed to buy a few things to make our house a home. The few "Foreign" type stores (think Home Depot, WalMart on a WAY smaller scale) don't always carry what we need, and are usually pretty expensive. So, we needed to head into the heart of Haiti...the stores, markets, and street stands.

And who better to take us than our very own, Jacques and Junior! They are two Haitian men employed by AwakenHaiti doing various tasks of building, translating, driving, and helping wherever needed.

So, what does a Shopping Day in Haiti look like? Well to name a few things:

- 1 great big truck, 3 guys in the front, and 2 girls locked in the back bed with caged wire all around (sounds worse than it is!)

- multiple stops, starts, bumps, swerves, and potholes 

- 2 police officers pulling us over to tell us to wear our seat belts (seat belts? I didn't even know those existed in Haiti...now a law enforcing them? Where's the adventure in that??)

- 1 intersection full of boys trying to wash our windows

- miles upon miles of houses, tents, and shacks practically on top of each other...making my head spin wondering if it will ever end

- countless men and women asking "My friend, do you want to buy?" often times not taking my meek NO for a final answer

- hair that feels so thick and skin so dirty from 'after-effects' of riding in the back of a truck all day long

- 1 vehicle accident...the empty feeling in your stomach when you hear the crash of metal on metal and turn your head to see a motorcycle and truck collide (we were NOT involved at all)...luckily the motorcyclist was only limping to the side of the road but with a pretty beat up motorcycle

- a small child's naked bottom as he bathes at the local water pump

- a few buildings still completely ripped apart and partially standing in rubble from the earthquake

- 2 trucks (ours being one of them) 'stuck' on a road too small for the both of them...inching and inching past each other, as we are MILLI meters apart...escaping the challenge unscathed!

And what does all of this get you...a mattress, a bed spring, a rocking chair...and for me...

A BIKE.

A beautiful brand-new**(see note below) green mountain bike. No right brake, semi-flat tires...but none-the-less, a BIKE. It gets me from point A to point B on these back winding roads! To the Girls Home in 10 minutes flat (that estimate will be tested tomorrow morning!).

My Brand-New Bike!

Thanks to Jacques and Junior for their amazing navigational, bargaining, and security skills. So neat to see them in their element!What a Shopping Day it was....to say the least, we are SPENT! Who knew one day could bring so much adventure - and exhaustion; physically, emotionally, and mentally.

**SIDE NOTE - Apparently in Haiti, there is a difference between NEW and BRAND-NEW. New means new, as you or I would think of it. But, Brand New does NOT mean brand spankin' new. I'm still slightly confused on this one, but from what I understand Brand New means 'almost new'...like maybe used but just fixed up a little...you know..Brand New. :)

My view from the back of the truck...as we just BARELY squeezed by another truck!

Hershey's

"Wherever you go, no matter how far, there will always be a Hershey's bar...It's Hershey's chocolate, the great American chocolate bar."

I am happy to report that the Hershey company has NOT failed us...they were right! Hershey's chocolate IS everywhere, even here in Haiti! Woooohoooo...

I can still vividly hear this song playing in my head as a child as I rode the ride at Chocolate World (multiple times in a row, mind you, so I could get lots of free chocolate!!!). The song ends with the above lyrics...

And every time I see a Hershey's bar here in Haiti, it brings a little joy to my heart! And, not only because it reminds me of home and the sweet taste of chocolate. But, as many of you know, before I moved here, I was a PE Teacher at Hershey Elementary School...right in the heart of Hershey, PA. Yes, I could smell chocolate outside on the playground!

So, even though I am no longer in the US for back-to-school time and being a teacher, it still makes me happy to think of Hershey's...the memories I have as a teacher there! Shout out to all my HES teachers and students!! Good luck with school this year.

One unfortunate side of this story...the price of chocolate is NO WHERE near the price in the States. If you notice in the box below, there is a price tag...475 Haitain Goudes. That is equivalent to $12 in the US!!! A regular size chocolate bar is anywhere from $2 to $2.50! Yikes...I will certainly be stocking up on my fill of chocolate when I come home for visits!

March Team Trip

So, this is really last minute, but my parents (and I) are trying to get a group of people together for a March Team Trip with AwakenHaiti. I would LOVE to see people I know, and would LOVE for you to have the experience of a trip to Haiti. Trips like this have the possibility to grow and stretch people in awesome ways!

The tentative dates are the 9th - 16th. The trip would most likely consist of construction, medical, and orphanage type activities.

We know that multiple people have mentioned to us about coming down for a trip. So, to best not miss anyone, I thought I would do a post on here to make it known about the March trip. 

Because of planning purposes, we need to know by Monday if this is something anyone would be interested in. If you are, please email me kimberleepe@gmail.com or my mom at clpeifer@gmail.com. Also, please feel free to email with any questions, etc.

Trouble & Trust

TROUBLE - to disturb the mental calm and contentment of; worry; distress; pains; discomfort

TRUST - confidence, reliance on a thing/person, confident expectation, hope

I have been learning so much about Trouble and Trust while living here in Haiti. And how the two actually go hand-in-hand. Each day brings both Trouble and Trust...actually from moment to moment.

One moment I love it here and feel so fulfilled...the next I hate it and wonder what the heck did I do to my life?

One moment I feel like this is exactly where I belong for this season...and 30 minutes later I wish I were at home in the US.

One moment I am so content in singleness...the next I am so frustrated and sad in being single here.

Trust & Trouble...In what I have been reading, I have found that in the Bible most of the characters have felt this way at some point, if not most of their lives. I wonder, too, how many of us, when all is stripped away, feel like this a majority of the time.

The other day, I was in a lamenting mood and opened to Lamentations 3, a verse I was reading a lot earlier in the summer. I circled all the things I had been feeling:

     - He has walled me in so I cannot escape
     - He pierced my heart
     - He has filled me with bitter herbs and sated me with gall (bitterness of spirit)
     - My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the Lord
     - My soul is downcast within me

I identified with these words SO MUCH! It felt so good to be able to say, "YES, that is exactly how I feel." I am learning that THIS is exactly what God wants...My expression and identifying the above feelings, yet in that trouble, always turning to this (a little farther down in Lamentations 3):

     - The Lord is my portion, therefore I will WAIT for Him
     - The Lord is good to those whose HOPE is in Him
     - It is good to WAIT quietly
     - Let him sit alone in SILENCE
     - For men are not cast off by the Lord forever
     - Though He brings GRIEF, He will show COMPASSION

I am learning to have BOTH trouble and trust at the exact same time. And that is ok. That is good.

I am DETERMINED TO TRUST...and this season is teaching me that determination.

Faith, Hope, Love

Last week, Drew (who was the Boys Home Coordinator but just left with his fiance Vanessa to move back to the States) had his brother, Dan visit. Dan is an artist and was able to do some paintings for the new Kindergarten School classrooms in Canaan.

There are 3 classrooms and each room will get one of the following paintings...Faith, Hope, Love. I thought they turned out so cute! Great job, Dan!

FAITH

HOPE

LOVE