Small Accomplishments

Bonjou from Haiti-land! 
Forgive me...until I get into any form of routine, these posts might be sporadic and filled with a whole lot of randomness as I try to create for you an idea of what I am doing here and what a day looks like.  Once I establish that idea for you, I hope for my posts to be more about stories and happenings, rather than the day-to-day, minute-by-minute descriptions of what's going on.  But for the beginning, that's always helpful so you know what's happening!

Also, I have not taken a single picture here yet.  Right?!?  Sorry, I'll get on that.  So please excuse my picture-less post for now.

On Sunday night, I met up with three girls in Miami whom I traveled with to Haiti.  Erin is the current nurse at Children of the Promise (COTP) and has lived here for about a year with her husband and family.  Jenna will be serving here as a volunteer coordinator, and Rachel will be doing nursing work with me, as well.  Rachel and Jenna will be my roommates once we get settled in the space that is being prepared for us. 

I arrived at the airport in Port au Prince on Monday around 2ish and was quickly introduced to Haiti's beautiful landscape during the 5ish hour drive up to west coast to Cap Haitian.  Seriously, beautiful.  Mountains and more mountains!  I really enjoyed being able to take in my first views of Haiti this way, especially since I have not left the walls of the compound I live in since we drove in on Monday night. 

Since then, we've (Rachel, Jenna and I) have just spent the past few days exploring, adjusting and learning.  There really hasn't been any schedule for us or expectations of us except to just acclimate and take our time.  So the past few days have been just that - laid back and full of a whole lot of randomness as we wander around and discover this place for ourselves.  And with that, a few highlights to wrap up these past two random days for you:

--During the drive to Cap Haitian, I kept seeing my middle name everywhere! Celeste. It was written in white letters on a bright blue sign. From what I could gather, it is some kind of food and beverage company/supplier.  This just made me smile because before leaving for Haiti, I had just talked with someone about how funny it would be to have a name that meant something else in a different language....well, so far no one has made a face or laughed when I told them my name was Kerry, so I think that's safe. But I wonder how they would respond if I said the name Celeste??

-- First Haitian meal (the lunch meal each day for us is prepared by the cooks that work here): Rice with sauce, cooked veggies, potato salad, chicken and plantains....delicious!

-- First meal my roommates and I prepared for ourselves: scrambled eggs and ham from a can....not as delicious but it worked!

-- Meeting the kiddos - more about them later. 

-- Creole language lesson with a few of the nannies and one of the older kids here.  They loved it just as much as I did!

--Practicing learned Creole with the other nannies and children and successfully having a short conversation! (Short short, as in, "Hi, how are you, I am fine, what is your name..." Have to start somewhere!) 

--Have been able to shadow Erin both nights to see the routine for the nighttime meds

--Second Haitian prepared meal: homemade tortilla burritos

--Second meal prepared by my roommates and me: leftover homemade tortillas from lunch with nutella and ramen noodles....

So, we have a little work to do in the cooking part of our day but, like I said, we're adjusting!  And, since our living area isn't quite finished yet (they are finishing some painting and building some shelves....we should be able to move in tomorrow!) we've been living out of our suitcases and just eating what is available in the volunteer house.  But don't worry - once I am unpacked and settled, all that food I worked so hard to pack will be put to good use! 

PRAISE:  Arrived safely and two days in am still doing fine!
PRAYER: health, quick relationships with the other staff, language learning, culture acclimation.

Bonwit!  (Good night)