Hellooooo! I don't think anyone will be reading this for awhile because I totally haven't been on it. Turns out- had no internet in Haiti! whoops! So much for keeping you updated via blog. Here's the low down as of now: I am back early because A.My host family's Dad got sick and needed some medical help from the U.S. We tried to stay in Haiti and stick it out while he was here, but it looks like the recovery will be till at least the end of December, so since the family came out- I did too to keep teaching the kids. And B.My mom had to have back surgery. So even though it's crazy, the timing ended up good- I am currently at home in Ohio taking care of my mom, but plan to go to PA where my host family is at- to continue my commitment with them.
WHEW!
Haiti rocked! I really cannot explain it via online journal, but it was so awesome. Living in the orphanage with 11 little orphan boys was so great, and I loved learning about the culture and the language of the people in Haiti. They really accepted me with open arms there and the people just wanted to be around me and learn English. Teaching didn't end up being too hard at all, my host family (the lashbrooks) kids were great students. And I ended up helping teach english class to Haitian adults which was so much fun. English is a hard language to teach because there is no explanation for half the the things we say! I picked up a little Creole, at least enough to talk to kids and so I was thankful for that. The transition of living without the ease and comfort of the stuff we have here, really wasn't hard, and actually it was rather satisfying. I liked living the simple life- where I was excited when we had electricity but didn't sweat it if we didn't have it. This sounds odd but it felt very real. The odd thing is that 70% of the world lives in poverty like that, we are the unusual ones. I think it's easy to forget that everyone doesn't live like we do. In fact, most don't! For now, I don't know if I'll go back with the Lashbrooks or not...trying to figure that one out. But I think I'll definately go back sometime. If anyone wants to go, let me know because dude...you'd love it!