A trip to the Dominican Republic

My passport is only good in Haiti for three months at at time. This means every three months I have to leave Haiti and then of course come back again. So yesterday, we loaded up the car for a trip to the Dominican Republic. Our plan was to go through immigration and customs in Haiti and enter the Dominican Republic for the afternoon to eat lunch and then of course re-enter Haiti. The drive went fairly quick but that was pretty much the only thing. We were able to complete the needed paperwork to exit Haiti and then tried to drive though the section that is "no-man's" land before officially crossing the border into the DR. That is where the fun began. There were literally tons of semi-trailers, the road was flooded, and people everywhere. We quickly realized we were going no where fast! A man was able to come and take Pastor Pierre to get more of the needed paperwork processed. After awhile we crossed through the gate and officially entered the DR. Once there we realized we were in line behind 20+ semis and it would take at least another hour to make our way around them to then move towards the restaurant to eat. We decided to turn around and simply re-enter Haiti. The whole ordeal took 5 1/2 hrs and by the time we got home we were all exhausted, carsick, and hungry. So technically I was in the DR but I'm not quite sure I believe it. Needless to say, after a very long day in the car I was thrilled to be back home in Haiti and on campus at NVM!

Thankful

Today I am thankful for so many things. I feel completely blessed to be living in Haiti and love serving here. I am surrounded by friends who love me and truly bring laughter and fun to each and every single thing we do from cooking to working in the clinic. And even though I'm not at home, I was able to Skype with my family during their Thanksgiving gathering. Thanksgiving might not be officially celebrated in Haiti but today our American team joined together with our Haitian friends and we celebrated Thanksgiving to the fullest!

E'tienne, Aubree, and I started celebrating with plantains in the clinic! YUM!

Happy Thanksgiving from the American volunteers at NVM!

We had a Thanksgiving FEAST!

Perfect ending to the day-- we drove up the mountain to watch the sunset.

What can be more perfect-- November/sunny/90degree day and mountains?!?

I know I've said this before-- but thank you to each person who has partnered with me in prayer and financial support. God is doing amazing things here and I am blessed and thankful to be a part of this ministry.

For more pictures click on the link below (you do not need to have Facebook to see the pictures!)

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150461677395831.422201.529825830&type=1&l=a6b4e88fb3

Mudding a house, suturing, and so much more..

The past few weeks have been busy and filled with lots of new experiences! I am learning very quickly that life in Haiti is never dull or uneventful!

E'tienne and I went to the village for a normal day of playing with the kiddos. Little did we know this trip would be anything but "normal" for us! In Chambrun many of the homes are made of sticks and mud. Two to three times a year the Haitians reapply mud to their homes in order to keep it sturdy and well maintained. E'tienne was eager to jump right in and help and before long I decided to join in too. We had soo much fun serving alongside the family and it was for sure a first time experience for both of us.

I also got to suture for the first time! Suturing isn't something I had experience with prior to moving to Haiti so I was beyond nervous. This woman walked to the clinic with family and was covered in blood. After a quick assessment we discovered she had been involved in a fight and was cut with a blade. Luckily, Aubree was an excellent teacher and I was able to suture the woman's arm without puking, passing out, or worse of all...having her refuse to let me finish. It was also encouraging to have her return for her suture removal and the stitches had remained intact and the wound was healing!

NVM currently has a children's home that houses nine children. We are in the process of building two homes that will be able to house 32 children each. Today, thirty Haitian men made and laid cement for the roof of one of the homes. This was all done by hand and it was crazy to watch! The work was extremely physical and then of course if you add in the Haiti heat and sun-- I have no clue how they had the strength and endurance to finish. And not one needed to be added to the list of patients in the clinic!

And an even more odd experience....we were able to get pedicures last week! Madame Pastor is friends with a woman that is a teacher and she also does nails. She came to campus and gave each of us pedicures for only $5/person. After wearing flip-flops and walking in the dirt, mud, rocks etc our feet were disgusting. Let's just say she used sand-paper to make them smooth=)

I'm beginning to accept that just when I feel like I'm adjusting and getting the hang of living life here...well, something new and crazy comes along and I have something new to learn again. Thank you for your continued prayers and support!

For more pictures click on the link below (you do not need to have a Facebook account to see the pictures!).

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150374500225831.405560.529825830&type=1&l=885a6310be

The first album is full so here is another link to the second album:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150461677395831.422201.529825830&type=1&l=a6b4e88fb3