Happy St. Patrick’s Day! After an incredibly busy couple of weeks, I’m back to blogging. Three days after we moved in to our new house, my husband and I took a road trip. Can you guess where we went by the photo below?
A recap of my mission trip to Haiti can be found below.
Ten firsts for me on this trip
10. Visiting a 3rd world country
9. Speaking Creole (even if it was just a few words)
8. Taking a bucket shower
7. Sleeping under a mosquito net
6. Enjoying an entire beer from start to finish
5. Spending a week without seeing or talking to my husband
4. Being the “minority” (and not minding)
3. Praying out loud in front of others
2. Holding an orphan
1. Eating spam!
Ten best moments of the trip
10. Drinking hand-squeezed passion fruit juice
9. Listening to Hank’s emotional prayers
8. Doing my nails with a sweet Haitian girl
7. Going through an entire Haitian-Creole – English picture dictionary with a boy named John
6. Three-year-old Fresmica voluntarily sitting on my lap during church service
5. Receiving hugs, words of appreciation, and the gift of a papaya from the families we installed water filters for
4. Praying with and for the families we installed water filters for
3. Seeing 6-year-old Obison’s huge smile every day
2. Holding an orphan
1. Realizing (with Curtis’s help) that we were the answer to someone’s prayers
Read Day 1 Here Read Day 2 Here Read Day 3 Here Read Day 4 Here
Read Day 5 Here Read Day 6 Here Read Day 7 Here
Monday, Dec. 3
Even though there weren’t any animal noises throughout the night, I didn’t sleep well and woke up before 5, probably since it was our last night before traveling home. We all woke early and ventured to the roof to watch a gorgeous sunrise.
We had toast and fruit for breakfast and left for the airport around 7. Saying good-bye to Patrick and Robenson was harder than I expected – they’ve become good friends to all of us this week. Tons of Haitians surrounded us as we got out of the van at the airport, trying to sell us last-minute cheap souvenirs. We had to go through security scanners 3 times, and our passports and boarding passes were checked at least 5 times. Two people did get their peanut butter (flavored with hot pepper) confiscated from their carry-ons, but otherwise we made it through without a hitch.
Flying in to Fort Lauderdale was such a culture shock from where we’d been – from above it looked as though every house was a mansion with an in-ground pool, and the streets lined up so perfectly. We went through customs and grabbed our bags, but my bag was flagged. I still had the mango Kinsey had given me a few days prior, and there were fruit-sniffing Beagles in the airport that detected it. I had to go through a separate “agriculture” line, where my mango was confiscated. The man was actually very sweet, saying, “I’m sure you just forgot, but next time be sure to declare any fruit you bring into the country. You could’ve been charged $300, but I’m not going to fine you.” Um sure…I forgot…that’s right! I’m normally the one who never gets in trouble for anything, so I was a little embarrassed. Luckily we had a 2-hour layover and I didn’t hold up the group too long.
We all started making phone calls to loved ones, and I talked to my husband, sister, and parents briefly before grabbing a chicken salad sandwich. The flight to Chicago seemed like it took forever – we were all so ready to be home. When we landed at 4:30, it was already dark and gloomy outside. We had a quick layover there and boarded a tiny plane to Kansas City.
Curtis and I had a good conversation on the way home about ways our church can hopefully continue to support Haiti and the water project, which really helped pass the time. I kept envisioning my husband waiting for me when I arrived, with me jumping into his arms when I saw him. When we finally did land at 7:30, several others had their families waiting for them, but Jerod was nowhere to be found. As I started to call him, I saw him exiting the bathroom. I guess not everything happens as you imagine, but I was still happy to see him. It was the longest we’d been apart (and not talked) since we’d been married. One last hiccup before we made it home – none of our luggage made it to Kansas City. Apparently it was sent through Dallas rather than Chicago, so they delivered it to us the next day. After spending a week with my mission team and growing so close to them, it was a little hard to go our separate ways. I know we’ll always have a special bond, and I hope that our friendships continue. I’ve grown in so many ways from this trip. I appreciate what I have in life, I try to be more patient and friendly toward others, and best of all, I feel closer to God.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog posts about Haiti. Please feel free to leave your comments below.
I recently had one of the best weeks of my life. I took a mission trip to Haiti from Nov. 26 – Dec. 3. Even though I’ve been back several days, I’ve been processing everything, editing photos, and trying to determine the best way to share my experience. So many people have been asking about it that I’ve decided to do a blog post for each day I was there. I journaled throughout the trip, so I’m going to share a few photos and each day’s journal entry. I know that hearing about another person’s mission trip secondhand will never be the same as going on one yourself, but I hope this can at least make a small impact. Here we go…
Monday, Nov. 26
The trip started off bright and early, leaving the house at 4 a.m. for a 6:30 flight out of Kansas City. Scott, Curtis, Gwen, Hank, Whitney, Fred, Matt, Ryan, Jacob, and myself gathered for a group photo before we headed out. At that time, we had no idea how close we would become over the next week. We flew to Chicago to Miami to Port-au-Prince with no hold ups. The flight from Chicago to Miami was the longest (with no snacks from American Airlines, of course).
When we flew into Haiti we could see tiny shacks, homes with no roofs, tents, and even a few mansions amongst the rubble. It has been close to 3 years since the earthquake, but much still needs to be done.The airport was recently remodeled with fresh paint and … air conditioning! Haitians were trying to grab our bags for a tip, but we had a plan to get carts for our luggage, and we stuck to it. Once we got outside the culture & environment was so vastly different that I almost lost it right there. There were tons of men standing outside trying to give rides, grab luggage, etc. They looked so needy, yet determined. We found our ride (Jackson – with 1 arm) and crammed into the back of a truck with a caged roof.
The road to the United Methodist Guest House was incredibly bumpy, and therefore very slow. I was in shock most of the ride – the city was so crowded with people; everyone looked so poor. Lots of people had tiny stands alongside the street; many of them were carrying huge loads of stuff on their heads, some without shoes. It smelled like fuel, burning trash, and dust all in one. And the noise! So many horns honking and people yelling all at once. The homes we saw were small concrete one-room buildings & tent cities. Yet up on the hills you could see a few exquisite mansions. I can’t get over the huge separation of classes. It was starting to get dark so I couldn’t get many photos.
We were grateful to finally arrive at the guest house, which was quite nice with running water, electricity, and Wi-Fi; rooms with bunk beds; a nice outdoors space with a pool; and a decent kitchen with excellent cooks. We had a delicious dinner of tender pork, bananas, salad with tomatoes, cheesy potatoes, sweet potato fries, rice, and cake. We had a debriefing about the culture and what to expect from an American who lived at the guest house (had been there 6 months), then we went to bed by 9. I made friends with Lily, a cute kitty who slept at my feet all night, making me feel right at home.
Stay tuned for Day 2 and better photos…
I just got back from a family vacation to Glacier National Park! We flew to Seattle and took an Amtrak train to the park. I’ve traveled a bit and seen many beautiful places, but I think Glacier is the most underrated national park in the US. It’s so unique because of the way the colorful mountains were formed by glaciers, along with all the wildlife and flora. It saddens me to think that the glaciers will be gone by 2020, mostly due to global warming. We got so lucky with temperatures in the 70s, clear skies, and almost no wind. Today it was 105 degrees in Kansas City; I already miss it!
I’m sure you’ve all been sitting anxiously by your computers waiting for these photos, so without further ado, here are my daily photos from Italy. Please be patient while I work on the other 1100 or so. I’ll post the best ones on Facebook. If you aren’t on Facebook and you’d like to see them, shoot me an email and I can send you a link.
Jerod and I are getting everything in order for our trip! (I know, I know – it looks like chaos right now.) I think Esme wants to join us, and surprisingly there’s probably enough room for her to fit in my suitcase. I think this is the lightest I’ve ever traveled, and the longest I’ve ever been gone. Actually I’m going to use the extra room for souvenirs. I even brought along bubble wrap. 🙂
P.S. I won’t be posting photos on the trip, but I’ll have plenty when I return!
Third time’s a charm! After my third trip to the post office with all of my official documents, I finally applied for a passport with my new last name. (On my first attempt I went to a post office that didn’t do passports; on my second trip I got there at 1:30 in the afternoon when they were apparently closed for lunch.) We’re less than three months away from traveling to Italy!
1/45 sec., F4.5, ISO 200
18-55 mm lens (26 mm), no flash fired
Photographic Rhodes 