What Happened

Hello everyone,

This post will come as a surprise for many of you. Due to cultural and personality conflicts between the placement and I it had been decided that I return home. I returned home Wednesday September 25th. As many of you might know I was struggling at the beginning due to my grandfather’s passing, however as soon as I moved on from that, new issues arose. I will forever to grateful for my time there and indebted to Pere Kenser Ajax and the people at BTI and indeed the people of Haiti for their open doors and showing me their lifestyle and culture. I have been forever changed. 

I also had to say goodbye my housemate Robert and the other young adult Americans who I got know. Luckily though, I’m sure I will see them again eventually, especially Adrianne who lives 45 minutes north me! See you in the winter, Adrianne!

I learned so much within one month. One is to be happy to with what I have and not jealous or needy to what I don't have. Some people don't have that luxury; they live within their means and use every resource available to them because they can't go out and buy new. A second thing I learned is to be joyful that we are even alive. That God created us represents that we are all uniquely special in His eyes and until he calls us back, we must continue to seek Him and His will for us. Another thing is that motorcycles/scooters are awesome. 

Thank you to all who supported me and know that I will be in touch with everyone soon. I just need a period of transition and re-adjustment.

Your fellow servant of Christ,
Zach

Photo time!

Cinq Cent Ans (500 years). A monument when you enter/leave Les Cayes.

Down time at the beach. I'm drinking from a coconut!

A crab on the beach.

I was told this was an old French plantation house and then a presidential summer house. I am NOT Ansel Adams, don't complain about my photo taking abilities!

Monday, Monday...

BAH-DAH BA-DA-DA-DA
BAH-DAH BA-DA-DA-DA
BA-DABA-DA-DA-DA

Monday, Monday (ba-da ba-da-da-da)
So good to me (ba-daba-da-da-da)
Monday mornin, it was all I hoped it would be
Oh Monday mornin, Monday mornin' couldn't guarantee (ba-da ba-da-da-da)
That Monday evenin' you would still be here with me

~The Mommas and the Papa, 1966

Well it's been a little over a week since my last post. This past week has been full of classes, work, and adventures as well!

I am teaching, for the record, English 2 and English 4. Teaching, while fun, hasn't been that interesting because I've been going over grammar and in English 4 I was teaching them the history of the English language and why it's a funny language. (Grammar is very Germanic, but alot of the vocab we use is French and then we have a lot of "I don't know why we do that, we just do, just accept it.").

This past Saturday, I went to Children of Israel orphanage in Torbeck, about 20 minutes to the west of Les Cayes. Adrianne lives there and helps out when she is not teaching. Her family's church supports the orphanage as well. It was decided to take the little ones to the beach! About a half-mile walk down through a farm and BAM the ocean. I didn't take my camera. I'M SORRY! I know, I feel bad but Haiti, while there has been many photo-ops, isn't exactly a touristy nation so I would stand out greatly. Anyways, the waves were larger which made for a better second time in the ocean, but I still can't get over the salt. The little ones were very happy because even though they live so close, they can't go all the time.

A pi ta!

Children's Class

Today was the first day of the children's English class. Alongside Robert and Sara, another American teacher from Connecticut, we drew pictures of what he had done this summer and showed them to the class.

Afterwords it was playtime. Jump rope goes a long way. I even partook, which was a mistake because once I do something physically demanding, I start to sweat. In the States, sitting down and drinking a cold glass of water does the trick. But no, here once I start I can't stop. I'm a hemophiliac, but with sweating. But all is well now. Even fixing up the mosquito net while I'm trying to go to sleep and with the fan on me, I break a sweat.

Robert decided to teach the boys and I a new game in English called Ninja, but they didn't understand that so he called in Karate instead. It really is a boys game. We also did tug of war.

Also we have a tarantula on our property which is not at all a bad thing, even though I strongly dislike them, but I strongly dislike cockroaches even more. And that's what they eat.

I also briefly met Adrianne. Who is from where? Oxford, Michigan. 40 minutes north of me. And what school did she go to. OAKLAND UNIVERSITY!!!! I swear we probably passed  each other many times on campus.

This is Gretchen.

Robert teaching the boys Ninja Karate

One of the boys in the class is reading LOTR...in French. He is at least 10, maybe 12.

My drawing of New York City.

Two White Guys and BET

While the title of this post is funny, in my opinion, I must start out with some somber news.

Yesterday I received word that my grandfather had passed away. It wasn't a surprise, he's been sick off and on ever since my grandma died two and half years ago. And though I said my goodbyes, being away is still hard.

Upon learning of this, Robert my housemate, decided we need to go out and we took taxis to the Hot Spot, which is most likely the only Western-esque restaurant in Les Cayes. We feasted on cheesburgers! It was delightful. The dining room we were in was air conditioned and had a TV. BET was the channel that was on. And it was in English. It was a good way to get my mind off of my grandpa's passing.

Anyways, school has started and classed are underway. Being a student most of life, teaching is something foreign to me so it has been an awkward first week but progress will happen and by the end of the semester I will better equipped for next semester.

Last night, on my walk to my room last night I spotted a tarantula! They rarely move, so I wasn't concerned but it was still a sight to see! Robert took a picture, my camera is buried in my bag.

I will be more diligent about taking pics.