Pre Read: I tried to post this last Saturday and it didn't post, we haven't had very good internet if any all week...so I will try this again....just know that it is a little outdated!:)
We have three new missionaries!! The first two are Daryl & Norma Luginbuhl from Philadelphia. Prayers for them as they adjust to life down here! We are really excited to have them living down here!! The third is just a little guy named Gideon August. He arrived on Jan. 15th weighing 5.5 lbs!!:) Congratulations to the Hartzler family!! I think I can safely say that everyone is really excited that he arrived safely and that we now have a little baby to hold!:)
We had a construction team here last week working on the house that Daryl & Norma will be living in. It was nice to have them around! I even got to work with them a little one afternoon, took them on a hike to the hydro, took them on a morning hike up doctors mountain, and played guitar & sang in the hospital a couple of times!
We have a medical team coming in tonight, so I am excited to meet them & spend time with them!
Update on my ankle: I had it x-rayed and it didn't appear to me that anything was wrong....Sheila also thought it looked fine. So I didn't have a doctor look at it. It is feeling much better and I can move it up and down fine. Side to side is still a little sore. The top of my foot is what hurts the most still. It is possible that I did break a bone on the top of my foot, the x-ray wasn't clear on that part, but there isn't to much I can do about that anyway. I think it will just take a little time and some toughening up.:)
P.S. For some reason, I can't get my pictures uploaded....so I will try to get it figured out and post more later!
Friday, January 25, 2013
Sunday, January 13, 2013
My randomly normal life
Well I have been back in Haiti for a week now! It is so good to be back in Haiti, even though I loved spending time at home with my family and friends. Since coming back, I have switched from teaching the Pfister kids, to teaching the Hartzler kids since Jamie is due the end of January.
On Thursday, I went to Port with Sheila and Shadrach(our new pharmacist!!!). We left around 4:30AM.:) We had a few things we needed to do, then Shadrach wanted to go to a few Pharmacys to get lists of medicines. It was very interesting....take the crazy driving in general down here and add tons of people....yah, it was crazy!! But we survived, although narrowly at times....:) Sheila and I also got to go to the Iron Market. It is called that because it is enclosed in all tin. It is a pretty nice market actually!! On the way home, we stopped to fill up in Maraguan and I got a pint of ice cream and ate the entire thing!!:) Let me tell you, I didn't even feel an ounce of guilt about the amount of calories I just ate!:) haha... We got home around 9, so we made pretty good time on the way home, other than hitting some construction work around Port.
Friday afternoon, I went down to town with Amber and Kate. Kate and I rode on top, and at one point I almost lost my legs! :) Actually, what happened was we met a truck on the way, and there wasn't room for us both to pass...so we backed up some and then both of us were going slowly to pass.... Anyway, what I didn't see was the large metal gate laying on top of the truck, and it had it's legs sticking out. By the time I saw it, is was to late to pull my legs out from the bars on the truck. So I pulled back a little and hoped for the best. The leg of the gate hit the bar on the truck, then my leg, then a couple more bars. It sounded alot worse than it was though. It ripped my skirt just a little, but it more or less just felt like a hard punch to my thigh. I do have to admit though, it could have been worse if the leg of the gate was any lower!! God was watching over me!! Anway, we got all of our shopping down, picked up some food at the Nami(a restaurant in town), dropped of Kate at the Reinhards, then headed back up the mountain!!
Saturday Heather & I took a hike, we decided to try and find a certain waterfall that we kept seeing from the road. It turned out to be alot more adventuresome that we thought!! We ended up doing quite a bit of rock climbing/sliding, but we did get to see some really pretty views!! Yah, I also made a pretty good fall! And even though I hurt my ankle pretty good, it was still quite a humorous fall! On that note, please pray that my ankle heals quickly!! I am not sure what I exactly did to it, but it is pretty sore!:(
We have our first work team of 2013 here too!! They arrived last night along with Darryl & Norma Luginbuhl, who will now be living down here! Please pray for the Luginbuhl's as they adjust to life down here!
This song popped into my head just a little bit ago, so I thought I would share it. The reason of why it came to me, could have something to do with the fact that the song starts out...."It's three in the morning and I'm still awake...", and it is now currently 3:30 am. :) Now, don't get ideas....I didn't stay up until now....I went to bed and woke up around 2:30 and couldn't sleep! Anyway, here is the chorus.
On Thursday, I went to Port with Sheila and Shadrach(our new pharmacist!!!). We left around 4:30AM.:) We had a few things we needed to do, then Shadrach wanted to go to a few Pharmacys to get lists of medicines. It was very interesting....take the crazy driving in general down here and add tons of people....yah, it was crazy!! But we survived, although narrowly at times....:) Sheila and I also got to go to the Iron Market. It is called that because it is enclosed in all tin. It is a pretty nice market actually!! On the way home, we stopped to fill up in Maraguan and I got a pint of ice cream and ate the entire thing!!:) Let me tell you, I didn't even feel an ounce of guilt about the amount of calories I just ate!:) haha... We got home around 9, so we made pretty good time on the way home, other than hitting some construction work around Port.
Friday afternoon, I went down to town with Amber and Kate. Kate and I rode on top, and at one point I almost lost my legs! :) Actually, what happened was we met a truck on the way, and there wasn't room for us both to pass...so we backed up some and then both of us were going slowly to pass.... Anyway, what I didn't see was the large metal gate laying on top of the truck, and it had it's legs sticking out. By the time I saw it, is was to late to pull my legs out from the bars on the truck. So I pulled back a little and hoped for the best. The leg of the gate hit the bar on the truck, then my leg, then a couple more bars. It sounded alot worse than it was though. It ripped my skirt just a little, but it more or less just felt like a hard punch to my thigh. I do have to admit though, it could have been worse if the leg of the gate was any lower!! God was watching over me!! Anway, we got all of our shopping down, picked up some food at the Nami(a restaurant in town), dropped of Kate at the Reinhards, then headed back up the mountain!!
Saturday Heather & I took a hike, we decided to try and find a certain waterfall that we kept seeing from the road. It turned out to be alot more adventuresome that we thought!! We ended up doing quite a bit of rock climbing/sliding, but we did get to see some really pretty views!! Yah, I also made a pretty good fall! And even though I hurt my ankle pretty good, it was still quite a humorous fall! On that note, please pray that my ankle heals quickly!! I am not sure what I exactly did to it, but it is pretty sore!:(
We have our first work team of 2013 here too!! They arrived last night along with Darryl & Norma Luginbuhl, who will now be living down here! Please pray for the Luginbuhl's as they adjust to life down here!
This song popped into my head just a little bit ago, so I thought I would share it. The reason of why it came to me, could have something to do with the fact that the song starts out...."It's three in the morning and I'm still awake...", and it is now currently 3:30 am. :) Now, don't get ideas....I didn't stay up until now....I went to bed and woke up around 2:30 and couldn't sleep! Anyway, here is the chorus.
Be strong in the Lord and,
Never give up hope,
You're going to do great things,
I already know,
God's got His hand on you so,
Don't live life in fear,
Forgive and forget,
But don't forget why you're here,
Take your time and pray,
These are the words I would say.
It just really spoke peace to me. God is in control of all and He knows the plans He has for me and for each one of you! Always remember, that no matter where God takes you in life, He has a purpose there for you and watches over you always!
Thursday, January 3, 2013
2013!!
First of all, I am going to have to apologize for not posting in over a month!! I will set a time to do it, and something always seems to come up or take its place!:)
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone!!! I can't believe another year has completely flown by!! I am so thankful that I was able to spend the holidays with my family! I flew out Dec. 15th with Heather and Beth Newton. My time home was packed during the almost three weeks home; I went to Iowa and Illinois (a entirely different story there.....), skiing, bowling, played basketball, hung out with the Schmidgall cousins, spent time with my family, and spent time in the cities and the MOA with the Round Robin group!! I really had a lot of fun being home....although I was sick pretty much the entire time I was home.:(
As I am writing this, I am sitting in a hotel room in Miami. I flew out of Minneapolis this morning and fly to Port tomorrow morning. I am really excited to get back!! It is an amazing feeling to be right where God wants you to be! Even though I loved spending time with my family and friends, and even though I miss them and some things that you just don't get in Haiti.......I am so ready to be back where my calling and passion is!
I will try to post some pictures later. Just thought I would let you all know that I am still alive and kicking!!:)
Oh....here is the story about traveling to IA/IL...... I left Mediapolis, IA during a blizzard on Thursday around 1:30. Why? Because I didn't think it was that bad out and I knew that if you just keep your head and think smart, it is fine. Well around 3:30 there was a semi completely stopped in front of me....so I stopped. I didn't know why he was stopped, if it was just time, or alot of others. Well around 4:30, the semi driver parked behind me came up to my window and gave me a bottle of water, I asked what was going on and he said there was an accident ahead. So I sat and waited and waited... and waited........and waited...............and waited. I was able to talk to someone who lives in Monmouth (I was right outside of monmouth). I was planning on just spending the night with them when I got out...the problem was.....I WASN'T getting out....hmmm. He then informed me that Hwy 34 was closed. I was like what??? and they just left all of us on??? So anyway.....I continued to sit there until midnight, when I was suddenly awakened by knocking on my window. A couple guys said they were taking some people to a shelter. So I decided to go....I spent the night on the floor at a Senior Citizen's place. They served us breakfast the next morning and we waited to hear news about the road. Well, they didn't even send out the state snow plows until around noon (even though it had stopped blowing at 10:30 the night before), they had one tow truck for all the semis/cars in the ditch, and then they decided that everything was going to be towed....whether in the ditch, stuck, or not. (side blurp: my car was not stuck....it was just sitting on the road waiting for everyone else to become unstuck....) Noon came and went and still they were taking forever to get everything cleared. Then the people started talking about making supper and even spending another night there. At that point I was thinking... "just get me out of this place!!! This is soo stupid! If I were in Minnesota, none of this would be the way it is!!! Ridiculous!! Hmph....Illionisians don't know the first thing about snow.....!" Anyway, so they decided to tow all cars.....but they towed them different places and didn't know where all the cars went. Finally, one of the guys overheard us talking to someone about the types of cars a couple of us were driving and he said he saw my car headed toward Monmouth. So they drove me to Monmouth and I was able to pick up my car. Let me tell you I have never been so happy to pay $150 and just get out of that madhouse!!! Yes.....they charged me even though I wasn't stuck...I was still towed.... But hey, I was not complaining. I was on my way to the Steffens by 4:30 Friday afternoon!!:)
Anyway....later!:)
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone!!! I can't believe another year has completely flown by!! I am so thankful that I was able to spend the holidays with my family! I flew out Dec. 15th with Heather and Beth Newton. My time home was packed during the almost three weeks home; I went to Iowa and Illinois (a entirely different story there.....), skiing, bowling, played basketball, hung out with the Schmidgall cousins, spent time with my family, and spent time in the cities and the MOA with the Round Robin group!! I really had a lot of fun being home....although I was sick pretty much the entire time I was home.:(
As I am writing this, I am sitting in a hotel room in Miami. I flew out of Minneapolis this morning and fly to Port tomorrow morning. I am really excited to get back!! It is an amazing feeling to be right where God wants you to be! Even though I loved spending time with my family and friends, and even though I miss them and some things that you just don't get in Haiti.......I am so ready to be back where my calling and passion is!
I will try to post some pictures later. Just thought I would let you all know that I am still alive and kicking!!:)
Oh....here is the story about traveling to IA/IL...... I left Mediapolis, IA during a blizzard on Thursday around 1:30. Why? Because I didn't think it was that bad out and I knew that if you just keep your head and think smart, it is fine. Well around 3:30 there was a semi completely stopped in front of me....so I stopped. I didn't know why he was stopped, if it was just time, or alot of others. Well around 4:30, the semi driver parked behind me came up to my window and gave me a bottle of water, I asked what was going on and he said there was an accident ahead. So I sat and waited and waited... and waited........and waited...............and waited. I was able to talk to someone who lives in Monmouth (I was right outside of monmouth). I was planning on just spending the night with them when I got out...the problem was.....I WASN'T getting out....hmmm. He then informed me that Hwy 34 was closed. I was like what??? and they just left all of us on??? So anyway.....I continued to sit there until midnight, when I was suddenly awakened by knocking on my window. A couple guys said they were taking some people to a shelter. So I decided to go....I spent the night on the floor at a Senior Citizen's place. They served us breakfast the next morning and we waited to hear news about the road. Well, they didn't even send out the state snow plows until around noon (even though it had stopped blowing at 10:30 the night before), they had one tow truck for all the semis/cars in the ditch, and then they decided that everything was going to be towed....whether in the ditch, stuck, or not. (side blurp: my car was not stuck....it was just sitting on the road waiting for everyone else to become unstuck....) Noon came and went and still they were taking forever to get everything cleared. Then the people started talking about making supper and even spending another night there. At that point I was thinking... "just get me out of this place!!! This is soo stupid! If I were in Minnesota, none of this would be the way it is!!! Ridiculous!! Hmph....Illionisians don't know the first thing about snow.....!" Anyway, so they decided to tow all cars.....but they towed them different places and didn't know where all the cars went. Finally, one of the guys overheard us talking to someone about the types of cars a couple of us were driving and he said he saw my car headed toward Monmouth. So they drove me to Monmouth and I was able to pick up my car. Let me tell you I have never been so happy to pay $150 and just get out of that madhouse!!! Yes.....they charged me even though I wasn't stuck...I was still towed.... But hey, I was not complaining. I was on my way to the Steffens by 4:30 Friday afternoon!!:)
Anyway....later!:)
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Funnest Teacher
Yep, Kendra told me I was a fun teacher.....Seth proceded to correct her, "No, she is the funnest teacher!" Made me smile. They also decided that I was probably the only teacher to carry their students into the classroom like sack-of-potatoes! :) Throughout the day, I hear pleadings from Silas(the youngest of the Pfisters) "do me a sak-a-tatos!!" Now how can you resist that!?!?
I am loving my job as teacher!!! And am really enjoying putting together some activities for different things!! It is definitely something I never thought I would be able to do.......teach that is! This week, for one of the science classes(they are studying birds), we made orgami birds!!:) Either a Mr. Penguin or a Pelican.
The other thing I absolutely love to do is play with the kids...once they are done with school, or whenever I get the chance!! On Thursday, I was actually able to spend most of the day with them!! We had school in the morning, (they finished early) so I played with them some before lunch. Then in the afternoon the Pfister kids, Amber, Hartzler kids, Jamie, and I went down to the basketball court and played kickball. Afterwards, the Pfister kids decided to come to my place until supper, where we proceded to play some freeze tag, jail break, etc. Then after supper they came back down to do some sledding on the hill next to the guest house. Yes sledding!! And what did we sled on? Why palm branches....of course!!!!!:) They actually work really good and you can go really fast!!!
Friday Amber, Jamie, Jamie's mom, all the kids, and I left at noon to go down to Cayes. There was a birthday party for a little girl, so we dropped the kids of and then we went into town to do a little shopping. The volleyball started at 3ish, which I decided not to play until it stopped raining....:) A good decision on my part if I do say so! hahaha:) It was alot of fun though, even though, I am not really good.:) Then for supper we had a Pizza Potluck. There was some really good pizza and dessert!!:) Afterwards, we headed back home!:)
A team is coming in today, which is really exciting!! It is actually the first team up at the hospital since I have been here! Anyway, this is a long enough post.:)
I am loving my job as teacher!!! And am really enjoying putting together some activities for different things!! It is definitely something I never thought I would be able to do.......teach that is! This week, for one of the science classes(they are studying birds), we made orgami birds!!:) Either a Mr. Penguin or a Pelican.
The other thing I absolutely love to do is play with the kids...once they are done with school, or whenever I get the chance!! On Thursday, I was actually able to spend most of the day with them!! We had school in the morning, (they finished early) so I played with them some before lunch. Then in the afternoon the Pfister kids, Amber, Hartzler kids, Jamie, and I went down to the basketball court and played kickball. Afterwards, the Pfister kids decided to come to my place until supper, where we proceded to play some freeze tag, jail break, etc. Then after supper they came back down to do some sledding on the hill next to the guest house. Yes sledding!! And what did we sled on? Why palm branches....of course!!!!!:) They actually work really good and you can go really fast!!!
Friday Amber, Jamie, Jamie's mom, all the kids, and I left at noon to go down to Cayes. There was a birthday party for a little girl, so we dropped the kids of and then we went into town to do a little shopping. The volleyball started at 3ish, which I decided not to play until it stopped raining....:) A good decision on my part if I do say so! hahaha:) It was alot of fun though, even though, I am not really good.:) Then for supper we had a Pizza Potluck. There was some really good pizza and dessert!!:) Afterwards, we headed back home!:)
A team is coming in today, which is really exciting!! It is actually the first team up at the hospital since I have been here! Anyway, this is a long enough post.:)
the hospital compound
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Pictures!!!
Well, if my internet cooperates, I will finally post some pictures!!:) This past week was really nice! Michelle Wyss and Jessica Waibel flew in with the Pfisters and Rich's mom. Janelle came up from Cayes for the week. The girls got here on Saturday. Then Sunday we went to a church in Simone (near Cayes). After church we ate at the Pastor's house, then visited a couple who is really good friends with Rich & Amber, then we went to the beach in Port Salute. It was beautiful and very relaxing!!!! It is a two hour drive home from the beach....and we sang the entire way home!!! :) Monday, I started getting into more of a schedule again with the Pfisters back. Tuesday afternoon Kate, Will, Seth, and I went on a long hike up a mountain. It was alot of fun and they had fun with my camera.:) Honestly, though, the view was amazing from the top!! Pictures can't do it justice. God is an amazing God and when I look at the mountains around me, or the ocean, or look down from the top of a mountain, and feel sooo small!!!!!!! Yet God knows and cares for each person! Wednesday after lunch, us girls hiked down to the hydro and then swam. It was beautiful and alot of fun!! Although....the hike back up from the hydro....was...slightly....slightly....brutal. But then once we got back on the road....the walk felt so easy!!! Thursday morning I did some Thanksgiving Day crafts with the Pfister and Hartzler kids. Then all of us loaded into two trucks and headed to Cayes. We had a big Thanksgiving meal with all the missionaries in the area. It was really nice and ate some tasty food!:) Early Friday morning the girls left for the airport. I had school with the kids as normal. Then in the afternoon I gave blood....well tried :(....I couldn't give enough!! Which is really strange, because normally I give really fast! She ended up trying my other arm too, but to no avail. Oh well, she said they would use it if there was an emergency. Then Heather & I went and played with some of the kids in the hospital. We brought colored pencils and a coloring book. It was soo much fun to color and talk with them!!
Now for Pictures!!!!
My bedroom for right now(until Heather moves)
The couch pulls out for my bed:)
Coconut before
Coconut after...we won't show you the inbetween stages.....:)
Yah...and I use think USA gas was expensive...!!:)
Our American style pizza & breadsticks!!!:)
The fish was actually very good!! I did choose one with no eyeballs though....
One of our meals this week...chicken, beets & carrots, fried plantains, coleslaw(diff than american:))
Pecan drops.....our Christmas cookies:)
The must pulpy grapefruit I have ever eaten. Seriously there was hardly any juice...it was more like crunch...crunch...crunch...
How they figured out my blood type.....A+ :) It was actually interesting!!
Woohoo!!!:)
My nurse:)
On the hike with Kate, Will, & Seth
Seth:)
Yes, pigs are on leashes here. And yes...this one and another did charge us....haha:)
Kate & Seth
The kids we colored with!!!:)
The church in Simone we attended on Sunday
the young group singing a song
a solo by the pianist
men's singing group
Some of the cute kids at church:)
Beach at Port Salute (Sunday)
Yes, I had lobster!!:)
All of the girls
On the hike to the hydro
What the hike was like....except it got alot steeper than this.
The church I attend and to the right is the school.
Well I have way to many pics to post them all now....so I will save some for the next time:) Thank you so much for all the love and prayers!!! Feel free to email me or comment anytime!!!
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Life in Haiti
Sorry for not posting in awhile! I feel like everytime I have time to post something, the internet isn't working or is really slow! This past weekend we got somewhere around 10 inches of rain. Heather & I were planning on going with a construction team Saturday - Tuesday. But the rain left the Bon Fin road in a state where travel was not possible. So we were stuck up in the mountain. Which really isn't all that bad.:) Sheila and I went down to Cayes yesterday afternoon and then spent this morning going to the bank and getting some shopping done. She showed me around Cayes. I am definitely starting to feel more comfortable with knowing my way around and knowing how things work!
I am slowly adding to my Creole knowledge! I am hoping to take some lessons from one of our translators up at the hospital. Which will help alot! I am ready to be able to communicate with the Haitians! Although...is some situations it is nice to just be like ...m pa koprann...(I don't understand). :)
Here are some interesting things I have learned, noticed, etc...about Haiti.
1. It is amazing how fast you lose trust in a toliet...after finding a spider & a frog inside(diff. times)
2.The first time you see ants in your food, you try to pick them out...after that...you just eat them w/o thinking.
3. It is not uncommon to find hair of the goat or cow in your meal....or in Heather's most recent scenerio....a piece of hide.:)
4. EVERYONE carries around machetes....it is like the tool for everything!
5. The odd names of some businesses....ex. Modestly Nightclub...or Family Nightclub...
6. Driving: if there is room for you...shoot...go for it! :) There is seriously no structure to driving!!
7. Your popularity seems to triple if you are a white female....
8. Haitians don't have much of a sense for the future...they live in today and can't see much past that.
9. It is amazing how fast you can run/jump when a lizard is running towards you. (much to Heather & the Hartzler kid's amusement)
Anyway, there is alot...but those are just a few:) One of these days, I will actually post some pictures....:) Please keep the hospital in your prayers!! Along with all the missionaries down here! Thanks for all the prayers offered already!! God Bless!
I am slowly adding to my Creole knowledge! I am hoping to take some lessons from one of our translators up at the hospital. Which will help alot! I am ready to be able to communicate with the Haitians! Although...is some situations it is nice to just be like ...m pa koprann...(I don't understand). :)
Here are some interesting things I have learned, noticed, etc...about Haiti.
1. It is amazing how fast you lose trust in a toliet...after finding a spider & a frog inside(diff. times)
2.The first time you see ants in your food, you try to pick them out...after that...you just eat them w/o thinking.
3. It is not uncommon to find hair of the goat or cow in your meal....or in Heather's most recent scenerio....a piece of hide.:)
4. EVERYONE carries around machetes....it is like the tool for everything!
5. The odd names of some businesses....ex. Modestly Nightclub...or Family Nightclub...
6. Driving: if there is room for you...shoot...go for it! :) There is seriously no structure to driving!!
7. Your popularity seems to triple if you are a white female....
8. Haitians don't have much of a sense for the future...they live in today and can't see much past that.
9. It is amazing how fast you can run/jump when a lizard is running towards you. (much to Heather & the Hartzler kid's amusement)
Anyway, there is alot...but those are just a few:) One of these days, I will actually post some pictures....:) Please keep the hospital in your prayers!! Along with all the missionaries down here! Thanks for all the prayers offered already!! God Bless!
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Mwen yo te rive (I have arrived)
I arrived in Haiti Friday night!! I am so thankful that I had the weekend to kind of settle in a little bit, before starting work! Thankfully, it has not been extrememly hot!! Well...for here anyway.:) Saturday the Pfister's, Hartzler's, Heather, and I went to Rainbow beach and spent the afternoon relaxing. Today was probably the hardest day, because of church. It was very overwhelming not to be able to understand anything they were saying!!! I did catch a few words now and again... After church, Heather & I made tacos (well with what we had...), then I listened to an streamed sermon (one I could actually understand:)) I definitely was feeling much better after that. I went over to the Hartzler's for the rest of the afternoon and played guitar and violin with Eric and Amber. My newest instrument is the clarinet!!:) haha...I never would have thought I would ever be playing that!! But Heather randomly found two clarinets in a cupboard at the guest house, so I brought some reeds down and a book down and have been working on teaching ourselves to play!!:) It has lead to several great laughs!:)
P.S. I saw my first tarantula on my first night here!!!:) Except I wasn't even that scared or grossed out!!....well maybe that has something to do with the fact that we specially looked for one and it was pointed out to me.:)
Bonswa!!
P.S. I saw my first tarantula on my first night here!!!:) Except I wasn't even that scared or grossed out!!....well maybe that has something to do with the fact that we specially looked for one and it was pointed out to me.:)
Bonswa!!
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