School vs. Jail

Being December, 2nd tri has just started at high school and first semester is coming to an end at Grand Valley. I'm slowly getting used to my new schedule, which is totally and 100% different than 1st tri. Chemistry is the only one I really don't like - completely expected since I have always detested science. Creative writing, Spanish, and French I like/love/love, respectively. ACT Prep I feel is beneficial, yet very, very, very boring. Italian 101 is almost done at Grand Valley, and I'm scared for my exam on the 13th. At the moment, I'm signed up to take Writing 150 next semester, but I'm considering changing it out for Italian 102 - if that's allowed anymore. Not to bore you with details about my school life, I actually am writing on here for one important purpose: to document the comparison I made between school and jail.

Here it is:
School and jail are, for the most part, when you really think about it, the same thing. The main difference is that in one you are graded on your participation and the other one you can kind of just chill.

School is awful. Whoever invented it should be kicked in the ankle a couple times. Maybe not too hard; I learn a lot there after all. I guess it's beneficial, but it's still terrible. Thank goodness I only have 1 2/3 years left of high school. I'm praying college will be better, which I assume it will be because there won't be as much high school drama. If there is high school drama, the school is obviously bigger, so it should be easier to avoid. Those are my hopes anyways.

Alright, this is a completely boring and pointless post, and I'm sorry if you lost brain cells. Oh, speaking of brain cells - you know the phrase, "I lost my marbles." Well, we did a measurement lab today in chemistry. One of the measurements was the volume of a marble, and my friend measured the approximate volume of my head just for fun. I did the math, only to discover that in order to lose all my marbles, there would have to be approximately 418.95 of them. :) Yeah. That's what I do in school.

Tent City.

August 11

Today we woke up REAL early and got ready for VBS in Tapion. We ate breakfast and left in a taptap with the best driver EVER. He stopped for every little bump; it was amazing. When we got there, there was about 40 kids in the church. We had them sing some songs (led by the worship leader of the church) and started off with the puppet show. The kids were all amazed with the puppets. Nevil led the kids in helping remember the verses. I know them now too :) After that we did the laughing song. Then they were split into two groups and we went to go do some games outside. The Human Knot game did not work. They were so confused. Then we did the balloon-ankle game which went well. The kids switched with the craft kids and we tried red-light/green-light instead of the Human Knot. Still didn't work so we did the balloon game. A few kids cried because their balloons popped. A man came up to Jenny and I and asked us to come back on the 23rd. I said we were leaving in a week and he asked us to come back later this week. Then all the kids went inside for closing. Some kids in the back saw Marg playing with the puppet and tried to figure out where the sound was coming from. So cute. They all sang again and we blew up more balloons so they could all keep one. They sang a thank you song and left. We picked up all our stuff and headed down a little hill to the taptap. It was pretty steep but they made a train so no one fell :) Nevil taught Katie and I to count to 30 on the way home.

We ate some bread and fruit (I had a banana. Now I remember why I hate them.) and walked to Ti Guinnen. It was SO weird to see the church from last year down. The shoreline raised too so a bunch of palm trees died and houses were buried. A motorcycle slipped into the canal and both mirrors fell off and another motorcycle almost hit Marg.

(Coca Truck ^^^ with Nevil and Caleb)

(Pastor George and his wife)

We walked home and talked for a while and ate dinner. I talked to Katie for a while and then we had devotions and prayed. I loaded my cot with bug spray (and me) since I have 49 already. :/ Shower and sleep after some interesting talks with Mari and Marg. Mari and I are having a nastiest leg hair competition. :) Yummy.

Oh, also we had dish duty today and couldn't get some stuff off so we used rocks to scrub it. Awesome. Degaje.

August 10

We woke up today at about 4:30 to get through security again and get to our gate. Small delay because they had to change a tire on the plane but then we were on the way to PAP! We all fell asleep on the plane because of the lack of sleep the night before. Nate and everyone picked us up at the airport, which was weird that they were already here. Not a big fan. So then we drove to Petit Goave. We FINALLY got here and talked to the people for a while. We had dinner at about 5 - soo good. Then Kid's Club started, led by Nevil. Oh, another team is here also. They're doing a world mission called the World Race. It's an 11 month thing and Haiti is the second month. They're pretty cool. A lightening storm went on over the cove so we walked out (after Nevil made Mari pray for Kid's Club) and watched it come in. It was so pretty! A few kids were out there that we talked to. Then we walked back and waited for some guys to get back from Leogane. Then I came upstairs and we all fell asleep SO fast. I even got cold in the breeze.

Back Again

I actually kept a journal during this trip to Haiti. Well, I started to. Then I got sick and didn't feel up to it so I did kind of a recap of a few days on the plane home. I decided to put my journal on here to help me process and go over everything a little bit. I'll probably do a day per day to space it out. Feel free to read it :)

August 9, 2010
We left today! 3 hour drive to Detroit and then a 3 hour flight to Ft. Lauderdale. When we got there we had to spend the night in the airport... yay. Couple hours of sleep before Haiti. Awesome. (P.S. Two random people also going to Haiti sat next to me on the flight.)

More Than Me

So as I sit here
In the AC
I have this fear
My favorite country will be
Never the same
As it was before
Forever changed
The past out the door
But I want it back
In my selfish being
Of which there's no lack
Change can be freeing
And this could be too
If I just let it go
Make the whole place anew
With new places to grow
And still here I am
Trying to fight
Aimlessly what can,
What should be, what might
Be best for the place
I say that I love
Explained solely by the grace
Of my God above
Because as I make that claim
I can't help but think
If I'll ever be the same
Little girl dressed in pink
I don't want to be her
I want to be me
To keep the allure
Of a girl with a dream
But if I let the change come
To myself alone
And keep the thought numb
That nothing's set in stone
The country did change
And I have to accept
God made a new stage
He doesn't regret
So now I can sit
In the freezing cold air
Knowing God won't quit
That He's always there
If I get to be new
Never the same as before
Then Haiti does too
To be loved even more

-July 2010

The Haiti I Used to Know.

Port-au-Prince. With buildings standing and clear roads.

A field without a tent city.

Petit Goave.

Petit Goave again.

All the Reasons Why (song-question thingy)

RULES:
1. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc. on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.
4. Tag 10 friends.
5. Everyone tagged has to do the same thing.
6. Write what you think if you want to
7. Have Fun!


IF SOMEONE ASKS 'ARE YOU OKAY' YOU SAY?
Oxygen

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?
HeroHeroine

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Hundred

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Mostly Memories

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
A Still Life Franchise

WHAT'S YOUR MOTTO?
A Little Too Not Over You

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Closer

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Forgiven

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE MOST?
Unfaithful

WHAT IS 2 + 2?
Run the Show

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Tailor Made

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Tattoo

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
La Bamba

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
4ever

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Fall Away

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Crank That

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Landmines and Landslides

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?
Harder Than the First Time

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Just Like Me

WHAT DO YOU WANT RIGHT NOW?
Rehab

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Unbroken

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
All the Reasons Why

Nou Se Moun La ♥

Favorite song ever. Check it out. :]

Many Things.

First of all, wow, I haven't written in a long time. Sorry about that. Too much been going on (not complaining... or making excuses, just tellin' the story :] ) I decided it was finally time to write something anyways. So here we are.

Second of all, Haiti makes me want to cry and puke and eat junk food 'til I feel like I'm gonna die which brings more guilt for eating when they can't. I heard today that JQ99 is sending a reporter down there to get information. People, come on! THEY. DO. NOT. NEED. MORE. REPORTERS. Americans can get all the information they want from people who need and should be down there. Not from their favorite news station. If you are a doctor or a nurse or have medical training - feel free to go. If you speak Kreyol and can translate for some other doctors - go. If you want to be the next biggest newscaster and get all the up-to-date information that people are going to forget about in 10 seconds - do not go. Sorry for saying all this when I am not there, but if you think about it, common sense. They don't need reporters and media anymore. They got the attention they needed for support and aid to come in, now they need action. Don't get me wrong, I would love to be there right now. There's nothing I want more. But I know I can't because I can't speak Kreyol, can't lead a team, and can't do medical stuff. That is not where God is telling me to go right now. God is calling us to pray. Well, me anyways. Off my soap box...

Third of all, (thirdly of all? hmm...) friends are hard. I don't understand them sometimes. (Read: most of the time.) Especially high school ones. They change their minds and attitudes every 2.4 seconds. Gahh. People are dumb sometimes.

Fourth of all, some people impress me. There was a change drive at school for Haiti a week ago-ish, but I heard it didn't go well. The Haitian Church in GR has a food/medical/clothes drive going, so I asked my principal if we could do something like that at our school and I would bring it to the church for them (just with food/medical though). He said it was cool and got really excited about it! :) So that ends tomorrow - I pick up the stuff after school with my mom. I'll let you know how that turns out! I think it should go well; some teachers are offering extra credit for stuff brought in. :) I'm pretty excited about it. My French teacher got an e-mail from someone she knows that runs a school down there and asked for her to have us make cards, drawings and bookmarks for the kids in the school. She asked for them in French, but since I knew enough Kreyol, we got to put that on them instead. A few people in my class were really cool about the whole thing and made a lot of cards/pictures.

Fifth of all, I had my road test today! :) It went pretty well, and I got my liscense! Well actually just a little slip of paper 'til the other one comes in the mail, but it still counts. To celebrate, my mom got me Subway for dinner (yum.) and I made some popcorn and some Chai and then I ate some cookie dough! :D (Don't tell my soccer coach... ;) ) Overall, it was a pretty producive day :)

I think that's all for now. Sorry it was so long. I'll try to post more shorter ones from now on :)