Another World

I realized it has been some time since I have wrote a blog. I am getting scared of my limited time here in Haiti. I look through pictures in search of what I should blog about and it is just too overwhelming to think about writing small little things to describe my vast experience here in Haiti. I think there is so much I don’t even think about being different anymore. Like the kitchen here being different from the ones in the United States. I feel like we have a great kitchen here because there is a ‘counter’ and walls whereas other kitchens I have seen only have a couple rocks on the ground to hold up a pot with wood to burn between the rocks.
Or for instance the donkey that is tied too close to the ‘main road’ and he pooped in the road we walk to go up to Paul’s house. My roommate Christy pointed out “I love how you call this the ‘main road’”.

I just have a completely different perspective on life now that I have been down here for 7 months. What sorts of things do we take for granted in life and what sorts of things do we appreciate? I have been thinking a lot about what I truly do miss from the United States. Of course the top being people (loved ones) but also, just being able to talk to anyone and discover what they are passionate about without having a language barrier. The other is certain foods, I have already arranged to have Jimmy Johns when I arrive in Omaha at 10:30PM. But what will I miss in Haiti – again the people! But mostly everyday life - getting up at 6:00 in the morning with the roosters cooing, the donkey yelling, and the goats crying. Also walking to the outhouse in the middle of the night and wondering if I will see a snake, a cockroach, or a cricked tonight or walking to go get my water and then putting it in a bladder to make in warm for an afternoon shower.
There are days I feel like I am truly in another world and yet I am reminded of the world I used to live in the US. I don’t know how I can ‘live’ in both worlds and yet how do I live without one or the other. I am sure when I return from Haiti I can reflect more and discover more both about myself and about ‘all’ the worlds around us. We really do need to think about the world we live in and what would we like to do to make it different, better? And then put yourself in someone else’s shoes half way around the world. How can you make their world better? How can they make your world better? We all need to work together, learn from each other and grow in our differences.