My Pad

I know that I've already posted pictures of my apartment, but I don't think that I've really written much about where I'm living or what it is like.  It is such a blessing that I really think it deserves it's own post.

TLC School and the gate to the school and my apartment

My new apartment has been provided to me by the TLC Barefoot School where I will be teaching kindergarten in just two short weeks.  Since I do not get paid to teach, I can live in the apartment rent free.  However, I do have to buy my own food, transportation, airfare, and pay for internet/utilities.  It is a very nice deal, in my opinion.  I am VERY thankful for such a great little place to live and for the opportunity to teach here at TLC.

My apartment is located on the same property as the school.  It is directly beside the school .  I mean this literally...it is about five feet away from it.  The apartment was built on the second floor of a storage building/kitchen.  Dottie, the school director, actually lived here for a while before she ran her guesthouse, After she lived here, the principle (Nickson) lived here with his wife.

My 2nd floor apartment

During the earthquake, the apartment did suffer some damages.  So, they repaired it and did some renovations to make sure that it was safe again.  Before I moved in, it was repainted and furnished with some lovely new furniture.

My living room

view of the living room from the kitchen

kitchen

bathroom

For such a small little place, there are quite a few windows/doors.  That helps so much with keeping it cool.  During the day it gets quite warm in here (I'm assuming because it is on the second floor), but since it is small, it cools down quickly once the sun goes down and I open up the windows and doors.  It is on the second floor and on a small hillside overlooking a ravine, so I get a REALLY nice breeze that blows through my bedroom.  It is heavenly!  (If you have ever experienced the heat in Haiti during August, you will understand why I just wrote an entire paragraph about the temperature of my apartment, ha!)

my bedroom

the door in my bedroom that leads to my little balcony

view of the ravine from my balcony

view of the hillside from my balcony

the view of the ravine from my balcony

In addition to my apartment being adorable, there are some other really great perks that I did not expect.  I have a full sized refrigerator and full sized oven/stove.  Now, I've saved the best two parts for last.  Drum roll..........

I have electricity ALL THE TIME, and I CAN DRINK STRAIGHT FROM MY FAUCET!!!!!!!!!!!!!  (Just in case you didn't notice by the bolded, underlined, red writing...I am VERY excited about that!)

Some wonderful people that I have never met hooked up a simple water filtration/chlorination system up to the water supply.  So, it is actually safe for me to drink from the faucet, open my mouth when I shower, brush my teeth with sink water, wash my dishes without rinsing them in bleach water...you get the point.  Seriously, I am so spoiled by this clean water that I sometimes forget I'm actually in Haiti.

I have electricity all the time because the school has a generator and an inverter with batteries.  If the electricity shuts off, the power automatically continues to run off of the batteries, if the batteries lose charge, then the generator automatically turns itself on.  It is glorious...I may never be able to live anywhere else in Haiti ever again, hehe.  It's not that I mind going without electricity, but when it comes to sleeping, being able to have a fan running all night long is truly a blessing.

Aside from the physical features of my apartment, it is also really nice just to have my own space.  I truly loved my time living with the kids at Faith Hope Love Infant Rescue, but nothing beats having my own house and some freedom.  Since I moved in, I have been able to spend lots of time getting to know new people and spending time with old friends.

In my free time, I have been going to help out with youth group.  My friends Marc and Kez are the youth leaders at our church.  So, I have been getting to know all the youth and tagging along for Bible studies and whatnot.  Four out of seven nights a week I have been going to some type of prayer meeting/Bible study/or worship. I hope that once school starts I will still have some time (and energy) to spend with the youth.

The kids in youth group are mostly all Haitian ranging from around ages 13 to 18.  I am amazed by their depth of understanding and their leadership.  Two nights a week I've been going to a group that is lead by one of the youth, and I've been really blessed by my time there.  I'm so thankful to be able to join them and get to know all the kids.

And of course, I enjoy being bombarded by all the local neighborhood kids every time that I leave my gate.

TiJan and Yvel