Orevwa, Kaitlin

I just returned from dropping Kaitlin off at the airport.  I fear that I will crash from exhaustion later so I wanted to get a blog post in before that happens.  It has been a whirlwind the past two weeks.  Honestly, I cannot even believe that Kaitlin's trip has come and gone already.  It seems like you look forward to something so much and then "poof" its over.

We tried to squeeze as much as we possibly could into an almost two week trip.  Since I don't have a vehicle, it seems like a lot of our time and energy was spent walking places or taking tap-taps whenever we wanted to go somewhere.  But, as I told Kate, that is all part of "The Haiti Experience".  During her time here, we spent quality time with my American friends, taught English classes, visited the homes of my neighborhood boys and prayed for them, went to youth group, went to a birthday party for a Haitian friend, got a tour of some historic sights, visited a museum, spent time with Dorothy's kids, went to feeding program, taught kindergarten and helped with pre-k, did grocery shopping with Mr. Nickson, and many other things.  It was nice having a good friend be able to just kinda shadow me and participate in my daily life here.  Although things were a little different with Kate along, I think she still got to see a good bit of what life is like for me.

One thing that I was thankful for was having someone else witness some of the difficult things that I deal with on a daily basis.  She got to spend time with my neighborhood boys and see just how frustrating and exhausting it can be trying to spent quality time with them without just being the person that they constantly beg from.  She got to see how exhausting simple things like getting to the grocery store are.  She got to see how inconsistent the electricity is.  And, most importantly, she got to see how desperate this country is.

I was sad to see her go, and I hope that she will be back again soon.  It seems like God has planted some desires in her heart for future connections to Haiti.  So, I am excited to see what may happen.  I know one thing, my neighborhood boys will surely miss her!  Peterson, one of the boys, begged to ride along to the airport.  When we dropped Kate off, he craned his neck to watch her go until she was out of sight.  As I pulled away from the airport, he said, "I am going to miss her.  I will never forget her.  I am going to make her a necklace and bracelet for you to give her the next time you go to the United States.  I am going to miss her."

I feel very loved and blessed that Kaitlin chose to spend two weeks of her Christmas vacation visiting me here in Haiti.  She will be greatly missed!