shelby: then, now, and someday

Things I Miss:
I miss my brothers and my mom.  Sometimes kids ask me what my brothers names are.  They think Michael is pretty normal, but they are exceedingly surprised by the name Kevin.
I really miss my family in California.  It's been way too long!
I miss chapel.  At Asbury, we have chapel 3 times a week, and I love it.
I miss Starbucks, ribs, and sunflower seeds.
I miss sleeping in.  Breakfast is at 7 every day, so I either get up on time for it or don't eat breakfast at all.

Things I'm Currently Enjoying:
Adorable kids who love me a lot.
An AWESOME family from Napa/Seattle.  They are super fun, and I'm so glad they are here to help me make the most of my last week.
I really enjoy living with the Kelley's and with Karissa (another intern).
Cold showers.
Adventurous roads and crowding an amount of people in cars that would not be legal in America.
Everyone is always outside.
I love the Haitian staff.
Spoons.
Cokes with real sugar.
Palm trees.
Learning Kreyol.
Making new friends.

Things I'm Looking Forward To:
I'm going to be involved more with CSA this year, particularly with the homeless shelter in Lexington!
I'm going to have a fantastic hall - complete with so many wonderful friends.
I'm also going to have a wonderful roommate, who is also pretty much my neighbor in real life too!
Many fabulous road trips.
Red Robin with my brother and mom when I get back to America. (All my life, grand occasions were celebrated with clucks and fries.  Why change now?)

On a completely different note, now is the time to tell me if you really want a souvenir from Haiti.  Very soon it will be too late!

my haitian adventure in pictures

If you would like to see ALL of my pictures, please go to facebook.  If you would like to hear a little more about the stories that go with a few pictures, read this blog!
Here it goes, in no particular order.

Once upon a time,

 I was in Haiti for my first week.  There were two teams here then - a large group from a university in Minnesota and a group of three from a different school in Tennessee.  This is FPCH, but I didn't really know it back then.  This was before I really discovered my potential to bond with kids.

 This is our group picture with the kids at Tree of Life, way back when Tree of Life had like 20 kids.  I'm holding Luciana, who was my first love from the first day.  She smiled so big that she had to close her eyes - just like me.  We were instant friends, and she always loved to see me again.  It was about three weeks later that she went home for me never to see her again.  I'll never know what kind of situation she lives in now, but I can continue to hope for the best.

 This is FPCH many weeks later.  This is me and Cameron (a part of the awesome family from Seattle).  Standing next to me is Leon, who loves to goof off with me and make fun of my Creole.  Boys his age seem to love to learn english and joke around.  =]  So fun.

 One time, we only had one car to take to church.  This was the solution - 17 people squeezed into the truck.  It was a massive pile of sweat, but we survived!

 This is us playing Akatumba, a game where you recite each others names to the beat and you get out if you can't remember the person's name.
The white kid is Zach, who was part of a family of three that was here for a week.

 This is Rana!  She was on a large team from Minnesota.  She was super sweet and fun and encouraging.  This picture was taken at Wahoo Bay Beach Resort!

 This is all of the interns and Lena!  I am too tall for the first row of this picture.  Consequently, Karissa looks like she has to pee, and I look like I am leaning forward like a dummy.  Hahahahaha.

 These are three of my Tree of Life girls and Judeline who helped take care of them.

 This is my photobomb of Emily's normal picture with Lovingtsky.  I always hold Elemnia upside down and this is how our game goes (except in Creole).  Me:  Who's crazy?  Her: You!  *then I hold her upside down* Her: *giggle* *scream* Me:  Who's crazy?  Her: You!  Me: Who's crazy?  Her: Me me me!!!! Then I put her right side up and after she catches her breath she says "You're crazy!" And thus the game never ends!

 This is Katelyn.  She is a lovely, beautiful teenager girl who loves God!  Her entire family was a huge blessing to me for the month that they were here.  I am so glad I got to know them!  I loved spending time with Katelyn.  I know she will go far as she shares her love of God with the world!

 This is Zach, Sam, Cameron, and Emily playing frisbee with the kids at Tree of Life.

 Just playing around at FPCH!

 Dancing around with Dudvaline!  Sweetie pie.  =]

 This is the man who runs the garden at Luly.  We got to hear all about his hopes and dreams for Haiti.  He was super cool!  Karissa (taller one) and Emily were two of the other interns this summer.  Karissa is the big sister I never had, and Emily is the little sister I never had!  I'm going t miss them both a lot, and I'm so glad I got to share this experience with them.  The kid is just some kid at the school who photobombed us.  Hahahaha.

 This is me and some of the River Falls girls at Wahoo.  Isn't it insanely beautiful?  See me about tips for having your next vacation in Haiti!

 This is one of my places to hang out - on the playground at Tree of Life.  It's especially lovely when a child or two or three or four join me up there!

 This is some of us ready for church at Port au Prince fellowship on a lovely Sunday morning!

 This is Emily and Samantha in the Defender.  It's not our favorite car, but it really has defended us through a LOT!

 This is Fior Di Latte.  Here your ice cream comes inside a corresponding fruit.  We have been there twice.  Once I ate chocolate out of a cacao pod, and the second time I ate orange sherbet out of an orange!  Legit.  It's in Petionville, the big fancy city in Haiti.

 This is Charlie, Samantha, and MC at the beach in Luly.  So beautiful!

 Emily and Me in the defender.  I had to include this one because Roberson is in the background, and I have too few pictures of that wonderful man!

 Just chillin, like every Monday and Thursday.

 This is the face I normally make.  Now I'm in Haiti, and I still can't help myself.

 Me and Luciana and Anne Marie, who is still there at Tree of Life.

 Samanthat loves to make friends with random kids wherever we go!  And there I am, just being a monster in the background!

 Ostanel helping with the lesson for the kids.  This is another picture from my very first week.

 This is Kassie, who was a wonderful friend to me my first week here!

 This is Elemnia.  She thinks she is three or four, but I've seen her birth certificate.  She is five years old and one of my favorite people in the world.  I could sing and play and swing and run around with her every day for the rest of my life.  I really could.

 This is Estelle, Kassie, and me in the crystal clear water of Wahoo Bay.

 This is Francesca.  She was my first love at FPCH.  She has since gone home with her family too, and I really hope it's a good situation.  I love for families to be together, so I really hope she is happy.  I asked the kids, and they say she is.

 This is another picture at the beautiful Wahoo!

 This is Lovingtsky.  He is deaf, but he can read lips like a PRO!  I wrote a blog on him a few weeks back, so go take a look.

 These are the three Huguenin kids and Lena!  All four of these kids were SUCH a wonderful addition to my time this summer.  I love them so much!  We had a lot of fun together playing spoons, playing pretend, watching the Little Mermaid, etc!

 The roof is by far my favorite place to hang out at the guest house.

 My Hello Kitty sunglasses were well loved this summer.

 This is a lovely place to hang out at Wahoo.

 My white sunglasses were always a little lopsided and goofy.  Also, Haiti quickly destroyed my bathing suit.  Hahahaha.

 This is my ice cream at Fior Di Latte!  Orange ice cream inside of an orange!  So cool!

 My first week here we did Toms!  It was a very interesting experience for me.

 One time, we played four square.  I don't know why I look so dumb and like I never had any intention of playing the game.  In reality, I am a rockstar at foursquare.

 More toms!

 The lovely roof with Kassie.

 My sunglasses look goofy and lopsided on Francesca too!

 This is the Baptist Mission.  I wish we could have gotten a picture that really encompassed the view from that place.  A-mazing.

 This is The beach at Luly with this awesome really old tree jutting out into the water.  Good times!

 This is a letter that Lindsey sent me.  It took a month to get to me, but it was so worth it.  It came on the best possibly day, and I loved it SO much.

 This man with chicken is just SO happy.  I love him.

 This is a group picture at Tree of Life after the group got a little smaller.  Nathalie is in the front with Elemnia.  They were two of the most malnourished kids we dealt with.  Luciana in my arms, just like it always was in the beginning.

 This is another picture at the Baptist Mission, with Jamil who is awesome!  He was our driver and translator many days this summer.  He really enjoyed our day at the Baptist Mission because his best friend is a monkey that lives there.  I loved to see how the two communicated.  =]

 We helped throw Martine (the caregiver at Tree of Life) a super birthday party!  I made the cake, but Brookyln helped.  This resulted in an exceedingly moist cake that had an extra cup or two of water in it.  I was told that we had icing in the house, but we didn't.  I improvised by making some out of powdered sugar and butter.  I used kool aid to make the pink icing.  You can't see it that well, but the cake has a border complete with hearts, designs, and polka dots.  There are also flowers that weave through the words "Bonn Fete, Martine!"  Martine told us that day that we are her family and that she no longer feels alone.  It's nice to hear words like that, but it hurts me to feel like we are abandoning our family to be alone again.

 This is Jen, Jason, Lara, MC and me at the reception of Manno's wedding.  I wrote a blog about the wedding.  This is me trying to get dressed up.  Next time I travel, I will bring at least one dress that is nice enough for a wedding!  You never know when you're going to make friends with someone who is getting married soon.

There is a Rebo coffee shop in Petionville.  It's just like a Starbucks!  It is so delicious.  I had a Reboccino Glace.  Yummmmmmmmmmm.  Karissa enjoyed hers even more than I enjoyed mine. I think she is dying to go back. =]


Any pictures that I take from here on out will be pictures of my last week in Haiti.  But life goes on.  What I do in America is equally important to what I do in Haiti, or anywhere in the world.  I love God and love people, everywhere I go.  The end (but not really).