Miss Hillary 2 U

It's time for me to leave and I don't want to. I miss my family back home, but this place gets inside you. Leaving is very diffucult.

So, things I love about Haiti :
- Waking up with the sun (way before 6:00 a.m.) to barking dogs.
- The music of the water trucks playing the "Titanic" melody through the streets.
- The way children and women "light-up" when you smile at them.
(Like you threw on a switch and all the joy and life inside them is illuminated.)
- Holding beautiful, beautiful babies. So many sweet beautiful babies!!
- Sheila's house and the women's center here. It is a peaceful, happy place. Hope and life abound there.
- The wonderfully odd and ecclectic group of white people I have met here.
(I can't say missionaries - that just doesn't seem to fit. I am not sure what to call them, so I will just say "white people". Dan and Sheila have found this amazing group of friends that have a "true community" with one another. They are fun, funny and bless me constantly with their warmth and acceptance.)
- The smell of cooking and baking bread that fills the streets at times covering other smells.
- Riding in the back of Dan's pickup truck.
(The best way to see Haiti, so I was told and I was never disappointed. Terrified of Dan's driving, Yes! Completely grey with dust and dirt after two hours, Yes! But, was always amazed by all I saw and it was crazy with all the white people in that joined me back there. So, the joke here is - "How many Haitians can you fit in a "tap-tap"? Always one more". So, we obiously tried to make that happen in the back of Dan's truck. At one time we had thirteen people in the back and seven in the cab. What a hoot!
- Going to market with John
- Going to church here!
- Walking through a "gated community" neighborhood near Ted and Lisa's (like a shanty town). This was up close and personal. The grace and charm we received by everyone blessed me beyond words. Oh, and the children followed us everywhere.
- Having every expectation blow up in my face.

This place has been amazing and wonderful to visit. It is done things deep inside me I probably won't understand and process for a long time. Did I get answers? No, just more questions. But I can pray better now for this place and my friends and I can hope for Haiti now. I am already planning my next trip.

Important Note: Photo by Madisen Grace Lynch