Haiti - What I Learned While I Was There

I learned so much in Haiti that I'm sure my friends and family are tired of hearing all of my fun facts that I link to virtually every conversation we have.  Here's a brief glimpse of what I learned:

I learned  that women in every country love purses and that teenagers everywhere are glued to their cell phones.

I learned that almonds don't just fall of the trees the way they look in bags at the store.  You have to bang on them with a rock to get them to open up and eat them:

I learned that I'm still bad at soccer, even against young, barefoot kids

I got to learn that there are ways other than air condition to cool off

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I learned that Spartans are everywhere!

I learned about the reality of Voodoo to the Haitian people.  I learned a little bit of what it's like to be a part of a Haitian family and see some work being done that is making a difference.  I got to learn about the plight of living with an incredibly corrupt government.  

I learned that kids everywhere love candy (I always kept my pocket filled with candy).

I earned to appreciate my iPhone.  (This kid only had one battery so he had a wire running out of his walkman that he had to hold to the battery to get music)

I learned to appreciate Haitian oatmeal, which Facilita does an amazing job making!

I learned that kids everywhere love action movies (This kids name was Jean Claude and he was convincing me he was tougher than the action movie star Jean Claude Van Damme)

I learned that people can carry a lot on their head, and that even a little kid can carry 40lbs of water.

I learned about different breeds of goats and that one lucky male goat keeps about 140 female goats pregnant throughout the year.

I learned that most Haitians aren't good at taking pictures with an SLR camera.  Especially Echo and Obenes.

I learned to appreciate water and electricity, especially when you have to haul a 400lb generator around to get a little power.

I learned about agribusiness and planting trees in a way that you could double production, prevent erosion and get water back into the springs.

I learned about poverty so deep that you would rather give up your children than see them starve.

I learned about joy through a household slave girl, Sophia who radiated a deep joy, that she explained by the fact that "she had jesus in her heart".  She had a joy that I want.

  I also saw a girl with a deep saddness in her that I wanted to fix somehow.  I didn't do much, but I experienced a lot and was changed deeply.  Make sense?  It didn't to me either.