just another day in paradise.

every friday morning at intercession is prayer walk. this friday, we actually walked. (i think that was the first one we've walked since i've been here). our group walked two-by-two down to the park in the centre of saint-marc, praying for everything from the people, to the road construction, to civil-unrest due to world cup rivalries (don't hate, third-world loves their futbol almost as much as us americans love real football!). we spent time in the park declaring God's promises over haiti and worshiping Him. as we walked back, i continued to pray for the nation, but also for my return to my own nation. there is so much bittersweetness in my heart about my return, but i can equate it to the same bittersweetness i had about coming in the first place: i was eager to go, but so sad to leave. i think that says a lot about my heart, but that is an entire different post, so i digress. i felt like crying even as i praised God for His faithfulness and prayed and asked for patience during my re-entry and assimilation. i prayed against discouragement and the inability to communicate what i was feeling when i've returned. its so weird to me that i will go back and life will be just as i left it; although my life will hardly remain the same. so much has become normal here, or abnormal here, to me, but it's not going to make the same sense to anyone back home. this experience was so unique to me, and its hard not having someone back home that really shared in it. again, i digress.

during a morning hunt for a tv that works, a dvd player that has cords, and speakers that would actually play sound, i walked across the poo-field only to see that a bull had gotten in through our front gate and was being chased across campus by some of our haitian staff and volunteers. i chuckled as i thought to myself, of course. it's haiti.

after our last friday of classes (insert beaucoup d'excitement!), i made strawberry-banana smoothies (using strawberry juice of course, as fraises are not so commonly-- slash, ever-- found here) for anne, jenna and i and we sat talking and laughing at ourselves eating lollipops and our time here in haiti.

jenna and i started working on tearing down the classroom, taking things off the wall, boxing up some of the books and random curriculum guides. everything was covered in dirt and dust, included us (which we were also drenched in sweat). there were so many things i started but never got to finish with the kids, its a real shame, but c'est la vie en ayati. as we went through throwing stuff away and filing things for next year, we laughed at how ghetto our classroom is, as we made sure to leave the boxes in places the rains wouldn't get to. only here.

after a (nother) failed attempt at going to both La Gonave, the island and Goyavier, the mountain, we found ourself pretty bored trying to find something to do after dinner. i had a lengthy and pretty good convo with philipson about the country and my time here, and then i showered, talked to a few of the haitian staff/dts/volunteers, and came home to look for jobs (again, sigh). after the electric went out around 11, anne came in and said they were going to sleep outside under these mini-mosquito nets and the haitian sky. done and done. we got all set up and laid down and ...

it was magnificent. looking at the beauty that is the night sky, my heart couldn't help but sing "Your love is extravagant." that sky is a testament to just how much He loves us. and as if we didn't get the point, He threw in a shooting star to ice the cake.

sleeping outdoors i learned a few things. depth perception is limited in darkness (read: that cockroach is actually on the outside of the mosquito net and there's no need to ninja your way out of it in a fury). the city does not sleep. drums, bass, you name it: it only gets louder after midnight. the roosters play a mad game of marco-polo . . . all. night. long. rooster 1: cock-a-doodle-dooo. rooster 1's posse: cock-a-doodle dooooooo. rinse and repeat. until 7 am. the sun rises around 5, so just before dawn, somewhere in the 4 o'clock hour, the mosquitos are the worst. although (and thankfully) i did not get bit, the eery sound of the (now)sleeping city was masked by the choir-like hum of the mosquito entourage that had settled upon the land. laying there as the city started to wake again (after only a few hours), i heard the faint honking of horns and the rumble of moto's as the day started around 6:30 for many of the citizens (to do what, i'm not quite sure). also, i used a blanket. oh yeah, you read that correctly. instead of the near-90 temps that it stays inside, it probably dipped to the low of 82 last night. brrrrr!

i'll admit, it wasn't my best night sleep here, and i'm not even sure how much sleep i got; but it was just another night beneath His love and in His arms. and i am blessed.