Adieu Haiti

Wow. How come no one told me that time flies by? Well, maybe it wasn't until now that I finally understood. My time in Haiti has finished. 14 months. Wow. I can't believe I made it. Coming back has been difficult, but I knew that would be the case.

The day I left, I woke up to the guards shedding a tear or two- which made me sad. I got in the truck with Conor and Justin- two friends that had to go towards PaP anyway. I mentioned in the car how I thought I would cry- and I was told to go ahead, but prideful me decided, no, I'm not going to cry. We drive the 2 hours to Port au Prince. We talk as normal, and I go into moments of deep thought.

As we pass Leogane- what has been dubbed as "Patty's town" it's hard to fully comprehend that there's a chance I'll never come back, or at the very least, I don't know when I will. We would go eat in Leogane, and people would stop me. Depending on the time of day- hundreds of people in Leogane would stop me close to different sites, yelling "Patty! we haven't seen you in a long time!". Yep. This was MY place, MY people.

So, we get to the airport and I'm surprised by 3 friends from our other base that I wasn't expecting- I guess that's the meaning of surprise. We were being rushed by airport police- but it was so nice to see them again. I take my two huge bags and check them in- there wasn't a line in the check -in, to join the everlong line to security.

Since the line was so long- I just started thinking- of my friends that came to tell me bye. Of good times I've had. How just the week before after dinner, 6 of us just stayed, talking about life and worries and concerns. And then we just prayed for each other. And I thought of how much I was going to miss that. Being with people my age- who I don't have to explain myself to, and I don't have to explain why I like being in the field and who aren't awkward with me, who know just as much as I do about pop culture (which isn't much) and it's okay, because we talk about things that actually matter. Other people who also believe that maybe Jesus meant what He said when He said what true religion is in James 1:27. People with whom I don't even have to explain why I'm upset- because they know how I feel. People with whom I don't have to put a fake smile on while thinking on the inside, "Gosh, you're stupid". Thinking that everything that I grew to love and adore was leaving me, all in the same day, and I was about to leave this country and go into everything that is completely opposite.

So, upon realising this, I did what anybody would do....I cried. Uncontrollably. In the line for security. I put my face in my shirt and kept saying, "oh, get a grip Patty". As the lady in front of me- wasn't exactly sure what she was supposed to do. Not like she could help much- she had just gotten back from spending a week in Haiti and had her hair braided. What could she tell me spending 60x longer in Haiti than she did?

Well, after much crying, I'm back in the States. Reconnecting with my family- I've changed a lot- so have they. I'm off to Swaziland to visit one of my oldest friends from high school and old housemates- Amanda- on Friday- should prove to be a grand old time. Til then- praying about what to do next- and learning to have grace with those who may not have been where I have, who may not think like I do.

Til next time,
Patty