"What was your favorite moment, Kacie?"

As my time in Haiti is drawing to a close, I have a new question to be answered. Instead of “Why did you chose Haiti?” I keep getting, “What was your favorite part?” and “What did you learn?”

So far, each time I have been asked I’ve quickly responded, “That’s too much pressure!” How can I pick one moment out of 7 weeks? One of my housemates suggested that I narrow it down and make a list of things I will miss and somethings I will not miss.

I decided to start with the nots.

1.    I will not miss missing family and friends and the moments that we could be sharing. Definitely number one…I felt most homesick on Kira’s birthday, but even knowing I am missing little things-basketball games, movie nights, inside jokes-it’s hands down the hardest part.

2.    I will not miss mosquitos. One can only take so many bites before they wish for extinction.

3.    I will not miss missing my pets who help ground me when I need a break from people.

4.    I will not miss being so far from Dunkin’ Donuts. I’d really love to have a Dunkin’ Caramel Iced Coffee. Or a hot Pumpkin. Mmmm.

5.    I will not miss the roosters crowing and goats screaming at midnight. Is that really necessary goat? Shush!

And that’s as far as I got. I’m sure I could list little nuisances but really… I can do without the material stuff. Here’s what I will miss about not being in Haiti:

1.    My students, my “Class-ity class.” My ten students and I warmed up to each other pretty quickly! They are hard workers, willing to learn and try all of the new strategies I’ve learned about, but never put into practice before. I love their energy, the amount of random questions they ask, and how they interact with me and make me feel like a real teacher.

2.    My housemates. I’ll miss our long talks over our many dishes, our yummy meals from scratch, our adventures, our movie/Chuck nights, and all of the little things we did together to make Haiti feel like home.

3.    My community of surrounding missionaries. They welcomed me so eagerly and have been such a huge encouragement to me. I never felt like an outsider here.

4.    The cats. It may seem funny, but I will genuinely miss the kitty cuddles and how Juliet waits for me on my bed when I get home from school for a de-stress cuddle.

5.    The views like:

6.    Being close to COTP. Duh. J

7.    The lessons God teaches in the midst of the uncomfortable: being surrounded by a different language, new people that are always coming and going, long bumpy roads, heat, rain, angels in disguise, questions of a child, unknown future ahead…It is in these moments that God’s grace are the most visible. 

8.    The person I feel I am become in the midst of these things. “You get a strange feeling when you leave a place. Like, you’ll not only miss the people you love, but you miss the person you are at this time and place because you’ll never be this way ever again.”

In conclusion, I am excited to go home and graduate, see my family, and celebrate Christmas with my church. But at the same time, my heart is heavy with all of the things I am leaving behind.

And for everyone that asks about after I graduate: “She wants school to be over, but she’s afraid of it being over, because then she’ll have to figure out what comes next (Levithan).” That quote sums up how I’ve felt about school since I started college. So… I am praying for wisdom and discernment as to what God has next in my life. I appreciate any prayers you could send for me (and my family) as I have some major decisions ahead. I’d be more than happy to tell you stories and show you pictures of my time here. J

Where My Heart is Happy

      As most of you hopefully know now, I am finishing my last necessary part of my schooling-my second student teaching assignment- overseas in Haiti. I'm teaching in a third grade classroom at Cowman International School which is near the city of Cap Haitian. It's going great so far, but I wanted to answer a very common question- why Cowman? Why Haiti?
   
    If you have ever talked to me, even for 2.5 seconds, you probably know that I spent six weeks last summer at a childcare center/orphanage in Lagosette, Haiti called COTP. You probably know that I completely fell in love with the babies, the preschoolers, the atmosphere, and the people. You've probably seen my scrapbook or have seen my Facebook posts about it. From the second I got on the place to come home, my heart has been torn between Haiti and home.

    When I found out that I was accepted into the international student teaching program at Cairn, I knew that I wanted to find somewhere in Haiti. When I went onto the ACSI website (the Christian school accreditation place), there were only two in the whole country, Cowman and Quesqueya, a school in the capital city of Port-au-Prince. When I researched where this little school, Cowman, was I found that it was only 25 minutes away from where I was in the summer of 2014! Perfect! Except that that was the only information I could find. I questioned my supervisors and they were very doubtful that it would work out. They recommended that I go with my third placement option and forget that I even saw the Haitian schools. My heart was set though, and with some determination, I finally uncovered a missionary teacher's blog from Cowman and connected with him. Eventually this lead to me finding the ministry's webpage and director's contact information and so here I am! I love feeling like a real teacher in my classroom and have come to love my ten third graders. My mentor teacher, principal, housemates, and everyone else have been wonderful as well.

    Instead of being nervous about being away from home for another six weeks, I was only excited. My face was probably like a kid at Christmas when I first caught sight of the Haitian mountains outside of my plane window. To make my stay even sweeter, I get to attend church at COTP on most Sundays and am currently spending a long weekend there as well! I am surrounded by my kids from last year and some new ones as well! My hair has been pulled, I've been pinched, slobbered on, and kissed. My feet are filthy because a little someone stole my shoes for a while so that I would tickle her. I am tired. And I  am more content that I have been in a long time.

     So, why Haiti? I think one of my education professors said it best. While looking at my scrapbook, full of pictures of the kids here at COTP, instead of looking at the kids and commenting on how cute they all are (and believe me, they are), she looked at my face. She said, "When you talk about Haiti, you light up more than you ever do any other time in my classes. Look at you in these pictures. This...this is where your heart is happy."

And that is exactly why I chose Haiti for this round of six week adventures; it is where God has chosen to make my heart happy.