We Are Family!

Me zanmi! (A Creole expression used similarly to “my goodness”)  Life as a missionary does not slow down...ever!  These past few weeks have brought all sorts of new adventures and excitement, so let me fill you in on the highlights.

Teaching as always is preoccupying much of my time here.  One of the things I’ve really enjoyed doing is helping the teachers find new creative ways to teach.  A particular problem area for our primary students has been reading notes on the staff.  As you can see I found a fun way to teach and review this topic!

The following week, we had tests to see how we were doing.  This little girl’s reaction to the test was probably my favorite; as I handed it to her she sighed and said, “Oh Bondye.” (Translation: Oh God)  Glad to see that God is being called on to help in all areas of our life.  To say the least, we still need a little more review on music reading!

Also in the world of teaching, our marching band is really coming along.  The students have learned all the basic commands and just this last week they marched while playing for the first time!  We are still working on keeping straight lines and remembering to always start with our left foot.  However, they are catching on quickly and are quite enthusiastic about it!

Back at St. Jacques, I was asked to give the message during the English service.  It was the third Sunday of Lent and I focused on part of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians.  In that reading, he says, “No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone.  God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide a way out so that you may be able to endure it.”  These words were a bit of comfort as everyday comes with its own set of challenges, especially in the life of a missionary.  Apparently, I did a decent job that morning because I was asked to do the message again this coming Sunday.  As always, God has a great way of using us in the world in ways we might not have anticipated!

The other excitement from these past few weeks have been hosting several different guests.  A group of musicians from Boston and New York came down to Haiti to provide lessons and master classes to the Holy Trinity music students.  Two of the visitors were also featured on our last concert this past weekend.  Along with these visiting musicians, I also had my own personal guest from Virginia, Jennifer Green (good friend and mentor) come down for a few days.  One of the things I loved about having everyone here was realizing how much I’ve learned!  Offering insights on how to live here, acting as a translator at times, and just getting to show off the parts of Haiti I’ve come to love so much.  

My favorite part was getting to introduce Jennifer to my Haitian family.  It was in those moments that I realized how blessed I am with the deep friendships I have made here.  And this has to be one of my favorite pictures from my time spent here thus far: my Haitian big sisters, one of my American big sisters, and me....one big happy family!

Finally for this blog post a huge thank you to the sponsors from these past weeks Amanda Matthieson, John-Henry and Nicholas-Ryan Herrington, Martha, Wilburn, Holt, Michael, and Sarah Roberson, and Eleanor Monahan and Richard Stephenson.  Thank you also to this week's sponsors Rebecca, Webster, Rosa, Evelyn, and George Gibson.  It was also really fantastic to talk to the Christ Church Youth Group and the Adult Sunday School Class via Skype.  Thank you everyone for the support and love!

What's Cookin'?

A fun part of learning about a new culture is experiencing their cuisine.  Many times meals are shared to show hospitality to guests and to spend time with family and friends.  Some of my favorite, most meaningful conversations and moments have been shared over a meal.  In the spirit of that sharing and love, this blog post is devoted to presenting some of the Haitian dishes I've been devouring for the past few months.  Please enjoy this crash course in Haitian dining!

Diri kole ak pwa (rice and beans): This is a staple food here and is served with almost every meal.  It comes in several varieties including the one you see here with red beans.

Mayi kole ak pwa (corn with beans): This is ground up corn and once set, it turns into an almost cake-like consistency.  I've decided that this must be the Haitian form of cornbread. 

Boulèt (meatballs): These are little bites of deliciousness!  Inside is ground up meat (not exactly sure which ones...maybe one day I'll ask), flour, and spices.  

Sòs vyann bèf (beef and vegetables in sauce): Beef and chicken are the two meats I'm served the most.  This with the rice and beans is my typical mid-day meal.  One of the best parts of Haitian food is that peppers are used a lot to add a little kick!

Pate Benita: This was first described to me as Haitian pizza and it is truly amazing!  The outside is fried dough and inside you find onions, eggs, cheese, and hotdogs.  There's a woman close to school named Benita who makes some of the best ones.  That is why this pate has her name on it! 

Legim (vegetables): Often my vegetables are served like this.  Sometimes this dish is also served with beef or crab mixed in with the vegetables.

Zaboka ak Fig (avocados & bananas): I realize that everyone has probably seen both of these before, but I had to show off the size of the avocados here.  They're huge and so different from the ones at home that I didn't even know what was given to me the first time I saw one.

Korosòl (soursop): This is another fruit that I had not encountered till I moved here.  A few weeks ago one was given to me and I just kind of looked at it funny and said, "What do I do with this???"  My Haitian friends had a good laugh...thankfully one of them helped me out and made it into juice for me.  It's absolutely delicious and I highly recommend trying it if you ever come across one!  

Bannann fri (fried plantains): This is one of my favorite foods here!  These are often served as a side with goat.  Side note - bannann in Creole means plantain, fig in Creole means banana (there were several very confusing conversations with my Haitian friends till I figured that one out)

Pikliz: The best way to describe this is as spicy coleslaw.  This has quite the punch of flavor to it and is eaten on the bannnann fri.  

Patat fri (fried sweet potatoes): Another yummy food, but one or two of these will fill you up quickly since they are very dense.

Bannann dous fri (sweet fried plantains): These are also quite delicious and make a nice dessert.

Labouyi: This dish has many varieties and is very similar to a sweet porridge.  It is cooked with anise giving it a slightly licorice flavor.  Normally this is eaten in the evenings.

Gato (cake): Okay, so not necessarily a Haitian food, but I had to share with you my first Haitian birthday cake!  Thank you again to all the birthday wishes and love this past Saturday! (Note: my cake did not originally look like that, but Kelsey accidentally sat on the box on ride home.  I think it adds character.)

That's just a little taste of what meals are like here.  Everything has been quite scrumptious and I have already started to make a list of dishes I would like to learn how to make myself.  Thank you my sponsors from these past weeks Paulette Jennis and Don and Yvonne Bingaman.  Also a thank you to my sponsors from this week Bruce and Doris Trant!

When Worlds Collide

As you read in my last post, I had a special visitor this past week from Virginia!  I was blessed with a visit from my priest, Webster Gibson, the rector of my parish Christ Church in Winchester.  Unfortunately we had a little hiccup in his visit (flight cancellation delaying him a day), but once he finally got here we had a great time together!

After picking up Webster from the airport on Friday, we had an exciting ride back to the hotel.  Part of experiencing Port-au-Prince is going for a ride in the traffic...never a dull moment!  A particularly funny moment of the ride was after the two of us got caught up I started explaining some Haitian things to Webster.  One of which was the tap-taps, a mode of public transportation here (see picture above - we were in a car behind one).  I explained to him that you ride in the back and when you need to get off you tap twice on the ceiling to let the driver know to stop.  As I was telling him this, I banged twice on the roof of the car we were riding in as a demonstration, to which our driver slammed on the breaks....Whoops, guess I'll leave my "tap-tap's" to riding in the tap-taps only!

The rest of evening consisted of more catching up and Webster's delivery of all the love from home.  A big thank you to my family, friends and parish for all of the well wishes and birthday fun!  Your support while I am serving here is so very, very much appreciated!!!

The next morning, we got up early and headed downtown for Webster to fully experience a Saturday at Holy Trinity Music School.  This morning was a little different, since I was helping adjudicate auditions for the youngest orchestra at Holy Trinity.  I must say the children did a great job, especially since this was their first audition!  And Webster was a great sport to sit through every audition with me and Fritz, the conductor of this group.  

Afterwards Webster was given the grand tour of the facilities and observed me teach a flute lesson.  In the picture above my student jokingly told me he forgot his flute and that's me saying "What???"  I'm glad to know my students are feeling comfortable enough to joke around with me now!

In the afternoon I headed to choir rehearsal; normally i just sing but this time I helped the students with a song they were doing in English.  I was asked to aid with the pronunciation of the lyrics to which I said a silent prayer in my head to not mess them up too badly!

On Sunday morning Webster came and delivered the sermon for both the English and French services at St. Jacques.  I especially enjoyed listening to the translated version during the French service.  Favorite moment: No one knowing how to translate the word "faithful," leading to a brief pause and some laughter.  

Another beautiful moment was watching my priest stand side-by-side with Pére David to serve the communion.  We were one big family with no one excluded not even the smallest (as you can see above!).  It was fantastic to see the two parts of my worlds come together again! 

The rest of our Sunday was spent relaxing and reflecting; as always I appreciated the conversation and wisdom.  Taking a step back to reflect is a vital part of serving and I was grateful to have Webster here to chat with and to help me see my ministry from a different point of view.  Sadly on Monday afternoon, he headed back to Virginia, but I am so happy for the time were we able to spend together (he was also happy for a reprise from the winter cold!).

Remembering and New Beginnings

Time is flying by here...believe it or not I’ve been here for five months now!  Some days it feels like I have been living here for a very long time and other days (usually moments when Creole makes no sense to me) I feel like I just got here.  And every time I think my life could not get any busier, God finds another way to put me to use. 

The semester began with a special service on January 12 for the anniversary of the earthquake.  As a member of the Holy Trinity Music School choir, I contributed to the service musically.  The cathedral was filled with people and it was quite beautiful to see everyone come together in memory of those who were lost, but also to see the strength among those who are still here. 

  

It was also my first time seeing our Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori.  She delivered the sermon during the service (unfortunately I do not speak French and therefore I'm not exactly sure what was said).  Regardless of my lack of French, I could feel a strong sense of community and camaraderie among the people there.  I felt blessed to be a part of the service and to share in the communion with my fellow Episcopalians.

A highlight of these weeks was a performance I attended of Haitian and Dominican classical musicians.  The musicians attended a week long intensive music festival in Santo Domingo and gave a concert in both the Dominican Republic and in Haiti.  Not only was the music fantastic, but it was wonderful to see the friendships that were made among the musicians through their experience.     

Another cool thing about these past few weeks are the new opportunities that I have found to extend my ministry here in Haiti.  One such opportunity is that I have been a substitute English teacher at the Episcopal seminary in Haiti.  Once a week I meet with first and second year seminarians to teach them English (the white building in the picture is where I teach the first year seminarians).  I have really enjoyed working with the seminarians and getting to know another side of the Episcopal church here in Haiti.  I also got a kick out of being mistakenly called “Sister Ashley” by the students (their regular teacher is a sister with the Society of Saint Margaret).  

In my work with the school they are finding all sorts of new ways to use my skills.  I am now helping create a development office for the school and teaching pedagogy to the wind teachers.  The other skill they have tapped into is my knowledge of marching band.  I am in the process of training the teachers to march because we are starting the very first marching band of Holy Trinity Music School!  The premier of the marching band will be this spring, so more to come on that in the future.

One last highlight of this past week was getting to attend one of the concerts of the International Jazz Festival.  Jazz groups from all over the world came into Port-au-Prince for a week long festival of concerts and workshops.  One of my favorites was Melanie Charles, a Haitian-American jazz singer who is pictured above.  The festival was another example of one of the many wonderful events that happen here in Haiti.  

So as you can see there's been a lot going on and my Haitian life keeps me quite busy.  This week is no different, as my parish already knows I am preparing for a visit from my priest, Webster Gibson!  And no worries, I will make sure he gets the full Haitian experience as Bridget did in December.  A thank you to all of my wonderful sponsors from these past few weeks including  Jeremy, Katy, Allison & Katherine Schain, Tom & Lori Ellington, and Michael & Janie Mohn.  Finally, a thank you to my sponsors this week John & Janet Waller.   

Rock, Paper, Scissors...Ministry!

Normally I wait till at least a week has gone by to post, but there are two missionary moments that I've had this week that I couldn't wait to share.  Read on zanmi mwen (my friends)! 

Living here in Haiti you meet the most interesting variety of people: those that live here and then those who make short trips to visit.  On Monday evening I had the pleasure of meeting another one of the visiting groups.  It consisted of five people from the Episcopal church, three of which were Episcopal priests.  Now being a complete Episco-nerd, I was really excited to chat with my fellow Episcopalians.  Through our conversations an interesting question was posed to me, "How do you feel about the term missionary, do you like being called a missionary?"  I responded, "I have no problem with it because that's what I am."  The others in the group responded with saying they like to shy away from this term because it's too often associated with converting people.  They stated how what they really were there to do on missions was to be among the people and be present with them.  Of course with my awesome training from Mission Personnel, I piped up saying, "Yes absolutely, the ministry of presence!" (Thanks David!)  I continued by telling them that that's part of the reason I like being called a missionary, I enjoy trying to help redefine this term.  

And really that's what this is all about, helping to show Christ's love through our presence here among the people.  When we allow for those opportunities to let God step in and be present among our work, you never know what beautiful moments may occur.  This leads me to what happened during my teaching at the primary school on Tuesday.

When I arrived at Holy Trinity that day, I was sent to go work with my group of flute students.  I had no idea where our flute books were, so I made an impromptu lesson by using half of a chalk board I had found tucked away in a room.  My students were having a great time learning the first five notes of the B-flat major scale.  Then to spice things up, I decided to test them individually on those notes.  The first two students were all-stars and played beautifully.  Now it was down to the last two and we were trying to decide who should go next.  I jokingly said, "Rock, paper, scissors!"  To which I got some strange looks, seeing as that was English and my little friends speak Creole.  But I was now committed to finding a way to teach them how to play rock, paper, scissors.  On the fly I found a piece of paper, which they translated to papaye.  I could motion scissors for them to understand that, but rock was still not translating.  So I looked at my students and said, "Tann (wait)!" and ran outside to get a rock.  I quickly learned that this was a wòch and proceeded to teach them how to play.  By the end of the class my flute students now knew their first five notes of the scale and how to play rock, paper, scissors.  

It was in those moments of teaching them to play such a simple game that we connected in a new way.  I wasn't just the American who comes in to teach them flute a few times a week, I was now a friend with whom they could play games and laugh.  I watched them run away giggling and knew that God was with us.  It was a great day to be a teacher, and an even better day to be a missionary!

Happy Birthday Jesus! Happy New Year World! And Happy Independence Day Haiti!

Dear friends, a lot has happened during this holiday season, and I offer my apologies for not telling you about sooner!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's!  Celebrating the holidays in Haiti was a ton of fun, but I had no doubt that would be the case.  In a lot of ways it felt like a normal Advent season - tons of concerts, lots of tasty food and holiday cheer!  But of course there were a lot of differences too!

Photo by John Cahill

As I said we had a lot of performances in these past few weeks which included the two students ensemble concerts, a special performance at one of the local high schools, the OPST Christmas concert, many church service performances and a special treat of playing for my first wedding in Haiti!  All of the performances were filled with Christmas songs that we sing at home (minus the wedding of course - that was just standard wedding marches and good ol' Pachelbel's Canon).  I particularly enjoyed the OPST concert because not only was I able to play with the orchestra, I also sang with the choir.  It was wonderful having the season filled with music! 

Now to tell you about my Christmas day...it began with a lovely service at St. Jacques followed by coffee and breakfast with my congregation.  I was particularly excited to have french toast (not very Haitian, but it was as close as I could get to my traditional Christmas morning cinnamon rolls - cinnamon was still involved!).  In the late afternoon, I was invited to one of my orchestra friend's house for a Haitian Christmas dinner.  After dinner my friends took me to Parc de la Canne à Sucre, which is a park dedicated to telling the story of sugar cane production in Haiti.  It was a fascinating place to visit, and my Christmas day was topped off with rum raisin ice cream (a Haitian favorite).  

My weekend following Christmas I traveled to Port Salut, in the south western part of Haiti.  Myself and four other musicians from Holy Trinity visited there for the wedding between two of the OPST members.  The wedding was beautiful, and the location was a perfect place for the event!  I've been told that Port Salut has some of the best beaches in Haiti, and as you can see they are rather beautiful!

Upon our return from Port Salut, myself and five musicians from Holy Trinity went to the final tapping of a Haitian TV show.  The show was kind of like the Haitian version of America's Got Talent, and the five musicians from the school were the judges for the show.  It was so much fun to watch, and seeing the Haitian version of the Backstreet Boys was probably the highlight of my evening.  Also because of my "in" with the judges, I was able to get a great shot of the winner from the competition (he's the guy in the middle holding the trophy)!

This now brings me to New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.  My eve was spent bringing it in with friends; a simple, quiet evening (which is hard to believe because the area I live in was kind of crazy with all the people out and about).  On New Year's Day (also the Independence Day of Haiti), I spent my time enjoying friends and food!  One of the traditions on this day is to eat pumpkin soup.  This is because the French forbade the Haitians to eat this particular dish so when they gained their freedom they celebrated by eating it (I had mine a few days early while I was in Port Salut).  

The rest of my week was spent resting and getting ready for the next semester to begin.  School starts back up this week, and we are also preparing for a special service on January 12.  Thank you to everyone back home for the Christmas love; I definitely missed spending the holidays with you.  Also a thank you to the sponsors from the past few weeks Kay Keely, Rachel Shows, Bill and Sue Jarvis, Jerry Casey, and Marty and Nancy Tabaka.  Check back in next week to hear about the service on the 12th!  
  

A Visit from 815!

What a fun week I just had!  As many of you know, a few people came down from the Episcopal Church Headquarters (also fondly known as 815) to visit me in Haiti.  My visitors included Jason Stewart Sierra, officer for Young Adult Leadership and Vocation in the Episcopal Church, Rev. Bridget Coffey, the assistant rector to my home parish, and Katie Webb, an intern in the Mission Personnel Office.  

We kicked off their visit with a walk to the Diocesan Offices on Tuesday morning for a meeting with Bishop Ogé Beauvoir.  They enjoyed meeting him and learning about the different developments going on throughout the Episcopal Church in Haiti.  It was also great prep for the trip we took up north on Wednesday.  

Our trip up to northern part of Haiti to visit Cap-Haïtien was fantastic!  We flew up on Wednesday morning and were met by Pére Samuel at the airport.  In the late afternoon we met with him at the vocational school to talk about the many things that the Episcopal Church is doing in that region.  On Thursday morning we took a tour of the vocational school, Saint Espirit (Episcopal church and school in Cap-Haïtien), Saint Luke (Episcopal church and school in Trou-de-Nord), and Saint Etienne (Episcopal church and school in Limonade).  It was a busy morning, but it was a wonderful opportunity to see the different parts of Haiti and the Episcopal Church's work in these communities.    

Friday morning I had a great time showing off an awesome shop in Pétionville. The shop is called Kay Artizan and sells items handcrafted by local Haitian artists.  We enjoyed getting to see some beautiful artwork and also being able to support the local economy.

On Saturday, we headed into Port-au-Prince for the day so I could teach.  Thanks to a break in my day, I took my visitors down to the Museum of the Haitian National Pantheon.  The museum contains two sections, one explaining the history of Haiti and the other containing artwork from Haitian artists.  Not only did my visitors love the trip, I really enjoyed being able to learn more about Haitian history and see some amazing artifacts.  I was particularly impressed by the anchor from Christopher Columbus' Santa Maria!

In the afternoon, Jason, Bridget and Katie had the opportunity to sit in on an OPST rehearsal.  We began rehearsing Christmas music for our next concert on December 21.  

Sunday morning I had the special treat of hearing a sermon from Bridget!  She was invited to preach and celebrate the Eucharist at St. Jacques.  It was so exciting to see a melding of my two worlds and I was so happy to worship with new and old friends!

It was such a fantastic week!  I loved getting to show off my new home and work to Jason, Bridget and Katie.  There were so many laughs and wonderful moments of fellowship shared during the visit.  I feel so blessed to have an amazing support system through the church and was delighted to celebrate an early Christmas.  A big thank you to Jason, Bridget and Katie for the visit and to my Christ Church family for all the Christmas love!

Also, a thank you to the sponsors from the past few weeks: Robin & Conrad Koneczny, Kevin Lonabaugh, Amelia Wheeler, and Leslie & Scott Harper!  And one last thank you to Jason for the beautiful pictures in my blog this week!