Thanksgiving, Snapshots, & School:Tout Bagay Vini Ansom

It’s been nearly 4 months since I moved to Haiti! I need to get more regular at this blog update thing. J

This post has ended up being a combination of thankfulness, visits, and the school campus!

Thanksgiving has come and now it’s the day after the “holiday,” but I still have off school, and I’m still overwhelmed by all I have to be thankful for. Sometimes I just need to name the things so that I remain aware of the thankfulness that ought to dwell in my heart.

Today I spent most of the day in my classroom doing some grading, attempting to squish the rest of Pride & Prejudice into 2 weeks, and getting my ‘schtuff together! I started getting anxious about all I need to get done still before the end of the school year and before I leave for Christmas break. It was one of those moments when you realize certain things on your to-do list took terrifying longer than you’d foreseen, and now you’re left feeling like you got close to nothing done. Well, of course that wasn’t true; I had accomplished some things just not what I’d hoped.

I struggled to mentally recall the verse that talks about being anxious, so that I could recite it in my mind and from my mouth. All that came to mind though was, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). Hmmm…maybe more appropriate actually. Eventually the familiar Philippians 4:6-7 passage about not being “anxious about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition…,” the one that I’d needed to memorize in college because of my many anxiety-bound fits, did come to mind.

I didn’t want to choose anxiety in that moment. Yuck! So, instead of looking at my to-do list and freaking out about what I hadn’t done, I grabbed a fresh sticky note and wrote down all the things I had accomplished so far! Thank you, Lord, for letting me be imperfect but calling me forth to move on into better things! I love how you always do that!

A phrase I learned from a dear friend of mine, who is the head cook in the cafeteria here at the school, last night at our community Thanksgiving celebration is: “Tout bagay vini ansom” (Everything comes together.) And so it always does!

Since I last put keys to page on this blog, my friend Beth Anne from Reading, PA has come and gone! She was so sweet to take her weeklong work vacation and fly to Haiti to visit Elisa and me! It was such a precious time, and she is officially my first visitor from home! J We went to college together and both graduated with Englishy minds—hers in journalism and mine in English education. She spoke to several classes while she was here—middle school and senior classes—talking about what she does as a journalist and answering lots of great questions.

To continue in a thankful rant, Beth Anne’s trip was actually made entirely successful on the morn of her final day here! I don’t always get up at the first ring of my alarm, but on that particular day I heard the unmistakable shuffling of the sticky trap that had found its prey. There was no way I was going to fall back asleep. Beth Anne barely opened her eyes as I shone my phone’s light on the mouse’s body so that she could see what she’d come for originally. You see, she writes for the Reading Eagle and was put in charge of writing an article on household rodents. Before she came, she mentioned how she’d hoped to have some stories to talk about after leaving here! God sure is funny like that, huh?

Yesterday I had one of the best Thanksgivings ever. I slept in; had a sweet time with the Lord; Skyped/Google Hungout (??)/telephoned  my good friend Brit (all because the previous options kept cutting out). I rode a moto (public motorcycle) with Elisa down to Epidor to get French fries; had several cups of tea; helped make green bean casserole; spoke to almost my entire family face-to-face via Skype; received a text message from my 93 year-old Grandma; dinned with the finest of folks (36+ teachers, staff, and other great people); had glass bottles of Coke; learned new Kreyol phrases; ate turkey; watched a movie; and had some good dress up fun with Jen to top it all off!

Wow.

Originally this post was going to be about the school because one of my uncles requested I put up pictures of the campus. I finally went around the school today to get some snapshots.

The view beside the high school building.

Stairs up to the high school building.

The high school/middle school building. I get to go up these stairs every day! :)

The parking lot where students' rides wait.

Just some of the beautiful flowers on campus.

Teacher's lounge! I tend to not do my best work in here; there are usually way too many things/people to get side-tracked by/with. 

(Above): Playground (Below): Elementary building

Beautiful entanglement! 

Soccer field. Teams come to play on this field most nights of the week.

Beautiful flowers!

The art building.

The chapel.

"Out back"

Breathtaking bark.

The cafeteria. We always eat outside; there is no indoor seating.
Yay for beautiful weather!

The path I take each and every school day. :)

"It was You who set all the boundaries of the earth." Psalm 74:17a
The net that catches balls from the soccer field from going out
onto the street.

A nice tree that I like to sit under during after school duty
and for our weekly prayer meetings every Thursday. 

For my dad because he loves plants like this!!

 And so these are some snapshots of the world I am in. If ever you have a plane ticket to be spent and a few days to spare, consider taking me up on my hospitality! 

Until we talk again.

~Ash aka. Ti Chou