Carrefour, Haiti

Once in a while, you go somewhere new and your heart is well with it. There are distinct smells like the burning trash and the potent fruits, extreme traffic, people like Obed, DB, and “Mama”, and the laughs and smiles that never escape the grip of your brain.

As soon as I arrived, I was surprisingly met with a “COLBY!!!!!!” and a warming hug by David Heady, our contact from Titanyen, Haiti (World Race 2010). This visit with him could have completely made my stay and I gone home right then and there but through the Haitians arguing over which taxi driver drives us, hearing “Blanc” over and over and the warming hearts of the innocent, I quickly remembered why these are my people – my other people.

As I walked around, took a whiff of “fresh” air, brushed up on my Creole, got to know the people of Carrefour, and started to get my hands dirty with them, I began to remember why. God has given them to me to love.

Not long after I got here, people were hollering my name in the streets, the men where desiring to speak with me in English, the little girls giggled through my passing and we played soccer into the night – hardcore soccer (I made it into a wrestling match real quickly).

Random Facts:

The Haitians are already calling me “big force” (their way of saying ‘strong’) and “crazy” (pronounced ‘foo’ in Creole). It seems that I have heard those before!

I slept on the roof last night and it was AMAZING! Sleeping in the house allows for your skin to bake (it’s so hot) and mosquitoes to land.

After playing soccer in the streets for a few hours, I was covered in dirt – and loved it!

I got slapped on the butt in passing after I told pastor’s wife how amazing her food was.

You think American fuel is expensive? Gasoline is over $5 per gallon here.

The goats are probably the liveliest things in the streets, except the kids when the soccer ball is out.