Port au Prince

Where do I start? We’ve been back in Port-au-Prince for two weeks now and it feels like we’ve moved to an entirely different country (again!). Pignon, the village we lived in for three months, could be described as slow-paced, relaxed, primitive, open (people were always coming in and out of the camp), adventuresome and animal inhabited.

Port-au-Prince on the other hand is a BIG City. It’s 10 degrees hotter, the streets are crowded, it’s fast paced (except when you’re stuck in traffic), definitely less primitive, and the required security precautions makes meeting just any random person, less likely. It’s still adventurous and animal inhabited, (if you want to call cockroaches animals), but there really is no comparison between Port-au-Prince and Pignon.

So instead of trying to describe it all to you, which would take pages and pages, I’ll just start by telling you some of the things I like about living in Port-au-Prince. First all, Port-au-Prince has grocery stores (yeah!!), you can buy almost anything, and the main roads are paved!!! I love having our own home with a secure yard and even a tropical garden. I like the fact that Jayden finally gets his very own room, and even gets to sleep in a crib, (thanks to Grandma and Grandpa), no more pack-and-play! I love the fact that he has a gated play area between the kitchen and living room, and that I don’t have to watch him every second he’s awake in fear that he will escape out of the camp and walk to the river on his own, or that he’s eating dirty things off the ground, that will make him sick. I’m thrilled that I’m not getting eaten alive by mosquitoes all day and that I can go to the bathroom at night without worrying about stepping on any critters. I love working in our kitchen, which has a stove, oven, refrigerator and even a mini freezer. I like that we have tile floors, no more cement, and that I can walk around on bare feet inside rather then always having to wear shoes. There are just so many things I’m thankful for!

The village must have been really awful, you’re probably starting to think to yourself. How could anyone, have survived there? But, that’s not true! I loved living in the village, I met so many people, and learned so much! It also helped me appreciate things here in Port-au-Prince a lot more too. I believe God has a purpose for everything. The reasons WE went to the village for three months was to learn Creole and study the culture. Looking back now, I think there were more reasons then that! We needed some good lessons on “Appreciation and Thankfulness.” We would have missed some important lessons if we would have moved straight from Canada to Port-au-Prince and never experienced village life.

For example, food is expensive here, but at least we can buy it. Our roof in our house leaks, but it doesn’t bother me one bit. Jason and I just pull out all our Tupperware containers and place them strategically under the drips. Coming from Canada, I might have been disturbed, but now that I’ve lived in the village, a few leaks, who cares? Our house has geckos and cockroaches, sounds terrible doesn’t it? But at least it doesn’t have bats, rats, and tarantulas. Give me cute little mosquito eating lizards and cockroaches any day. Anyone reading this may think, “Wow, what happened to her,” but you’ve never lived in the village, have you? So like I said, I believe God has a purpose for everything, and I am ever so thankful for what we have and how richly he has blessed us.