A girl with God and a lot of yeses in the middle


Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Obama

So many of you are wandering, what is she about to post.

Obama is the President of the United States and much loved in Haiti.

Sunday night I was skyping with a very good friend of mine when our driver called me in the middle of our chat.  On the weekends he leaves our van at our house, but during the work week he drives it home to PAP every night.

Here is our dialogue (meanwhile my american friend is only listening to what I'm saying)

Sunday night before the work week begins
Amanda, "Hi driver, how are you?"
Driver: "Good, ok I will see you tomorrow."
A: "Yeah, see you tomorrow.  Go to pastors at 8:15, and then la kaymwen" (my house in creole)
D: "Ok, I'll take Obama."
A: "Ok, what time does Obama leave?"
D: "6:30."
A: "Ok, see you tomorrow."

Skype friend, "Obama???"

Driver calls back
A: "Hi, driver.  What is going on?"
D: "I need to leave the van in your city tomorrow, elections could cause me to get stuck.  You need the van, I'll take Obama."
A: "Ok, great, take Obama and leave early."
D: "Ok, see you tomorrow."
A: "Ok, bon nui."

When Obama became the President of the United States huge white transit buses arrived in Haiti that run between larger cities.  They are like NYC transit buses, but they drive through the dirt roads of Haiti.  I'm not sure what the truth is, but Haitians believe that Obama sent them here because they came at the beginning of his presidency.  It could be true, but I don't think it is.  So my skype friend was wandering what in the world an Obama was and when I told her it is a huge white public transit bus she died laughing.  Every day we talk about Obama.  We point at Obama, we drive around Obama, and our Haitian friends talk about Obama all the time, except they are not talking about the man, they are referring to the bus they take to come to work.

Here is Obama in Haiti :)

Today I also found out that our driver has assigned a vehicle persona to each of us based on the sound of the vehicles horn, and I have the honor of being Obama.  He compares me to a huge white bus that takes over the road with a very loud honk.  Hmmm, made me think a little about myself.  He also told me that I would make a good boss because I am very serious.  So, apparently I'm a very loud, large, white person, that is serious.  Ok.

If the actual Obama ever reads this blog, which I think there is about a 0% chance he will, I hope he would laugh.

Also pray this week.  Yesterday the elections in Haiti came to a semi-close end.  It is very clear who has won and the people are very happy.  Our driver in the above dialog left our van here in our city last night because he was nervous about not being able to come to work because of post election result protests.  After they revealed the results around 6:30pm he called me with a demeanor of jubilation saying, "Amanda, I'm coming to work tomorrow!!!!!"  In the background of the phone call I could hear a party in the background.  Pray that this new President would lead the people of Haiti in wisdom, humility, and confidence.

Also, three of our team members are out of country this week including Nick the man in our house.  This means that 3 girls are running our house.  We are womaning the generator, pumping water, and fixing things when they break.  I honestly feel like I can take on the world now that I can start a generator.  You can see a funny video if you scroll down on my Facebook page.

I feel like life here becomes more normal every day.  It is an interesting experience because it means that what was normal is becoming more distant and less normal.  It makes me sad and glad at the same time.  We have also completed a total of 70 homes which is super exciting.  Continue to pray for grace and favor in our village as land ownership is really sticky in Haiti.  We want to make the best decisions as a team.

I'm also looking good :)  Mainly I'm really tan.  It's nice to be tan on April 5th.  And to be more tan than I was at the end of last summer.  Mom, I wear a lot of sunscreen so don't worry.  Today marks 6 weeks in Haiti.  I can't believe I've made it this far.  I actually think it's a miracle.  Only 2 more weeks and I'll have been here 2 months.  2 months is a land mark, get ready for that blog post in 2 weeks.

Ok, I will now complete this very long post.  Thank you for reading.  Thank you for praying.  And thank you for sharing with me how your life in Jesus is affected by my words and experiences.  Remember, I'm just a girl, in love with a very kind God, who will always say yes to his adventures and plans.  Jesus is worthy of all things.

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