So much has happened to take us from our home in Chicago to our current home on the St.Charles Seminary compound in the city of Croix des Bouquetes in Haiti. The best way to recount our epic send-off to Haiti would be to list all the celebrations and milestones over the past few weeks:
- We threw a rager our last night in Chicago where all our closest friends
over the past four and a half years sent us off in style.
- I turned 28, our niece Penelope turned 4.
- Both our moms turned another year more lovely (ages left undisclosed).
- The car turned 100,000 miles the day Aaron and I moved out of Chicago and arrived at my aunt's house to unpack, where we were greeting by a roaring and cheering Ramsay family.
 |
| 100,000 miles old |
After catching up with friends and family in Detroit during a four day whirlwind and ensuring our family had a firm grasp on using Skype,we met Aaron's brother Jeff in Jacksonville, Florida where we had a four day non-stop oddesy of good food, friends, living room jam sessions, bike rides over beautifully lit bridges, and adventures ranging from a zip line course through the trees over an alligator farm to surfing lessons. Thank you Jeff for showing us an amazing time and proving your case; Jacksonville
is indeed magical!
 |
| Abby and Abuelo aced the Skype test without batting an eye |
 |
| Bikeride tour of Jax |
 |
| Crikey mate! |
 |
| The Ceresnie surf team |
Today we arrived in Haiti without much of a hassle from what I recall of my previous trip to Haiti. I had Aaron prepared for a nightmare scene at the airport and instead we were greeted by all the modern-day airport amenities (I caught myself caressing the new counter top at the customs desk in awe). I was also awestruck at the sheer amount of building happening and limited earthquake rubble compared to my memories from before. Incredible! I also noticed there were no tent villages in sight, even from the airplane, but from what I understand of what's been happening to evict those internally displaced people (IDP) camps, that may not be a good sign of progress. My first day impressions are that Haiti is like a patient you don't see for a while...you're amazed at the amount of recovery from the initial injury that you wouldn't be able to appreciate without the gap in time, even if recovery is a long road.
We're enjoying the peace and simplicity of our lives at this moment. We both accidentally left our two most treasured music items in Jacksonville: my iPod with all music and treasured mixes on it and Aaron left his guitar. Humbling lesson number one: how to live without first-world hobbies. Surprisingly, this didn't upset us and we look forward to replacing that time with other interests that nurture us. Tomorrow starts work and I think we'll both feel great once we're into a routine.
 |
| Alright, so we're not exactly leaving all first world comforts behind |
-Clare
No comments:
Post a Comment