More Than Meets the Eye

Five and a half hours later, we arrive at the Mole!  First thing we did was get stuffed to bursting with great Haitian food and then we were shipped off to the beach.

WOW.  Beautiful.
Sinclair, one of the interns, found a reef a little further out and called out for us to come see it.  Of course, I brought my scuba mask and snorkel along for the ride.  At first I was thinking, "I can't tread water for too long... I'll take a look and then swim back."  I ended up staying out there for about 45 minutes.

Yes, you read that correctly.  45 MINUTES.  People reading this who don't know me too well are thinking, "So?..."  But my family is probably laughing in disbelief right now.  But it's true!  I, Melissa, can officially tread water for long periods of time without panicking because my feet don't touch.

And boy, was it worth it!  The reef seriously was beautiful!  Coral, fish of every size and color, little caves for them to swim in and out of... amazing.  When we went back out Sunday, we even got to see this really cool shipwreck (not any farther out, don't worry).  I felt like I was in Finding Nemo--complete with overprotective father.  ;)

(PS I accidentally told this story to Papa on Father's Day and regretted it the moment it came out of my mouth.  I figured since I already blurted to him, it'd be safe to blog about.  Papa, sorry for worrying you on Father's Day!  I promise I'm being safe.  We weren't out too far, and we were in a group.  Love you!)

After church on Sunday, we had another Survivor: Haiti challenge.  The task: sandcastles.  One of the things we were being judged on was creativity, so I thought it would be interesting to do a drip castle--which apparently no one had heard of before.  (Is that a Cuban thing, too?  Like hot sauce in spaghetti?)  Anyway, it turned out pretty cool.  We made a drip spiral staircase all the way to the tip, a moat, and a really cool bridge made of sticks.

At one point, Kelsey, from the other team, came over and started watching us.  It made me nervous the way she was looking at our castle, so I yelled out, "Spy!  Spy!"  She said, "You know... this looks a lot cooler than I thought it would."  At first, I was a little offended, but really it was a compliment.  From far away, a drip castle really does look stupid, but when you get closer, you see the details: the spiraling towers, the arches, the walls--all made drop by drop.

It was more than meets the eye.  Just like when we looked at the water, all we saw was blue.  It took the effort of looking deeper to realize the beauty that was just below our feet.  Maybe it's a lot like Haiti, too.  Maybe all the Haitians need is someone who will not just look or stare, but really see them.  To look past the first glance and and see the beautiful details of each distinct person.

Prie:
First of all, thank you so much CUMC for praying for me and the Haitian people.  I felt it!
Second, Melonnie is the leader of the interns, and she's sick.  Again.  Girl is seriously always sick.  We kinda of need her and love her, so healing would be great!

Loue:
Tomorrow my new group comes in and *drumroll* it's a Neighbors Project group!  Whoo!  I will be spending a week in La Baie and going to Augustine each day for all sorts of fun activities.  This group was one of the first Neighbors Projects ever started, so it should be really interesting to see what type of relationship has been built.  I can't wait to tell you all about it.  (By the way, I don't know if I'll be able to blog while I'm there.  If you go a week without hearing from me, I promise I'm not dead!)

Creole lesson:
Deye mon gen mon.
Beyond mountains there are mountains.
The Haitian proverb book I have interprets this as meaning "There's a hidden meaning to what is being said."
Here's how I see it:
We don't have mountains in Florida.  If you look out across a field, you see the horizon. In Haiti, you would see a mountain.  It completely blocks the view.  So really you have two choices: (1) either assume that there is or is not another mountain on the other side or (2) go check it out for yourself.  Haiti is more than meets the eye.

Love from the beautiful mountains of Haiti,
Melissa