Thanksgiving Weekend

I forgot that Thanksgiving is solely an American holiday. Stores don't shut down in Haiti like they do back home; Friday isn't any more full of traffic or savings than Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday; and British people and Australians don't celebrate this holiday (although they did join us for dinner to celebrate this year)!

This Thanksgiving was pretty difficult for me. It was the first year I've ever spent Thanksgiving away from my family and the first time in probably eight years that I haven't spent it with one of my best friends. I was homesick, to say the least. Luckily, my church family had big plans that day! The O'Kelley's were nice enough to open their home to 40-50 of the members of our congregation so we could celebrate Thanksgiving together, American style (minus the stuffing). It was even more awesome than I expected. I had sweet potato marshmallow casserole, homemade cranberry sauce, apple crumble, and pumpkin cheesecake all for the very first time! The night was spent with good friends and great food. A special thanks to the O'Kelley's for hosting us!

Before dinner, I was thinking of all the things I'm thankful for.... God and how wonderful and mighty He is; my amazing family and friends (both here and back home); the people who have donated to my past trips to Haiti and my current trip; those who have prayed over me; for 12Stone Church and my nameless Haitian house church; my two roommates, Sarah and Rachael; my boss, Thony, and his family; the country of Haiti and all of the people here (natives and ex-pats alike) who are joining together to bring forth change; for vegetables, coffee, Nutella, peanut butter M&Ms, Thanksgiving dinner, and so so so much more :)  

One of the many tables in the O'Kelley's kitchen

After getting home from Thanksgiving dinner, Rachael, Sarah, and I went to bed early so we could wake up somewhat rested for our trip to Bethany. We left Friday morning around 5:30 a.m. and got to the World Hope International sponsored school in Bethany around 12:30 p.m. In total, World Hope International sponsors over 70 children at the school there. We performed an audit, passed out Christmas cards and gifts sent from donors, and got a few group shots of the children.

Some of the World Hope International sponsored children in the village of Bethany

Although we made the trip to Bethany for the sponsored children,
we spent some time with other children from the village too.
Their smiles are so precious!

The drive to Bethany is not one that should be made round-trip in one day. Knowing that, Thony told us we'd be staying the night in the closest city nearby, the city of Cap-Haitian. He asked us if there was anything in particular we wanted to do there. Our joint response was going to the Citadel and riding up the mountain on donkeys. Being the wonderful person he is, he arranged that for us!

Twa Fi (aka me, Sarah, and Rachael) in front of King Henri Cristophe's palace

Twa fi and our donkeys with our guide and his horse

The Citadel :)

We met some Chilean UN trainees running up and down the mountain
waving their flag. You wave that flag, buddy. Represent your country!

Our guide telling us that King Henri Cristophe committed suicide
and was probably buried under that big piece of cement in the background

The view from the top. Mountains beyond mountains.

We felt like being tourists for the day.
All three of us bought a hat and took a billion pictures.

The king's palace. He had a giant mirror in that arch and when the sun hit it,
it was so bright that one could not see the palace at all. Talk about smart!

Looking at the ruins of a life Haiti once knew