Heading to Haiti!!!

Where to begin...at the beginning(ish)

Haiti and its amazing people have managed to take me from life in L.A. to life in La Plaine. It all started with my August 2010 trip to Haiti with a team from my church in Los Angeles, Pacific Crossroads (PCC). The initial goal of my first trip was admittedly selfish; prove to my past employer that I had work-life balance and post as many “altruistic” photos as possible on Facebook. Thankfully God has changed my life, motives and career goals since my initial trip.

Upon returning to Los Angeles, I would always find myself thinking more about malaria and less about marketing. Free time and admittedly a few work hours were spent learning more about how our geographic neighbor, Haiti, could seem so many worlds away. In May 2012, I decided it was time to leave my job to pursue a different career path. After spending the month of May with my friends at Souls Winning Ministries (SWM) in Haiti, I continued backpacking for a few months. During this time I did my best to practice patience as I prayed that God would continue to guide my next steps. Just a few days after returning home, a compelling partnership opportunity was presented to me…

On Wednesday, October 24, pending a few doctor’s appointments and details,  I will be heading to Haiti for 8 months to work on several projects with partners from Souls Winning Ministries and Pacific Crossroads Church. Aside from having 40+ constant playmates, my 9 to 5 time in Haiti will be spent focusing on the progression of three separate projects; micro-finance, education reform and young-adult mentorship. I have been asked by the different partners to address these three areas to not only train future leaders, but to continue to propel the community towards self-sustainability. I feel extremely blessed and very excited to be part of such a unique partnership opportunity. I have seen firsthand the need for there to be collaborative community communication to ensure that SWM will become more sustainable and continue to lift up local leaders. It will be life-changing to use my gifts and abilities to serve the people of Haiti, and to experience God’s grace in this environment.

 

I will be writing about project progress, my own updates and life in Haiti on this blog which may, at times, reflect my flawed self, not PCC or SWM J. Thank you for your support!

 

 

 

 

Thai Massage and Singo Scrub

Stateside, I rarely splurge on any beauty treatment that I don't have a group-on for. Luckily while traveling I've been able to experience a spa-splurge in each country. My insights on each below;

Thai Massage: Before arriving in Thailand my friend warned me that massages of any and every kind were extremely accessible and to pace myself. But let's be honest, who can pass up a $10 massage? Not I! Just two days after arriving in Thailand I experienced my first Thai Foot Massage. Greg and I were passing a clean and nicely decorated spa when I suggested we get a foot massage. Greg is a man's man. He doesn't use face creams, has never heard of the word "serum" and takes 8 minutes to get ready, shower included. I thought he would pass quickly but two months apart can make compromise easy so he agreed. We changed into ridiculous sumo wrestler like spa pants and let the two masseuses go to town. WOW! They clearly had some training. They poked, pushed and stretched our tired feet for an entire hour...for approx. 5 USD. We were so happy with the spa and service, I returned the next day for a real, full body Thai Massage. I had the same masseuse as the day before, who was skilled and professional while giving me the most painful massage of my life. I'm still not sure what exactly she was doing or what undiscovered muscle group she was massaging but it felt...effective. Mid-massage, although my eyes were closed, I am fairly certain that she was standing on my back. Pain aside, it was worth the 10 USD because she definitely put her all into it, I smelt like a Pina Colada and it felt like I had worked out for hours without lifting a finger.

Singo Scrub: On Zanzibar Island in Stone Town I had an amazing treatment at Lemon Spa known as the Singo Scrub. Traditionally reserved for women who are about to get married, the Singo Scrub is guaranteed to leave your skin silky smooth. Our friend 'Felicity' worked her magic to get me the locals rate. Lemon Spa, while small, was clean and tranquil. I changed into a kanga and was led to a private room for the scrub to start. The scrub is a soothing, sultry mix of spices indigenous to the island. I closed my eyes as clove, sandalwood and cinnamon exfoliated off all the dust from the day. My masseuse was slow and intentional as she scrubbed away. The smell of the herbs and spices colliding was amazing. I may or may not have tried to taste the scrub that was on my face! After the initial scrub I was instructed to rinse off (in HOT water...another highlight) and return. The scrub finished with a light oil mix. I thought I had throughly rinsed off but I met with Greg and our friends for sundowners at Africa House and found myself picking out cinnamon and clove from my hair. Having silky smooth skin and smelling like a Christmas cookie isn't so bad so the Singo Scrub gets two thumbs up!

Represent!

We have met some amazing people from all over the world. Here are the countries that have been represented so far;

• England
• Italy
• Spain
• Republic of Iraq
• Georgia
• Japan
• South Korea
• Costa Rica
• Brazil
• Australia
• Canada
• Argentina
• South Africa
• France
• New Zealand
• Germany
• Poland
• India
• Belgium
• Czech Republic
• Netherlands

My new camera...second time "wound"

This is a post in the works. As mentioned, my digital camera is hanging out with lost shoes, hats, watches and fellow cameras on a cliff hillside in Olduenız. Fear not, I have just purchased a brand new, top of the line, KODAK Ultra 27...wıth flash! (after 8 seconds of course). I already filled up one and have decided that with this new dısposable camera I will attempt to take just 1 or 2 photos a day. When you can clıck away and edit on digital cameras you dont have to be selective. I no longer have that luxury and will try to make the most of it by pretending that this was my genius, take the scenery in, plan and you will painlessly only have 27 photos to view!

Butterfly Valley Bliss

Our next stop after Fethiye was Butterfly Valley, a much less developed more pristine stop on the Lycian Way. Our dolmus slowly drove up and up until out of the overpacked windows, drop dead (literally) gorgeous views of the ocean were revealed. I want to say that I was cool, calm and collective as we wound our way up the narrow, guard rail free cliff side but my overly sweaty palms said otherwise...ew! The ride all together took less than 30 minutes but I was thankful to be in control of my own steps as we got off the bus. Our friends had suggested that we stay at Montenegro Motel and we were not disappointed! The laid back hotel manager Bayram showed us to the charming air conditioned bungalows equipped with their own furnished patıo. The best part of Montenegro was still to come, a traditional Turkish breakfast and dinner was included in the price. We weren't sure what to expect but obediently went to the restaurant balcony at 8 p.m. Just in time for sunset, we watched in awe at the seemingly fake sun as it slowly hid behind the mountains ahead. We were surrounded by cliffs on 3 sides and the ocean. Then came dinner...all 5 mouth-watering, carb-loaded courses. First the soup, then salad, then some fancy French word that starts with an "a" that I can´t spell, next the main course and fınally dessert. The food was amazing and the homemade bread was worth every calorie.
The next day we decided to make the trek down to Butterfly Valley (i guess we were technically on the valley´s cliff side). We had heard that the hike could be potentially dangerous. We decided to consult a local and asked Bayram. He was not convincing either way but asked to examine our shoes. Showing him our dusty,trusty, tread free TOMS, he gave us a kiss of approval and we were on our way. "Just follow the red," he yelled after us. As we approached the cliff side I realized that this was not going to be an easy hike. Greg, fearless as always, led the way. Easy enough at first, just a few steep steps and lose dirt. Then came the ropes. Greg and I had been rock climbing on a cliff wall in Santa Barbara. I felt confident that I could fınd some good features and sturdy rocks to cling to in a general "rock climbing" kind of way. But the catch was...there was no catch...no belay or harness. Just cliff, a rope tied to a tree branch and my seemıngly always sweaty palms. Greg volunteered to go first. I followed trying hard not to look down or up for that matter. Yikes! There were a few more sections of the trail like that but the hike really was amazing. We even stopped to enjoy our own echhhooo...echo...echo.
When we fınally reach the ground the water was gorgeous and the beach was almost empty. It was worth the work. We swam, enjoyed a bag of overpriced chips and looked for cool rocks (ok so mainly me on the last one..thanks mom). Although I dıdn´t see a single butterfly the adrenaline of the hike mıxed wıth the ıncredible scenery made me feel that we had stumbled on a secret piece of paradise. Of course we still had to go back up which proved scarıer at times than on the way down. Later we got a hold of someone´s Lonely Planet and flipped to Butterfly Valley. Turns out numerous tourist have met their end on the hike down to Butterfly Valley. Ignorance can be bliss.

Flying and Crying

I have not kept up with updates so now I’ll have to hop around a bit (and out of order!)

We were lucky enough to spend a lot of time on the Lycian Way although thankfully not hiking it as originally planned. First we went to Fethiye and spent time exploring the city, marina and making friends. Many of the friends we made were met on the bus ride from Pamukkale (more on that later!) Fethiye is home to spectacular rock tombs built into the side of the mountain. It’s unreal to think that thousands of years ago without today's tools, people were able to create building inside of cliff sides. The following day, and thanks to Greg's expert negotiating skills, we opted to take a 12 Island Tour (for 1/2 the cost) with our new friends from the bus and hostel, 3 Korean girls and 1 South African bra. Although I think we saw more like 6 islands it was an ideal day. We swam in the cool blue waters, hiked on uninhabited islands and took turns jumping off the top of the boat when docked. One of the girls, who admittedly didn't know how to swim, bravely climbed to the top of the boat where the platform was and sweaty hands holding, we jumped into the water below that seemed much farther away when looking down. Once back on shore the girls and I contemplated visiting neighboring Oludeniz famous for their Paragliding. With nervous smiles we agreed to give it a try. The guys, no nerves at all, agreed.

FLYING: Although I was excited and eager to take the leap and paraglide nerves were mounting as we waited over 4 hours safely on the ground in Oludeniz. Finally our bus to take us to the top of the mountain arrived. Unfortunately, it didn't help. Our driver, who either had too much Raki or was sensitive to high altitude and lacked sufficient oxygen to the brain, drove like a complete maniac. Driving entirely too fast with no guard rails on a gravel one-lane road, I tried to ignore the feeling of the back tires loosing all grip. As a whole we asked him to slow down...apparently a challenge to go faster. I was ironically so thankful to reach the top I could hardly wait to jump off the cliff. I met my "pilot" Atilla who gave me the instructions to walk when he says walk and run when he says run. The whole harness process taking less than 5 minutes, it wasn't long until he said it...RUN! At that we were gliding through the air with breathtaking scenery below us. It was INCREDIBLE! The beaches, the oceans, the mountains, all from a bird's eye view. It was picture perfect.
CRYING: In fact it was so picture perfect that I quickly grabbed for my camera to take a picture...it was not there. The rush of adrenaline mixed with the disappointment of losing all my pictures from the last 2 months (I tried to back my camera up in Zanzibar but it didn't work) was a polar opposite mix of emotions. I laughed, I held back tears (at least until we landed) and I did my best to enjoy the rest of the descent. Atilla made this quite easy as we did air acrobatics and spun until the skin on my cheeks shook and my head couldn't move from the force.

Despite our reckless driver and losing my camera, Paragliding was well worth it! The scenery of soft blue, white and green is an image I won't forget. The feeling of floating through the air and then later spinning through it is something I will always remember!

Sugar and Spice

I thoroughly enjoy cooking so taking a spice tour on Spice Island (Zanzibar) seemed like a no brainer but, after mixed reviews, I waited until my last full day in Zanzibar to book the tour. For about $20 I hopped on a private taxi to some of the neighboring spice farms. We drove past a town called Bububu named phonetically for the sound the old passing train would make as it rumbled through the small town. We started to drive through more rural towns, the real, less touristy Zanzibar , until we arrived at a nondescript spice farm. We wandered through the forest on dirt paths as Sabri, our jolly guide, pointed out different herbs and spices. We weaved in and out of trees, bushes and brush learning loads of information as we went along. Although I have not cross checked any of his facts, I feel that overall it was a fun and informative tour. For example, did you know that cinnamon comes from the bark off a type of evergreen tree or that nutmeg clears up congestion and is used in many cough syrups?
As I was busy absorbing all these new facts the tour crescendo happened as a local shimmied up a coconut tree while singing "Jambo Bwana". Four ripe coconuts fell to the ground for us to enjoy. The perfect refresher after a great tour!