Where He leads...: My new home!

My new home!

0 Comments

Well, I've officially moved into my new home here in Haiti! After all the months of preparing, I can't believe that I'm actually here, settled in, sitting on my bed, and ready to begin a new chapter of ministry with Children's Nutrition Program. I love the CNP house! This is the fourth place I've lived in Haiti, not counting short visits elsewhere, and I think I love this house the most. I suppose there were bits of each place I enjoyed... I loved staying right on the beach with Samaritan's Purse. I loved the bigger "yard" and big social area at the God's Planet Guest House. I loved the air-conditioned dining room and kitchen at the Georgia House. And here at the CNP house... I love my bedroom. It suits me. And I really love all of the social areas throughout the house. If I want privacy, I can shut myself in my bedroom (for as long as I don't have a roommate anyway), or I can spread out and read or chat in the sitting area upstairs or at one of the two balcony/patio areas outside.

I know my family especially would love to see where I'm living to get a better idea of my life here, so I figured I'd go ahead and give everyone the grand tour!

With my back against the perimeter wall, I had to take two photos and merge them together to get this exterior view. There is not much of a yard, but there are several fruit trees and a small garden.

Look at all this stuff!! I brought with me from the U.S. the 6 items you see in the front... the two suitcases on the left, the laptop bag, the smaller duffel on the right, the rubbermaid container, and the stuff sack with the blanket I'm using to try to make the mattress softer. :) The stuff in the back I either left behind last summer or when I came in November. It's an insane amount of stuff and more than I truly need, but I decided to bring as much as I could for myself and others and hopefully I will be covered for most of the year. It's not easy or cheap to buy things here and I can't receive care packages. Ok, I'm done defending my over-packing! :)

My nest. I love it! It's colorful and perfect for me. :)

I like to be organized. My parents may disagree as my room generally looks like a tornado hit it--and hit it again! But the truth is, I'm a bit OCD when it comes to organizing. I want everything to have a place. If it doesn't have the perfect spot, I will just leave it lying around. So I tried to come prepared with storage boxes, organizers, and baskets so everything can have a home and I'll keep my sanity and a clean living space! I highly recommend over-the-door organizers for anyone living in tight quarters.

My "closet". My boss Kerry and her husband hung this up for me. Love it! I brought a pop-up hamper and the Rubbermaid container gives me an extra and sturdy storage space.

I will likely have a roommate at some point this year. Their side of the room mirrors mine and we will share the hanging "closet".

This is the seating area upstairs. Great for reading, watching movies, chatting, having meetings, etc.

One of the balcony patio areas. We often eat our meals out here.

Another shot of our eating and hanging out space. The second and smaller balcony is on the back of the house. You can kind of see it in the background.

Our view from the balcony. The cars enter the gate you can see with the pointed top. There's an empty lot across from us and on one side. Otherwise, there are houses all around. We are just down the street from Medecins San Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) and one street over from where I lived last summer.

The kitchen. I've been drinking from the Tiva Water filter to the left of the stove, not pictured. I met our cook, Jolina, when I stayed here in November. She's so sweet and an excellent cook. She cooks our meals during the week and we warm up leftovers at night and on the weekends (or do a bit of our own cooking on the weekends). There are a few restaurants around so that's an option from time to time, though the menu would be much the same as I'm eating here. The main office area is that part past the kitchen and there's another conference type room to the right of it. There's also an office near the right corner of this photo where Kerry and her husband have their desks.

This will be my office area. We may brainstorm a new office floor plan, but for now, this is where the action will happen!

The grand tour would not be complete without showing you another important room. Although I have found myself in some quite interesting bathroom situations in Haiti, I'm blessed to have a "normal" bathroom here. The showers are cold, though mid-afternoon the water might be warmer from the tank sitting on top of the roof. I typically don't mind the cold showers because I'm so hot and dirty and just happy to be getting clean!

And finally, I figured I'd include an important duo who come with the house. Kerry's son Shaun and their dog Lacy. Lacy is a 10 year old rescue that they just got from Chattanooga last year and shortly after brought to Haiti. Needless to say, she's quite timid but we're already friends. Shaun is a ball of energy, so sweet, sharp as a tack and already multi-lingual... English, Creole, French, Spanish... and probably some others he's yet to tell me about!

So that's the tour! If I could, I'd let you feel the heat, smell the smells, hear the sounds, and taste the awesome food but for that... you'll just have to come and visit!! You're welcome anytime! :)