I'm sure many of you have noticed my extended hiatus from blogging. My sincerest apologies! The guesthouse was hoppin' at the end of July! Among the many visitors, my home church from Tennessee sent a team of ten for a week. They really wanted the opportunity to learn about Haiti, so we spent a lot of time in great conversation about the history of Haiti, the current infrastructure, aid efforts throughout the country, and what transformational development looks like here. They helped out at a nearby children's home... playing games, doing crafts, teaching and learning new songs, and painting the school rooms. They also had two Vacation Bible school days, one up in a mountain village and one not far from Leogane in a seaside village.


Also at the end of July I said farewell to the four Duke students. After two months of intense research and toughing it out under the Haitian sun, their time came to an end. Two are heading to Spain this fall for a semester abroad. The other two are back to hitting the books in North Carolina. We were so thankful to have them here, not only for the invaluable research they gathered about hypertension and the HPV vaccine, but also because they added a fun and unique dynamic to guesthouse life. They were always excited to meet new guests and swap stories about Haiti and learn what others were doing here.




But aside from the busyness of July, the main reason for my giant gap in blogging is that I went back to Tennessee for the month of August. It had been planned all year for me to use a big chunk of my time off in August, so I took the opportunity to spend all of it with my family and friends back home. It was a fabulous but very full month! When I got back to Haiti September 1st it took me a few days to recover! Anyone who's lived away from home for an extended period of time knows what it's like to try to pack everything and everybody into that time. And I did just that! My mom can attest to my famous words every time I'm in the middle of one of these hectic times... "I'll sleep on the plane!"

In just a short month away, I can't say that I missed Haiti. I knew I was coming right back, so it was important to me just to enjoy my time at home and try to clear my head and heart of everything else. But apparently I did miss a few adventures here while I was gone! We had an unexpected visitor stay at the guesthouse for five nights. The General of the Sri Lankan army! All of my friends here got to meet him, were invited to elaborate dinners (eaten on china—at the guesthouse!) and an exciting end of the week celebration to honor hundreds of soldiers for their service in keeping peace in Haiti for the past ten years.

See for yourself...! (I'm hoping there's still a leftover dinner invitation out there for me sometime!)