I love playing with the kids in Haiti! As I was sharing stories with friends and family about what I get to do while I'm there, I was kind of embarrassed at how excited I got about doing the some of the stuff we did. So I started contemplating about how MY childhood was spent. Up until I was about 6 or so, life was carefree and childhood was pretty normal. Then, one of my sisters, Leslie, was diagnosed with Leukemia when she was 8 years old. She relapsed again when she was 13, and again when she was 14, and was completely healed after she received a bone marrow transplant from yours truly. Soooo, a lot of my childhood was spent in the hospital when I was younger. I was on a year round schedule for school, so during my months off I'd typically be with one of my parents in Children's Hospital LA, hanging out with my sister. I occupied my time with word searches, running up and down the endless flights of stairs for no apparent reason other than to have something to do, I'd lay next to Leslie on her bed and watch the Disney channel or movies. Yup, that was a lot of my childhood. I guess in a way, I love being in Haiti because I somehow get to relive my childhood.
::SINGING IN THE RAIN::
In the summer, when it was pouring down rain, the teachers and I went to hang out with the boys at their house. Suddenly the hallway connecting their front yard with their backyard was full of water. Some rain had flooded it while some of the boys began to fill up buckets of water from a broken pipe streaming from the roof and started dumping it all over me and the other teachers in the hallway. They said it was to get us back for all the punishment we gave them at school. We didn't mind, but laughed hysterically while joining the kids in sliding along the wet floors and wrestling, trying to get each other to stand under the broken pipe pouring down water. It reminded me of when my sisters and I would slip and slide in our garage. Our washer would always leak water, so we'd throw some soap on it and have our own ghetto slip and slide! Oh cheap thrills! :)
::WE'RE GONNA LIMBO LIKE IT'S YO BIRTHDAY::
When I went to Haiti this December, it was one of the older girl's (Katiana) birthday. The other missionaries and I were so excited to present her with her birthday cake and gifts. We even made plans to have a dance party afterwards. However, the birthday girl and the other older girls were so not interested. They retreated to gathering around the TV screen. Oh well, the little girls were game so me, Erta, Brooke, Kaitlyn, and the little ones blasted some tunes from Kaitlyn's ipod, turned the lights off, and used my head lamp as a strobe light. The girls wanted to play Limbo so I just put my arm out like a limbo stick and they went at it. It was hilarious watching them cheat, run into each other, lift my arm up, groove to the music as they went under. Tina, their night time nanny, was sitting to the side watching and laughing at us. "These crazy Americans!" she must have been thinking. I have an eye for the quiet ones and have a way of persuasion. So I yelled over the music, "Tina! Danse!" She shook her head shyly...but I knew she really wanted to. So the little girls and I kept pushing her to dance. She finally got up and shook her booty a little as we all chanted, "Go Tina! Go Tina!" Then everyone screamed in shock and delight that she was actually dancing. Tina retreated to her room, a little embarrassed, but I think she enjoyed herself. I would have pictures to post if I wasn't so preoccupied dancing and having fun.
::BOOTY BOARDING::
Lastly, I got to spend almost all afternoon with the little boys one day. Skateboarding has become the new thing for them. They kept trying to convince me to get on one and try to skate. Oh my goodness, if they only knew how unathletic I am! Emmanuel convinced me to sit on the skateboard as he pushed me around. Uhhhhh, he reached speeds I was a little uncomfortable going, and didn't slow down as we approached walls, people, or other objects obstructing our path. It was so much fun though....extremely scary....but so much fun too. I let him get a little taste of danger too as I took over the driver's seat. Enjoy the video below and my shrieks to go along with it! Video courtesy of little Davidson.
Here's a cheers to reliving childhood. Thanks for the memories kids! :)
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