Haiti Trip Report: Intermission

I haven't gotten caught up on the typed version of my journal, and I don't have the paper version with me at the moment, so before I post about the last few days of the trip, here are some general thoughts about my time in Haiti:

- Something that was really neat to see during this trip was just how far even a little attention or a smile or hug can go. . . My goal was basically to give as much individual attention to the kids as possible—talking to them, holding them, smiling at them, whatever. Nothing huge, but it was amazing to see how they responded. And just seeing that was more than enough to confirm for me that I was supposed to be there, just loving on them. I had prayed before we got there that God would give me His love for the kids, and He really did. The love He gave me for them and the joy in just being there with them was incredible. I can’t really even describe it; it was just such a blessing to be there and to get to interact with the kids.

- One of my favorite things about this trip was getting to know Carly better. Carly is about 4 years old, and Gertrude thinks that she might have had polio or meningitis. Because of this, she has problems with her legs and is unable to walk. She can pull herself up to standing, though, if she has something to hold on to, and she’s very good at maneuvering herself around in her wheelchair or scooting herself along the ground. She’s also very, very quiet most of the time, especially around people she doesn’t know well. You can ask her questions, and she’ll answer (at least, yes/no questions), but you have to either be listening very closely or watching her mouth to hear her answer. I spent a lot of time with her, and by the second day, she was following me around in her wheelchair. She also became more willing to talk, and by Sunday, she was actually shouting and laughing as we played. She also started reaching out to hold my hand if I was near her and already holding another child. Sunday night, too, I held her as she fell asleep, and then when I went to put her down on the mat, she was not happy, so I sat by her until she fell back asleep. She’s a very sweet girl, and it was neat to see her respond to even a little attention.

Haiti Trip Report: Part 2

Friday, February 19

- I pretty much spent the day playing with the kids, which was fantastic. Mallery and Ali came by for awhile in the morning. . . Later, some US soldiers came by. Several of them are army chaplains, and a week or so ago they had contacted my dad about helping Gertrude. So they came by with some snacks for the kids and to talk to Gertrude. I talked to a few of them. It was kind of funny because I was sitting there playing with the kids when the soldiers came, and then several of them came up and started taking pictures. Felt kind of funny to be the one photographed; usually I’m the one taking pictures like that!

- That afternoon, Kery and I also helped Gertrude start to give out some of the clothes from the storage room to the kids. Gertrude wanted to make sure that each child had at least 3 good weekday outfits and one good Sunday outfit. She and one of the nannies went through each child’s clothes to determine what needed replaced, and then she sent the nanny up to me and Kery with a slip of paper saying what clothes were needed.

- This was the day that I discovered Christina, a little girl with hydrocephalus. She’s apparently been at Notre Maison for awhile, but somehow I hadn’t noticed her before— I guess because in the past I’ve only had a few hours at a time with the kids. Anyway, I noticed that Christina looked pretty lethargic and had basically just been laying on a mat or sitting in her stroller all day, so after Kery and I finished in the depot, I went down and held Christina for a long time. She was still fairly lethargic at that point and didn’t seem to be feeling very well, but I just held her and sang to her in Creole. A few times I got a little smile out of her. She’s such a sweet little girl.

Saturday, February 20

- In the morning, Gertrude took us to visit some former Notre Maison kids who are now living at an orphanage for special needs kids run by Food for the Poor. Darlyne, who is one of my favorite Notre Maison “kids” and whom I’ve known since my first trip to Haiti in 1998, is living at this orphanage. It was really fun to see her again; she was so excited to see us. Though Darlyne can’t really say more than a few words, she fully understands when we talk to her and responds in her own way. We asked her several questions and told her about how some of the other kids are doing whom she’d known when she lived at Notre Maison; it was obvious she was thrilled with all of this. We also got to see several other kids who were at Notre Maison until a few years ago—Ashley, Manouschka, Betsy, Glannys, Vanessa, Gwo David, and Ti David.

- After we visited the orphanage, Germaine (Gertrude’s brother) drove us downtown. Again, it was surreal seeing the damage from the earthquake and especially seeing life going on alongside all the destruction. There are tents set up right across from the National Palace, and people still have shops set up all around. It’s strange, and yet somehow it seems normal. Sad as it is, the Haitian people are used to life being a struggle. I think, though, that this is helping them to be able to rise above their horrifying circumstances and to go on. Life has rarely, if ever, been easy for them, and even though the suffering that has resulted from this tragedy is in many ways beyond anything they’ve ever experienced, in other ways, it’s not that different from what the Haitian people have faced for generations. And, as in the past, it seems like many are choosing to move forward as best they can rather than dwelling on the suffering that surrounds them; this is amazing to see.

- After we saw the downtown area, we started heading back to Delmas to go to Epi D’Or for lunch. However, something broke on the truck, so we pulled over and Germaine tried to fix it. While he was working, Kery and I walked up the street a ways to buy drinks. . . We ended up having to take the truck to a garage, and Germaine waited there while Gertrude, Kery, and I taptapped to Epi D’Or. Epi D’Or was pretty crowded—missionaries, American and Canadian soldiers, relief workers, Haitians. We went ahead and had lunch and ice cream, and then Germaine came back with the truck a little while later.

- While we were at Epi D’Or, Gertrude got a call from a woman who is working with the various relief groups that are staying at Quisqueya right now. Miquette told her that a German group (Humedica?) had gotten a donation of several pallets of baby food to give to orphanages, and so if Gertrude wanted, we could come by and get some for Notre Maison. So we drove over there and ended up spending some time talking with the guy from Humedica who was giving us the food. He wanted to know about Notre Maison and the kids so that he could report back to the donors about where the food was going. He was very nice . . . We loaded up all of the baby food, along with a box of clothes and some first aid kits that they also gave us, and we headed back down to the orphanage.

Haiti Trip Report: Part 1

Here's a bit of a report on my trip to Haiti last week. Some things I just summarized; everything in italics is taken directly from my journal. It's a bit choppy as I haven't really taken the time to edit it, but for whatever it's worth, here it is.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

- Kery and I met up in Fort Lauderdale and flew to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

- When we arrived in the DR, we took a cab to a hotel that our fantastic driver, Dmitri, recommended to us. Though Dmitri only spoke a little English and my Spanish is very limited, we had fun talking with him. Dmitri suggested that we try to fly to Port au Prince rather than take the bus, and so we arranged for him to take us to the airport the next morning to find out about the flight.

- We had dinner at a pizza place and then walked around for awhile near the hotel. This was my first time in the Dominican, and of the different countries I’ve visited, it probably reminds me most of Ecuador.

Wednesday, February 17

- Dmitri picked us up at 6am, and we drove across town to the airport. Dmitri pointed out various landmarks along the way and told us some of the history of the city. When we got to the airport, we discovered that though there was a flight that would get us to Port au Prince pretty quickly, it would cost us each $250. So, Dmitri took us to the bus station.

- We bought our tickets, and then an hour or so later, the bus headed out. Kery and I were both really tired, so we ended up sleeping for a lot of the 7-hour drive. About 5 hours into the drive, we got to the Haiti/Dominican border, where we stopped for an hour or so while our passports were processed. It was very nice to get off the bus for awhile (and warm up; the bus was freezing!).

- The Haiti part of the trip went relatively quickly. We both slept a little more, and then about an hour from the end of the trip, we started seeing the damage from the earthquake. It’s hard to explain what that was like; it was like the photos, except that it was right there in front of us. Still hard to fathom what we were seeing and what it meant for so many people.

- I called Gertrude (who runs Notre Maison) about an hour before we got to the bus terminal in Petionville, and she said that she’d send her brother to come pick us up. We ended up waiting about 45 minutes or an hour for him to come; in the meantime, we talked to several people who were hanging around, including one guy whose wife and child were killed in the earthquake. He asked me if I had any construction work he could do; I said I wasn’t sure but got his name and phone number just in case. He is just one of many struggling to survive in the aftermath of the earthquake.

- Germaine picked us up, and we drove down to Notre Maison. We saw more damaged/destroyed buildings, and we drove past several tent cities. It was pretty surreal. We got to Notre Maison, and it was so good to see Gertrude and the kids again. . . Gertrude and I talked a lot about her experience during the earthquake and about what she’s planning to do now. She is so amazing. Despite all she’s been through, she’s able to say that God has a plan even in the midst of all the suffering, and she’s so grateful for all of the miracles God worked even during the earthquake. I was really blessed and encouraged by talking to her and hearing what she had to say. I’m really excited about (hopefully) being involved in helping her with whatever she needs done.

Thursday, February 18

- I spent the day alternating between playing with the kids and helping sort clothes and other items in Gertrude’s storage room. When we started organizing, there were piles and boxes and suitcases of clothes everywhere; the goal was to get them sorted according to gender and size. It was a little daunting at first, but little by little we were able to put things where they needed to be so that Gertrude will be able to more easily find them when needed.

- I’m thoroughly enjoying spending time with the kids. This is the first time in years I’ve been here long enough (at Notre Maison) that I’ve gotten to really spend time with the kids. Usually I’ll be here for a few hours and then have to leave; now I get to be here all day. It’s so fun getting to know them better; these kids are so sweet.

- Before dinner, Kery and I walked through the neighborhood for a little while. We passed several little tent cities. It’s so hard to imagine what it must be like for those living there.

Trust in the Lord

"Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him, and He will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him." (Psalm 37:3-7a)

As I sit by myself in a bedroom in a house in South Florida –the home of people who, two days ago, I'd never met– I have to admit that I'm a bit frustrated and confused as to why I'm here. Less than 48 hours ago, I received a phone call asking me to come to FL to be ready to go to Haiti as soon as a flight became available (at the time, it was believed we could get a flight out last night–Friday). The purpose of the trip would be to bring the orphans from Notre Maison in Port au Prince to Miami, where Catholic Charities apparently has facilities set up to care for the children. After receiving that call, I spent some time praying and getting advice as to whether or not I should go. By mid-morning, I decided that if God continued to open the doors to make it possible for me to go, I would walk through them. The next few hours are kind of a blur in my mind, but the end result was that within an hour of getting off work Thursday afternoon, I was on my way to the airport to fly to South Florida.

When I arrived in FL, I was picked up at the airport by Dr. Alberto Sosa (an orthopedic surgeon that spent several days last week working in Haiti) and his wife and taken to their home. Since returning from Haiti, Dr. Sosa has been working night and day to collect medical supplies to send back down to Haiti and also to facilitate the evacuation of Haitian orphans. Over the past few days, he has appeared several times on a national Hispanic news station to talk about Haiti and the urgency of caring for the orphans; the hope is that by raising awareness, more people will get involved and thereby the ability to help the children will be increased. Dr. Sosa is hoping to go back to Haiti this weekend with Fernando del Rincón, a news reporter who is also very concerned about the plight of Haiti’s orphans, and to do a report from Notre Maison about the children.

At this point, you may be wondering where I come in (actually, I’m kind of wondering, too). I knew very few details when I got on the plane in Houston; two days later, I still am unsure as to what exactly the purpose in my coming is. Dr. Sosa wanted me down here quickly so that I could be interviewed on the news about my experiences with Haitian orphans and adoptions. Though I was hoping to avoid actually having to be on TV — speaking, and particularly being in front of a camera, is way beyond my comfort zone— I did end up doing the interview last night. Though there is more I could say about that experience (and someday I really should blog about it, since now that it's over, it's fairly hilarious), let’s just say that I am thrilled to have that behind me, and if anything that came out of my mouth made sense and/or is helpful, it’s all by God’s grace and for His glory. I was a nervous wreck, and I honestly don’t remember what I said.

So that was last night. Today, I have spent the day reading my Bible and Candles in the Dark (a collection of letters by Amy Carmichael), praying, looking through the latest news out of Haiti, and waiting for a flight to open up. Midday today, I thought I was going to go, and even went partway to the airport, but that opportunity ended up falling through. And so I came back to this house, wondering why in the world God would bring me this far just to do a 3-minute television interview and to sit in the house of some very wonderful people—but people I don’t even know—with no certainty that I will even get to Haiti or be able to help in any way. I know things could change even in the next few minutes, and I could be on my way to Port au Prince within a few hours, but I have to admit that I’ve had several moments today of doubting the wisdom and necessity of making this trip. And yet, when I’m able to step back from those doubts, I still am convinced that God has me here for a reason. I don’t know what that reason is—maybe I’ll never know—and it could very well be that His plans for me don’t involve going to Haiti right now, but regardless, my time here is not and will not be wasted. If nothing else, this uncertainty and time of waiting is reminding me that everything is in God’s hands anyway; I am utterly helpless to do anything (besides pray, of course). And so, I am focusing on the verses at the beginning of this post; trying to trust and delight in the LORD, to commit myself to Him, and to be still (rather than worry) before Him. If I can do these things, and if this is “all” I get out of this little escapade, it is enough.

From Candles in the Dark:

To one who felt useless,

My first feeling was to write and tell you that you are mistaken, but though I think you are, in part, I won’t write so. Instead, I will say what our heavenly Father said to me long ago, and says to me still very often: ‘See in it a chance to die.’

Perhaps the brave love of God is touching with death the “I” in you, that it may be in very truth ‘not I but Christ’. This is your heart’s desire, your deepest desire, and He counts nothing too much to do, that it may be fully fulfilled. ‘Ponder the voice of my humble desire.’ He has pondered it; He is answering it. So be of good cheer. Don’t heed the devil’s whisper about uselessness. Is he not the father of lies? Why believe a liar? God is working out a most beautiful purpose.

Now good night, and let the Lord give His beloved sleep untroubled by the unkind remarks of the enemy. Believe me, he is not at all trustworthy, and you well know your Lord is. Does He ever break His word? No, never, and He knows that you know it. ‘For Thou, Lord, hast never failed them that fear Thee.’ No, nor ever will.

Happy Things

A month or so ago, I set my facebook status to gummy bears and chocolate, after one of my fabulous coworkers (the lovely Rebecca) brought the aforementioned items to the store for us to try together (this idea was brought about by another fantastic coworker who had been talking about chocolate-covered gummy bears that he'd seen at a movie theater). Anyway, we were pleasantly surprised to find that chocolate does, in fact, go well with gummy bears, and I decided that this discovery was worthy of being a facebook status.

Unexpectedly--but wonderfully--a dear friend responded to this status with "lollipops and roses? ;)" (which, if I am remembering correctly, is a line from a song that she'd recently heard). This then changed the theme of the status to things that make me (and others) smile.

Here is what several of my friends and I came up with:

- Sunshine and lemondrops (me)
- Ice cream and cookies (Lilia)
- Apples and hellos (Caroline)
- Sprinkles and hugs (me)
- Music and rain (Cindy)
- Blankets and coffee (Caitlin)
- Food friend and cup of coffee (Lilia)
- Jane Austen and a cup of tea (me)
- A cool breeze and a letter (Caroline)
- Babies and rocking chairs (Cindy)
- Fireplaces and fuzzy socks (me)

Over the past month or so, I have frequently thought of this status and the responses and wished that the list had gone on. That's why I'm now posting this with the hope of getting lots of comments with more pleasant things that make people smile. So now the question is,

What makes YOU happy?

Honest Scrap Award

Hey look! A new post! Amazing, huh? I must confess that I have not spent very much time reading blogs in recent much, nor have I even contemplated updating my own. Until now, that is, when I came across this lovely little award/tag from the beautiful and talented Everly Pleasant

This is called the "Honest Scrap Award", and basically, I am supposed to write 10 honest facts about myself and then tag 7 bloggers to do the same. So, here goes...

1. In my nearly 24 years of life, I have lived in 8 houses, 7 (soon to be 8) apartments, 2 dorms, and 1 orphanage (volunteering). These places of habitation are located across 2 countries, 4 states, and 7 cities.

2. I am a certified klutz; ask nearly anyone that has ever worked with me. My latest injury includes walking full-force into the sanitizer while transporting a container of disgusting bananas to their ultimate doom (the trash can).

3. Despite the many times that I have moved, I have managed to work for Starbucks for nearly 3 1/2 years now. Thank goodness for a job that allows me to transfer! I have worked at 4 different stores in 3 different states (and this is my second time at the store where I currently work).

4. I desperately miss my churches in Chicago (Grace Church of Dupage) and Tennessee (Grace Community Church) and am very much hoping that I've finally found a similarish church in Gainesville (time will tell).

5. I have a multi-colored family. And we love each other. Usually :) (Oh, and there are a bunch of us...if you ask me how many, I will have to stop and count. Very rarely am I actually able to tell you that I have...5 siblings without having to think about it.)

6. I went on my first mission trip to Haiti when I was 13 and immediately fell in love with the beautiful children. When I got back to the States, I knew that God's plan for my life involves Haiti, and though I don't know exactly how this will play out in the future, thus far it has meant 20+ trips, one semester of living/working in an orphanage, much failing (but hopefully learning from mistakes), irreplaceable friendships, lots of stories, laughter, many tears, seeing Jesus in the eyes of the Least of These, and countless blessings.

7. I love to laugh.

8. I love to read. Some of my happiest memories as a child are of summer days spent on the hammock in our backyard reading book after book after book. Recently, I've been reading some classic children's books (Anne of Green Gables, The Secret Garden, Peter Pan), which has been fabulous.

9. My mom was one of my favorite people in the world, and I miss her more than words can say. She was the most loving, giving, selfless person I've ever known.

10. I am not a big fan of games, be they card games, board games, let's-get-to-know-each-other-games, etc, etc. However, I do very much enjoy Scrabble (yes, I'm a dork, I know) and Apples to Apples (particularly when playing with Caitlin, Caroline, Joe, and Mike).

Ok, so that's 10...and I won't admit how crazy-long that took me to write. But it's done. Yay.

So, for tags...how about:

Cheri Kay

Lovely Rita

Rebecca

Chelsey

Joey

Neverland

Kevin

And, if you're reading this on facebook, consider yourself tagged. Have fun!

Haiti 2005 (Part 1)

In 2005, I volunteered at Haiti Children’s Rescue Mission (HCRM), an orphanage located in the mountains above Port-au-Prince, Haiti. At this time, the orphanage was undergoing a major transition, as the original founder had been removed from his position as head of the orphanage. Because of this, Joe and Cindy Kraft and their family (from Texas, who were in the process of adopting four children) moved to HCRM to help out. About a month later, I moved down as well.

The following is comprised of excerpts from the journal that I [sometimes] kept during this time. Obviously, it is edited both for conciseness and to respect the privacy of certain individuals and circumstances. I basically chose entries (or portions thereof) that I found to be 1) humorous, 2) representative of this time as a whole, or 3) key events/experiences.

January 23, 2005

I can’t believe I’m in Haiti and I’ve been cold all day!

January 25

Caitlin [the eldest Kraft daughter] and I spent some time this afternoon working on the Bible study we’re going to be doing with the older girls. It was fun. Caitlin’s a really sweet girl, and I’m really glad she’s here. She’s only 14, but it really doesn’t seem like she’s that much younger than me. It’ll be fun getting to know her better. All the Krafts are so nice.

January 28

I was getting ready to go to bed [on the 26^th], and one of Cindy’s girls came in to get towels because there was a leak in their bathroom. So I went in there to help…the bathroom floor was covered in about an inch of water that was coming in through the wall by the bathtub. Cindy and her girls were putting towels on the floor to soak it all up, but it just kept coming. Cindy and I ended up standing over the tub wringing out sopping wet towels… After doing that for awhile, Cindy decided to go wake Mark up (a man from Elkhart, IN, who is adopting two kids) and see if he knew what to do. He…looked around to try to find where to shut the water off, and eventually we ended up outside, watching while Mark let water from a hose dump into huge bowls. I really have no clue what that was all about. All I know is that whatever he did, it got the water in the bathroom to stop coming through the wall, temporarily at least.

January 29

Nahomie [my sister, who was living at HCRM while we worked on her adoption] and Salou [Nahomie’s cousin who was adopted by the Krafts] are watching the DVD I brought for Nahomie of our family, and they’re mimicking everything that’s going on on the screen. They just did the whole dance that the kids did at our church for Christmas. It’s so cute to watch them J

January 30

This afternoon, Dia [an adoptive mom who was visiting her kids], her parents and their friends, Dia’s 3 kids, the Krafts, Nahomie, and I, and Emarc went down the mountain to Petionville to go swimming… It was nice to get away from the orphanage for awhile. I played with Housmey [George] the whole time I was in the pool, so that was fun. He’s such a cute kid.

[Interestingly enough, I did not include in this journal entry the red devil man we saw in the street as we were leaving to go back to the orphanage. That was an interesting and somewhat frightening experience…]

February 1

Well, today was definitely…interesting. I didn’t do much—just helped with Cindy’s kids. Ok, the lights just got turned out on me, so I’ll finish this tomorrow.

February 2

Oh goodness, fun times…Caitlin and I just had some hot chocolate—and lots of marshmallows!—which we drank sitting on the counter in the kitchen. That might not sound terribly exciting, but it was very fun!

February 3

The major event of yesterday was “The Flood: Week 2” in Cindy’s bathroom. Same thing as last week—the water came in at the same spot and flooded the floor, so we ended up turning off all the water in the house. We sopped up most of the water with towels, and then Nahomie and Salou used cups to scoop out the water in the hole where the leak was. We all ended up staying in the bathroom for a long time, and Caitlin, Caroline, Jeweliet, Nahomie, and Salou unbraided my hair.

February 6

Friday night was a lot of fun. The Kraft girls, Nahomie, and I had a hot chocolate (and lots of marshmallows) and movie party….Then we watched “Radio”, which is a really good movie. . . Yesterday we had the December birthday party…and Claudino (because we’d thought that his birthday was in December and we’d [already] told him he could come to the party). So Caitlin and I made cupcakes for the kids, then we brought them up to the balcony for the party.

February 7

The good part about today…making and eating s’mores with Caitlin and Caroline.

The bad part about today…all of the conflicts and confrontations.

February 26

A LOT has happened since I last wrote, but there’s no way I’m going to take the time to write about it all… I’m in Jacmel right now with the Krafts (minus Joey, who is still in Texas). Joe came last Saturday, and on Wednesday we came to Jacmel for a little vacation. And, oh my, it has been very…interesting. We’re staying at Le Jacmelien Hotel, which has the potential to be nice… We’re basically the only ones here, except for some old men that we see every once in awhile and a pirate who was here the first two days… But anyway, there’s basically no one else at the hotel and it’s not too hard to see why… It’s definitely been quite an experience! Caitlin, Caroline, Salou, Jeweliet, and I are sharing a room, and Cindy, Joe, Teeko, Housmey [George] and Phoebe are next door. Before we actually ended up in the rooms we’re in now, we had to change rooms…3 times maybe? 4? I don’t remember, but it was a lot.

February 28

Well, I’m still not feeling particularly inspired to write, but I know that if I don’t at least get started now, nothing will ever get written. One thing I’ve realized on this “vacation” is how much I’ve taken things for granted in the States… Such as: in the States, restaurants and hotels don’t run out of the majority of the food on the menu (and if for some reason, that happened, they would be restocked within hours); towels, electricity, soap, and toilet paper are givens; beds aren’t made up of a mattress and a concrete block; mosquito-proof rooms don’t need to be specified; and tour guides are sought by the tourist (instead of vice-versa).

Oh my, this past week has definitely been memorable… I don’t even know where to start… I guess with the food, since that’s a recurring dilemma. From the very first night, the hotel restaurant has been out of several items on the menu, and over the past 5 days, one by one other items have been knocked off the list. No more hamburgers, pancakes, syrup, bananas, chicken sandwiches, and no, no more cheese sandwiches. That’s basically the entire menu right there. So what does that leave us with for dinner tonight? Fried chicken and French fries, which is what we’ve had for the past several nights as well. For a few days we were relying on cheese sandwiches for lunch, but that option is apparently no longer available either. All we have for breakfast now is eggs, which is sad because the pancakes were so good.

On our first day here, we decided to take a walk in the morning. That’s when we met our most (unfortunately) loyal “tour guide”, who has persisted in following us around everywhere. He’s even shown up a few times when we’ve been swimming and tried to get us to come talk to him. Saturday we went to Guy’s Guesthouse for pizza, and sure enough, while we were waiting for our food…Mr. Self-Appointed Tour Guide came in, sat down, and started talking. He stayed for the whole meal (although, he did fall asleep in his chair for awhile). He also followed us back to the hotel when we were finished, probably hoping to get paid.

March 3

Well, we’re back at HCRM now. And…it’s very good to be back. Although our vacation was definitely memorable…”there’s no place like home”. Eventually I’ll write more about our interesting little adventure, but for now, I’ll stick with more current events.

We have another ACWAM team here now, and I have to say, even though I still don’t understand some things about these Canadians, this group is definitely an improvement over the last one. There’s more people, though, so it’s a bit crowded.

Anyway, Caitlin, Caroline, Jeweliet, and I attempted a mini slumber party last night, but it kind of didn’t work too well. For one thing, we didn’t get started until pretty late, and then when we did, we were joined for awhile by two guys from Canada (we have yet to find out their names). So that was kind of weird. They only stayed for a little while, though, because they had to be up early today…. And then [the Kraft girls] all ended up falling asleep, so we just stopped the movie and went to bed.