A surprise for my mom and dad on Christmas day! I love you both so much, and thanks for always supporting me no matter what.
Bonjour Mwen Zamni! I hope you are all staying
warm back in the states with all the snow you just received. It’s actually been
a little chilly here in Haiti the past few days believe it or not. Now, many
people have been asking me what Christmas, and New Year’s was like here in
Haiti, so I am going to fill you in.
Being in Haiti this Christmas was
pretty difficult for me to be honest. I returned back to Haiti on the first of
December, and it just didn’t feel right. It was cold in the states, people were
putting up Christmas trees, and lights were hanging from houses. We didn’t
really have any of this here in Haiti. We had some houses decorated with
lights, which was nice to see, but nothing compared to what we do in the
states. The whole month of December here in Haiti just felt like another month
to be honest. It didn’t feel like anything special, as we make it in the
states. We don’t have cold weather, we don’t have snow, we don’t have Christmas
music blasting from stores, and the list can go on. Now, it’s not that in Haiti
people don’t celebrate Christmas because they do, but just in a different way,
and honestly New Years is more important to them.
Christmas to the Haitian people isn’t all about
decorations, gifts, and partying. It’s about Jesus’s birthday, and spending time
with their loved ones. At school I would always ask the kids are you excited
for Christmas, and they would just say “Yes.” In school during the month of
December the kids would talk about Christmas, and do some small activities for
the holiday. The principal drew out Christmas trees, and Ton Ton Noel’s (Which
is Santa Claus in Creole) for the children to color. It was pretty interesting
to see the way he drew out Santa, because it was much different from the way we
do in the states. He was skinny, had a beard, and a funny looking shaped hat.
The kids loved it though, and that’s how they know Santa Claus. Besides those
activities they didn’t really do much at school, but we did introduce something
fun this year to the kids. We decided to take Christmas photos, while saying
thank you to all of the people who have supported our children, and who still
do. The kids were so excited, and loved every minute of it. We picked some of
the children to have their pictures taken with the Santa Claus hat as well. It
honestly was beautiful. It was wonderful being able to capture their amazing
smiles, and to see them having fun for the Christmas holiday. School ended
about a week before Christmas day, and one big Christmas present the kids
received was their report card marks for the second semester. All the parents
had to come and meet the teachers to see if their child had passed or not. For
me this was pretty difficult because some of my favorite children pass, and
some did not. This was a nice Christmas present for me though because I got to
see all the kids’ hard work pay off, even if they didn’t pass, because I know
deep down those children are really trying. With having off a week before
Christmas our house decided to hang up our Christmas decorations because we
were hosting a Christmas party. Now, you may think it would be so easy to
decorate here in Haiti, but NO!!!! It was such a pain in the butt because we
had to hang things up with duct tape outside, and nothing wanted to stick. I
would hang up the decoration, and boom not one second later, and it was on the
ground. So, we then decided to nicely place it on the lower level of our
balcony, where it at least stayed up for a few days. We also decorated a small,
of course fake Christmas tree.
It's one of the hardest things being away from the one you love, but I surprised him with this on Christmas day.
It was
nice though to at least be able to have one, but this was hard for me. I
missed having a real big tree, and having the scent of pine through my whole
house. I missed being able to decorate the tree with my family, and having it
be a Ratke family hot mess. It just wasn’t the same not having us all together,
but it made me realize that all of us are going in different directions which
is part of growing up as well. One thing that killed me as well was not being
able to spend Christmas with not only my family, but my boyfriend as well. It
was our first time being together for Christmas, and we of course wanted to be
spend the day together, as we do every day. It really hit me hard being away
from him, and knocked me down for a few days. I love being here in Haiti, and
sharing in these experiences with everyone, but I miss him more than I can ever
express into words. It’s one of the hardest things in the world to be separated
from the ones you love more than life itself. Some people ask me how do I do
it? ,and honestly I don’t have an answer. It’s beyond hard, but I know that our
love for each other will overcome all. As I said earlier as much as I love
these experiences here in Haiti, I also cannot wait to be able to be with my
boyfriend, and family as well. So don’t
let me fool that I am so strong, an amazing person, because there are days that
I feel like I could just cry all day long. What gets me through is knowing that
I do have his support, along with everyone else’s. I truly am one lucky women
to have the love, and support behind me despite how hard it can be for them to
see me here. Now, that you got to hear a little more into my emotional life. I
am going to tell you about a party we held a few days before Christmas, and
then I will get to of course the best day ever!
We typically don’t throw house parties here at Kay Jezi
Mari, but this year we decided too. We invited all the sisters, and priests. We
were all part of the planning in some way. Sister Pat, and Sister Jackie both
did a lot of the cooking. Elisa, Frankie, and I did the decorating. Elisa did
most of it though because she has the best taste. It turned out beautiful, and
we were all so excited to have everyone come. The food turned out amazing. We
had turkey, mash potatoes, vegetables, and then of course Haitian food. That
wasn’t the best though! We made cakes, and a bunch of cookies, and I have to
say I am pretty proud because I helped bake those cookies. Everyone seemed to
enjoy themselves sharing in conversation, dancing, and just having some
Christmas fun. It was a wonderful time all around!
The next few days went pretty fast, and it was finally
Christmas day here in Haiti. To be honest though it just didn’t feel right for
me. I didn’t have my middle brother, Patrick, coming in my room screaming wake
up! Wake up! , and we didn’t get to go and get our big brother up, and have him
pissed at us for getting him up. It just wasn’t the same not being able to be
with everyone. Although, here in Haiti Frankie was the first one up, and ready
to go. She wanted to open presents so bad, but everyone else wanted to wait. So
we had to wait to that night to open everything. It was honestly a normal day
no Christmas music, no snow, no anything. It was a normal day of just relaxing.
Then finally it was time to open gifts. It was so much fun because we had all
gotten each other something, and it had meaning to that specific person.
Frankie got Katie and I sneakers painted with Haitian scenes. They are absolutely
beautiful, and a true piece of Haitian art. Sister Jackie and Sister Pat got us
all metal artwork. Each piece was specifically for us. I got children dancing
around Haiti, and I love it. Katie did such a great job with gifts! She made
each of us handmade ornaments, and got us other things. The ornaments are absolutely
amazing. It was such a fun time opening gifts, and spending time together. The
whole day was relaxing for us, and everyone enjoyed themselves.
So
now here you have it a look into who I felt on Christmas day, and what our
Christmas was like here in Haiti. It was definitely an experience I will never forget,
but I cannot wait to spend it with my boyfriend, and family next year.
Be on the lookout for my next blog about New Year’s
and our travels!!!!
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