back home and it feels so ... WEIRD?

so i'm not technically back home yet, but i'm sitting here in richmond in my sister's apartment, waiting to grab lunch with a friend and then i'll be back in franklin for a few days before heading to williamsburg to start my summer internship at the office of admissions. it's weird to have done the following things this morning - wake up not sweaty and covered in 100 deet bugspray, taken a shower that was hot without flip flops on, open my mouth and ingest water during that shower, brush my teeth with sink water, sit on a laptop with a cup of coffee and catch up on e-mails and gchat wesley instead of actually talking to her, and so much more.

in our last reflection that brian and i led on monday night at walls guesthouse, we talked extensively about what our take-away messages from this alternative break would be and what we had learned about ourselves during this trip. i wrote down everyone's "take-away" messages and (without using team member's names) i wanted to share them with you so that maybe you can have a better idea of what we learned during our time in ayiti.

- coming back is important. we have made a promise to the ayitian people and even received a cake that said "see you soon" meaning that we need to keep this promise and return.

- commonality is always possible. it may seem as if we have nothing in common with each other, but in the end, there is always a common thread that we can share.

- we are more capable than we think we are. we do indeed have the power to make change happen.

- the strength and power of the human connection and relationships is evident.

- children are a universal - they laugh, they love, they want attention, and they love pictures and cameras.

i also thought i'd share some of my favorite moments in ayiti with you before i close this chapter of the w&m haiti compact 2011. we hope to head back in january 2012 and i hope that (as a returning trip leader) we can make even more of an impact than we did on this trip.

- ayitian driving and the memories that we shared with our drivers (fritz, jason, and ryan): i know catherine wrote about this, but you truly have to understand the hilarity of it all. there are no lines, there are no speed limits, and i only saw one stop light the entire time i was there. in driving with jason one day he got excited and exclaimed "WOW THIS IS THE FASTEST I'VE EVER BEEN ON AYITIAN ROADS!" as we sped up through a surprisingly and uncharacteristically empty strip of road. fritz, jason, and ryan were great additions to our week - they shared their opinions on everything from the state of ayiti today to why ayitian peanut butter is better than american peanut butter because it gives your arms a work out, and how to properly name your car.

- a nightly ayitian rain storm: on our first night, our friend joe whom we met at walls told us to be prepared for the rain storms that were to come. and boy were we not prepared. these rain storms are powerful and loud, but there is also something that is so comforting and beautiful about the repetitive drumming on the tin roof that covered the dining area. wesley and i even got the balls to go dance in the rain on our last night - it was wonderful and cool.

- ayitian hospitality: whether it is making sure that we have a lunch larger than any meal we've ever eaten (thank you robenson and evens) or giving us 4 pineapples and a bag of mangos on our visit to a rural visit in the boonies of cap haitien (thank you joli trou), ayitian hospitality was evident everywhere that we went. one of my favorite moments of the trip was on sunday when we went to briefly stop by a girl's first communion and she entered the car, gave us all a kiss, and then gave us a delicious ayitian coffee cake and all of the sodas and water we desired. surprising and unexpected moments like that made this trip so wonderful to me.

- the citadelle: words cannot begin to describe the ridiculousness that was this experience. after catherine got sent away with her horse (which she was apparently terrified that none of us would join her), i hopped on my horse - who wasn't as huge as he should of been but that's another story - who was named zuzu. after dying laughing the ENTIRE ride up the mountain because timmy was too scared to even look anywhere but straight ahead, we made it up to the steepest part, where my horse decided to (after being yelled at to 'alle, alle' which means 'let's go, let's go' i think) break into a gallop. i do mean gallop. his back legs were not moving one at a time, they were coming up to meet his front legs. that was fine - until we turned a corner and my saddle slipped. i slowly started to fall and after yelling, my main man peter came and grabbed me and helped me off so that i didn't fall completely off my horse. melody apparently was not as lucky. the top was beautiful and i learned so much but i won't repeat things to you that you already know because i'm sure you've read katie's post.

anyway, that's enough recapping of things you may or may not have already known. i'm hoping that as we go through the recruitment process and try to get new team members for next year, we'll maintain this blog in some sort of fashion. i miss all of my haiti compact kids and here (for the last time) are some memories i'll share of them that maybe they'll find funny -

brian: his ability to look like he was about to ride across the australian outback while he was on his horse .

catherine: her ability to constantly sleep in the "brace for landing" position.

katie: her unexpected sass that popped up the last few days.

melody: thinking that bear poop is funny.

nick: wet willies & making the precious baby on the plane giggle.

timmy: almost making it the whole trip without losing anything.

wesley: her vast array of faces.

thanks so much for following our journey.

peace & love -

kylee