Abbey's Top Ten

Haitian artwork for sale adorns many street walls.

Why I’m excited about visiting Indiana, and arriving in America in general, after five months of living in a third world county-
1. Daddy, Mamma, Tubs, and Drew! and Yoda.
2. My church family!
3. Worship music led by Steve! (Steve, can we sing your Heaven song? Please!)
4. Pastor Kirk and his PREACHING!
5. My Y-M-C-A!!!!
6. MY BED! Quiet, good SLEEP!
7. Target- it’s just so ridiculously clean and orderly. Ridiculously. It’s ridiculous.
8. Pow-wows with old and fabulous friends and especially my youth-groupers!
9. I am going to go out and walk around my block. At night.
10. I am going to watch the news! And not complain! Mr. Obama, bring it.
11. Vegetables.

What I will NOT miss about Haiti:
1. The neighbors’ music, the neighbors’ dogs, the neighbors.
2. Being tagged as a foreigner by the locals as I walk the streets. How can they tell?
3. Guys, I can’t speak Creole, I really can’t! Stop talking to me in Creole!
4. The black air my lungs inhale every breath I take.
5. People, people, people! This island is swarming with them! There is a person in every nook & cranny, around every corner, behind every door. The streets are teeming with them. Really people, it’s simple. Birth control.
6. My curfew.
7. The kisses I get from guys on the street. It sounds like they’re sucking spinach out from their teeth. Very attractive.
8. Mosquitoes.
9. The neighbors.
10. What did you say?

What I WILL miss:
1. 26 children who, amazingly, love me!
2. Coffee with Jack and Marcia in the mornings. Well, Jack drinks tea.
3. Greeting friends with a kiss!
4. My youth-groupers!
5. The bourgeoisie are so polite. They call me Miss!
6. I never set an alarm clock.
7. No TV.
8. Friendships with solid young adults whom I see regularly- almost daily!
9. Avocados.
10. Clean laundry right from the line. Washed by hand by fabulous Haitian women!