Bon Fete Des Meres!

Today is Mother's Day in Haiti...Bon Fete des Meres!! And...it was the graduation celebration for Ma Petite Ecole. (A kindergarten in town). Yoleine and James started this school, and it's were I'm teaching this summer... Well, the graduation started at 9:00am and it finished at 1:00pm! Oh my gosh! The longest graduation I've ever been to! And, it was for 30 kids!! Craziness! It was very nice though. We had it outside in this really nice gazeibo type place. The kids danced, sang, read poetry, and I sweat. Oh my gosh. I sweat so much! I swear the second I take a drink of water it just comes pouring out of my forehead!! Haha! All of the parents were sooo dressed up for the graduation! It was so fun! They wore prom dresses and very high heals and had their hair all done up! I was definitely underdressed! There were about 100-200 people watching the graduation, and I was the only person sweating like mad! Well, in the middle of the ceremony Yoleine asked me to get up and talk about my class this summer and my plans! In French! I was sooo stinkin' nervous. Butterflies shot up my spine! Well, "ok" I said to her!! So, I got up, and I smiled a lot, and I actually made sense!! (Rapp Fam...it was nothing like the Miss Iowa catastrophe!!! Hahaha!) People were smiling at me while I spoke, which made me less nervous!! After the graduation, everyone stayed around. A bunch of Haitian women brought in these huge pans and they cooked everyone some great food! I really have no idea exactly what I was eating...but whatever!! Then, we just chillaxed underneath a mango tree until 4:00! So nice. Wow. We talked and the little kids and I played some funny games! I taught the kids how to juggle!! (Yeah for fun times in Apartment #98 late at night!!) And, the kids all played with my hair and my freckles. They definitely do not understand my freckles. I think they think it's dirt, because they try to pick it off my arms! I'm like..."no please no!!" Haha God is so good though. There is a boy, Jean-Junior, who I'm going to be working with this summer. (He's actually not really a boy...he's a 24 year old guy) But, anyways...he was asking me about my cross on my neck (thanks Dad!!) and if I believed in God! I was like "Oh Ya!" Then he wanted to learn guitar...so I taught him some worship songs!! I had translated some songs into French, so I played them for him and explained what the lyrics meant!! So great! Basically, each morning I wake up at 5:00am. Not by choice, though! There is a rooster that sits right outside my window and crows like crazy!! Ahhhh!!! And, then as soon as the sun is up so everyone starts working! Gros Bisous! (Big Kiss!!) Lyrics I'm humming: Shine Jesus Shine!