The Girls' Q and A

We thought that it would be cool to answer questions that people have. You can also learn more about what we do here, things we like, and more about Haiti. So, we did a Q and A.

Q and A:

Q: As kids what was the hardest thing to get used to living in a foreign country?

A: We think the hardest thing to get used to is probably the language barriers along with the heat and humidity. Now we are used to it though, and 70 degrees F is cold! We are also learning the language which takes practice, and until you learn the basics, it is hard to communicate with most locals.

Q: Do you recommend living in a foreign country to other families?

A: This is a tricky question, we would recommend it for some families but not others. Even though it comes with many adventures and memories, it comes with many struggles. You do need to keep in mind that whether or not you move to another country, it should be God’s will, not necessarily your own.

Q: What is the best experience you have had so far?

(Sleeping on the roof)

A: For Riley, some of her favorite experiences on La Gonave were, sleeping on the roof, watching the meteor showers, and all of our friends that we have made. For Bri, Some of her favorite experiences on La Gonave were, going out to the sand bar, going to our friends’ house, showering on the roof. Our best experience on the mainland so far would have to be having friends stay over for a few nights. Also, getting to do fun trips to places such as Baptist Mission and L’Observatoire, and watching Kanaval and the Toro Ralley.

Q: What food do you miss that you used to eat in the states but is not available in Haiti?

A: We miss fast food restaurants. Normally if you get street food it can take more than 10-20 minutes. The food is good though. Some of the fast food restaurants that we miss are McDonalds, Wendy’s and Freddy’s.

Q: What’s your favorite thing to do down there just as kids?

A: Our favorite thing to do down here would probably be having friends over, cooking, baking, and drawing.

 

Q: What spot do you feel is the most beautiful spot to look at?

A: That is a hard question because there is a lot of beautiful views that can start from just a flower to the whole city. So, it is really hard for us to answer our favorite spot.

Q: How are the people here compared to the people in the states?

A: Now that we have been here for a little bit, we have realized that everybody has a family and friends, everyone has struggles, and are just regular people like you would see in the states.

Q: What things do you like to do that you can’t do in the states or vice versa?

A: Some things we like to do here that we can’t do in the States are sitting in the front seat, riding in the car without seatbelts, taking a moto (motorcycle) or taptap as a taxi, and sleeping on the roof. And vise versa, talking in Haitian Creole and not having people understand us, bike rides, cooking on the grill, etc.

Q: How long have you been in Haiti?

(Our one year anniversary breakfast)

A: We have been in Haiti for officially one full year and 24 days! We were on LaGonave for 10 months and we have been on the mainland for about 3 months. June 5^th was a full year.

Q: Do you have a substitute ingredient that Haiti doesn’t have? Does the food still taste the same?

A: In Port-au-Prince there is a lot more American food. If they don’t have an ingredient that we need we do substitute. The food might taste a little different but it still tastes good. For example, a recipe called for sour cream but the sour cream didn’t make it to the island so we substituted cream cheese. We thought the cheesy potatoes were better that way anyways!

Q: What do you do for fun?

A: We play games, watch movies, bake, color, have friends over, etc. During the summer we do a lot of the same things, but our schedule is more open because we don’t have class. However, we can go swimming, to Clay Café, and just get out of the house more.

 

Q: How is LaGonave different from Port-au-Prince?

A: LaGonave is definitely country and Port is a large city. Port has paved roads as LaGonave has dusty, rocky, and bumpy roads but there are some paved roads though. On LaGonave we could walk around but here we can’t do that as much.