Not better or worse... just DIFFERENT.

This picture shows the over 14,000 McDonalds in the United States. I drove by 3 of them today just taking my daughter to swim lessons. Just out of curiosity, I searched on the McDonalds website and there are 16 McDonalds within 15 miles of my house! Currently there are over 31,000 McDonalds in over 119 countries. Go ahead and guess how many there are in Haiti?

Zero. Thats right, not a single one. This fact in itself isn't really all that important but it got me thinking. In 24 days things are going to be very different. Lets take a look at the last 24 hours of my life in comparison...

Yesterday I dropped the kids off at the babysitter's house where they have gone the last couple of years. They love her. She is like family to us. She is like a grandma to our kids. We won't see her for the next year. No babysitter needed. We won't really be going out anywhere.

I then drove a short few miles to work. I only have 4 days left of work at the pharmacy. I have been at this store 3 years and won't see my co-workers for a whole year. (Jen, you better be there when I get back). I spent 8 hours filling scripts for people. Mostly convenience medicine. Things like birth control, acne medication, and pain medication. Most covered nicely by insurance. People just hopped in their car, went to a doctor, went to the pharmacy (didn't even have to get out of the car if they used the drive thru) and got whatever medication they needed for little cost..

Some even complained it took more than 5 minutes to get their medicine or that their item cost too much. In a few weeks I will be in a clinic where people will walk several hours to be seen. They will only get needed medications (the pharmacy doesn't stock birth control or acne meds) for serious conditions after waiting all day to be seen. Most will be extremely ill. For many, this will be the first time they have ever seen a doctor. Think about how many times you have seen a doctor in your life. In the U.S. there are 3 doctors for every 1000 people. In Haiti, just 0.25 doctors per 1000 people. Maybe we won't even have the medicine they need at the clinic. No one will complain about the 2 hour walk in 85 degree heat or the 4 hour wait to be seen. I would be willing to bet most aren't able to take the medication correctly because they can't read the directions on the label.

After work I drive my nice car home to my 3,600 sq ft house. The lights are all glowing in the windows because rarely does the electricity go out (I would say never, but it was out for 10 minutes yesterday). Our power grid is reliable... and cheap. In a few weeks our 600 sq ft house will run off a deisel generator. There is no power grid in Chambrun. Before going to bed, I fixed a cup of hot cocoa in my Keurig machine and laid down on my leather chair in my office to read email. No Keruig in Haiti, no office either. We have 3 bedrooms (which are 6ft by 15ft) and a family room/kitchen/office/playroom room in our Haiti house. We will have wireless which can be spotty but checking email, Facebook, etc will be no problem.

I then went upstairs to change clothes and brush my teeth. I drank water right out of the faucet. It is safe, and inexpensive. I could even let it just run and run if I wanted (I didn't). In Haiti we will have a well dug for our house. It probably won't be done until mid January so we won't have water for awhile. I then got into my king size bed (not gonna have that soon) and studied some Creole (going to be doing a lot of that soon). I turned on Dave Letterman (no more of that soon) and fell asleep.

This morning I woke up to help Isabel get ready for school. I am a little freaked out to think that in a few weeks I will be her teacher. I just hope I don't put her behind! Now she goes to a school a mile from our house with great teachers and wonderful friends. She plays and learns all day long and loves it. In Haiti, school will be at our house. And I will be her teacher. And the only kids her age will speak Creole.

We had breakfast. We got to choose between multiple cereals, oatmeals, waffles, eggs, poptarts, etc. The list could go on and on. Soon there will be little choice. Most days we will eat what is being served in the cafeteria.

I got the kids dressed and we jumped in the van to go to swimming lessons. Sydney is becoming quite the little swimmer! She is so excited for the beach in Haiti... as am I! We are hoping to get there at least monthly. Isn't it beautiful. See... Haiti is beautiful!

On the way I stopped at Starbucks for a pumpkin spice chai. Anyone want to guess how many Starbucks there are in Haiti? Yup, none. I seriously waited 10 minutes in the drive thru for a $5 tea! (In my defense I had a gift card so I didn't actually pay for it). In Haiti, I will still drink tea... it will be made the old fashioned way... by me!

After swimming we stopped at Petsmart (uh, I don't remember seeing any pet stores in Haiti) to pick up a few things for the dog. A store that only sells stuff for pets. I remember watching a show called "Meet the Natives" last year which chronicled the activities of native Pacific Islanders on their first trip to the United States. During one episode they visited a pet store and could not believe the amount of things we have for pets (can you say ballet costumes for dogs). One of the "natives" even said "If they would treat their people as well as they treat their pets, they might be better off". Huh.

After the pet store we headed home, passing 3 McDonalds. I threw my Starbucks cup in the trash and the Petsmart bag in the recycling. In Haiti there is no organized trash pickup. Recycling is something everyone does because most can not afford to waste things. Things are used and reused, often being repurposed multiple times.

I threw a load of laundry in the washer... in my nice big laundry room that exists just for doing laundry. There is a washer and dryer in chambrum... about 50 yards from the house. Sort of like a laundry mat from our apartment living days :)

I let the dog out to run around the yard enclosed by the invisible fence. Not sure what he is going to do in Haiti. Probably chase the goats all day long!

The mail truck drove by delivering our mail like they do 6 days a week. Honestly, I have no clue about the mail service in Haiti. It seems elusive since no one can tell me about it. I got a package. I ordered a school book for Isabel a few days ago online and here it is, right to my house in a few short days. As I walked to the mailbox I looked at the yard and realized it needs mowed. Huh, we won't even have grass in Haiti. Just dirt, or mud, depending on the rain situation. No plants that need trimmed. No flowers that need grown. No weeds that need picked. No grass that needs fertilized.

I then emptied the dishwasher (not going to have one of those soon, unless you count Aaron) and tried to stuff all my kitchen items into place. Soon our "kitchen" will be 6ft by 7ft and contain a counter, a bakers rack, a microwave, a hot plate, and a toaster oven. Now I have a huge refrigerator, a microwave, an oven, numerous small appliances, a dishwasher, and about 20 cabinets.

Now I am thinking that instead of writing this post I should be doing the reading for this week's bible study. We meet weekly with 3 other couples and have done so for over 10 years. We won't see them for quite some time. These are the friends we do life with. Almost every important thing happens with them. In fact all our friends and family are still here in Indiana or Ohio of Florida. Far away from Haiti.

Now I sit here typing on my computer, thinking how different things are going to be in 3 short weeks. Not "better. Not "worse". Just DIFFERENT. Some things will be hard no doubt. Some things will be easy. Most things will just be different. New friends will be made, new experiences had.

My life is all about convenience now. I have so many things at my fingertips. Too many things perhaps. How nice will it be to live simply for a year. No running from activity to activity. Picking up the house at the end of the day will take 1/10th of the time it does now. The kids won't have an entire room full of toys they never play with, but instead a few that they do play with. We will eat better. More "natural", less processed. Life will be more relational and less task oriented. More "being" and less "doing". Going to the grocery to get food will be less of a task, than it will be a day long adventure. And going to McDonalds... well that just won't happen at all :)