The First Weekend Back

It's the first weekend back since we left Haiti. It's honestly more of a culture shock coming back to the United States than it was arriving in Haiti for the first time. I thought I was going to come home and carry on with my life like it was before Haiti, but that is not the case at all. I've had a really tough time back home just noticing how materialistic everything is, and how almost nothing is done just for happiness and pleasure of doing something, it's for a reward of some kind. I also feel very guilty for using so much water when I take long showers or just how much water gets wasted. I am way more grateful already and thankful for being able to drink water from wherever because I know it's clean here and stuff like that. I miss the happiness and selflessness I saw in Haiti. It feels extremely weird for me to climb into my bed without putting bug spray on, tucking my bug net in and without a fan. I hear friends and roommates complain about how hot it is outside or in our room, that is air conditioned, and it's hard for me to sit there because it's not hot at all compared to Haiti and we're fortunate enough to have air conditioning, when so many people don't have that in Haiti, where it's much hotter. It's really hard to tell people about the trip because they don't understand anything that I'm trying to say because they haven't seen it first hand or witnessed it. On Friday, we celebrated the graduation of my brother-in-law from Medical School at the University of Iowa. Although this is a big accomplishment and is meant to be celebrated, it was hard for me to just sit around and look at everything. We went to a reception at the school that was literally for no point except to get some free food and punch. It's hard to sit there and have access and eat all this food when so many others are struggling to eat every day. It's also hard watching people take so much food, and waste half of it.

I never imagined I could miss somewhere so much when I was only there for 8 days, but I miss Haiti more and more everyday. Going on this trip has been the best decision of my life and it was worth everything, even getting sick. I would go back to Haiti in a heart beat and I am eternally thankful for all the wonderful people I met and friendships I have made, whether they are from Wartburg, Massachusets, or Haiti.