Today was not what I expected it to be. Our morning started off with a 20 minute bus ride to Labadie beach near Cap Haïtien. We were the only ones on the Royal Caribbean resort due to the weather; because we could not stay at this resort, we took a boat to this mini strip of sand located near a restaurant on the beach.

Upon exiting the boat, I wasted no time hopping in the water. After adjusting to the sub zero temperature of the Atlantic Ocean, my day was made! Swimming in clear ocean water is something that I love since its not possible to do in New York. Just seeing the deep ocean blue color gives me a good feeling. Although torrential & perpetual rain has haunted us every afternoon since we arrived on Hispañola, I really appreciated the bonding time that we had on this beach. The chemistry in this group is really strong. I hope that for the next 17 days, we will remain at the level we are at.

Today was a chill day. The Bro/Sis family met up with an organization called H.E.L.P. which stands for Haitian Education and Leadership Program. We had an exchange with some of the college kids, and learned more about their lives growing in Haiti, and they learned more about our experience growing up in New York. We shared a lot of similarities and differences. We discussed bad influences like drugs, gangs and negative vibes, as well as the positive impact of our organizations in our lives. After the meeting with H.E.L.P., we attended a capoeira class at another organization. It brought back so many memories from when I went to ISP last summer to Brazil.

I love capoeira, I love the music and I love the culture of it. The sound of the berimbao is music to my ears. I actually jumped into the ring and played capoeira with Meagan, the director of H.E.L.P. and it was awesome. They made me pull out my Jenga and my kicks. I kicked her in the face by accident and I didn’t get to apologize. So Meagan if you read this – I am sorry. Besides that it was really cool and she was really good. This is our last night in Haiti and I am going to miss this place. Haiti is so very beautiful and I loved every single minute of it. I really connected with Yvon, Kiki, Samuel, and Renel. I’m gonna miss you, Uncle Yvon. I’m also going to miss my big brother Kiki. Ahhh man – good times.

Today we visited Yvon’s school, Sarazin, up in the mountains. I was excited about it because I really enjoy meeting the children in Haiti. The day started off a little slow because we were suppose to meet another organization called little rascals but, because of complications, we weren’t able to, that’s when we decided to go to Yvon’s school. We drove for about a half hour and then we had to walk up a mountain.

The hike was about 20 minutes and it was a little difficult. We were able to see what these kids go through to get an education and what their willing to do to get it. When we got there they sang us a beautiful welcome song. After that we learned about their school and they learned about BroSis. I sat next to three little kids that were very shy and adorable. I started to draw pictures on a piece of paper and they started to smile and laugh. Then I asked them if they wanted to draw as well but they were hesitant; eventually they started to draw and started to smile. I liked that they were drawing but it made me feel down because they all drew pictures of sad faces. Although their faces were smiling the picture said something else. Over all the whole day was a great bonding and learning experience with the children.