So Here's To You Old Tennessee

In the last few days Knoxville has turned from a ghost town to the great southern university town it truly is. Students come flooding in from all part of the country and the world to get their taste of the Volunteer Spirit. Each coming from their own back grounds and have their own expectations and excitements coming to UT for the first time or returning for another great year on Rocky Top. This week is full of student moving back on campus and apartments nearby. Every organization is on full alert trying to gather all the freshmen and newbies they can find. Rush is underway as those that choose the Greek system. The atmosphere is of excitement and newness of another semester. You can be whoever you want to be when you go to college. What amazing person will you become after your 4 (or more) year of undergraduate school at UT, as you morph into who you truly are? I am hearing from friends and seeing on Facebook and Twitter about the start of another year at UT. It is weird not being there. Knoxville has been my home for four years, and though that doesn’t seem like a lot in comparison to a lifetime, those four years truly change your life forever.

As a new semester begins today, and I am sitting as far away from Rocky Top as I can, I reflect on the past four years of my life. I loved college, and now that I am officially an alumna (finally!) I have learned to appreciate those years so much more. During my junior year to the beginning of my senior year I wanted nothing more than to be graduated. And I regret so much that attitude. College has taught me so much about life, and I was able to grow in Christ more than I ever imagined. I experienced joy, heartache, community, loyalty, anger, love, friendship, sleepless nights, laughter, and most importantly the Holy Spirit. If I told you about every one of these, this blog would never end. It brings tears of happiness thinking about all the people I met and all things I did during my college career. How much I wish those days were never ending. If I talked to my freshmen year self, and said that three weeks after finishing college I would move to a another country to live and love on the people and live each day as the Lord to plan, she would probably have laughed. I was suppose to get a great degree, get married right out of college, move back to Camden, and begin the fairy tale life that is the southern way. Instead, I am sitting 1,400 miles away on a dirty tile floor of a concrete house, in front of a fan because it is so hot, in hopes the electricity stays on long enough for me to finish this blog. And honestly, I would choose this over the other EVERY single time.

UT will always and forever be the greatest university one could go to. I will be a volunteer for the rest of my life. Knoxville will be in heart, and a place I will venture to on many occasions. It is a bittersweet feeling to say goodbye to an entire part of your life, and excited about the next step. As my friends get married, get cool jobs away from Tennessee, or move abroad I am excited to see how the Lord moves in their life in this new chapter. It might be a cliché but is so true, after college you start the journey of the rest of your life. I may have no idea what is going to happen in the next three months or where I will be, but that is the beauty of this next part in life it doesn’t matter.

Some of my favorite parts about UT/Knoxville and my time there:

-Everything is orange

-Being a Volunteer

-UT truly has the best fans

-Sports…duh!

-Torchbearer and the eternal flame and getting roast jumbo size marshmallows on it

-Tradition

-The Rock…and getting to paint it

-Welcome Week

-Flash Rave in the library

-Vol Walk…and halfway through college seeing my baby brother walk along with the great Volunteers

-Hodges Library…so much time was spent there day and night and little studying was done but so many memories

-Cru-brary for when you needed a familiar face and always knew where to find them

-Being a part of one of the top Anthropology departments in the nation and the many opportunities given and people I met even if it meant being secluded to the dungeon that is SSH underneath Neyland Stadium

-Humanities Amp

-Massey Hall…where I lived for three years and so many memories made. This place will forever hold a place in my heart, and all the great women that I met that I will call friends for a long time

-Rushing the greatest sorority Pi Beta Phi

-Cru…I cannot even put into words what this ministry and the people that make it up have meant to me and my time at UT. I have never laughed so much, cried so much, or been loved so much than with these people. They have challenged me and continue to challenge me all the time.

-Calvary Baptist Church

-The Fellowship House and the FHouse girls who have been the greatest roommates, and the College House and College House guys who are the best neighbors and big brothers there could be

-Market Square, Riviera, Square Room, Mast General, all the greatness that is Downtown Knoxville

-The Strip

-Game Days

-Smokey

-World’s Fair (the fountains!)

-My favorite…Rocky Top

I could go on and on, telling stories and trotting down memory lane. I miss UT and Knoxville, but so blessed to be able to wear orange and cheer on the Vols while following the Lord's call to Haiti. All in all Rocky Top will always be home sweet home to me. Go Vols! Big Orange Country! Vol for Life!

like whoa

Holy rice and beans Batman, I live in Haiti! Did you catch what I just said? I live in Haiti! And it's like a dream. I have been here for about three and a half weeks, but summer in Knoxville feels like eons ago. I don't even know where to begin, God is so great. Even in the midst of craziness, expectations, and adversity He is so great! This summer was completely packed with school, weddings, trips and in the middle of that trying to get ready for Haiti. A lot of things got in the way and tried to get me off balance from what needed to be done. Just a few minor freak outs, and a lot of love, patience, and help from dear friends and now I am in Haiti. One of my roommates decided a few weeks before I left that she would just come down with me. And that was more of a blessing than I ever thought. The first day I was in Haiti, I was completely overwhelmed. We had gotten in the night before so late that it had not hit me that I was here. It was a good overwhelmed, overtaken with the reality that I finally made it here, how little I deserve to be here, and the Lord's great love. He is moving and working in Haiti. I am beyond blessed to be asked to work alongside his great plan for Haiti, and the Spirit working in and through me. To God be all the glory!

Getting on the plane!

When we arrived in Haiti, there was a youth group from Tampa here. We did a VBS in the mountains area of Kenscoff, Haiti. I have never been to the mountains of Haiti before and it was absolutely beautiful! It was a very different part of Haiti, than the hustle and bustle of Port-au-Prince. We sang songs, made crafts, played outside, snacks, and had a Bible story everyday! We had nearly 100 kids everyday, which is amazing! One day some of the boys had a little band set up. One old bass drum which was being beat with a stick that had a tennis ball on it, and several dejangeled tambourines being hit with pencils and sticks from the ground, and a regular tambourine. They played all day singing and jamming! They made the most for what they had, and loved every minute of it. We started being funny and dancing around with the little kids, which turned into being in a dance off with all the older girls! It was hysterical. I literally danced for 45 minutes with different girls til I finally won the dance off! So much fun, and they loved it! Some probably laughing at me, but it didn't matter!

Chadasha has a beach property that will soon be an Orphanage Retreat Center! One day we took the kids from the Children's Home (Chadasha's orphanage/transition home) to the beach property. If you have been following me for awhile you will remember the CH from last year, and there are a lot of the same kids! They have never never really gone anywhere except the bad situation they were taken from and the Children's Home. Some of them were a little frightened by the water, but all in all they loved playing in the sand and eating coconuts, and slashing around in the water. It was definitely a task running around trying to keep up with all the kids and making sure no one drowned, but we had a good time seeing the kids so happy!

A few days later we were able to have the kids come over to our house for a sleepover!! And we thought the beach was intense! We had pizza, cupcakes, a movie and play time! We had 11 Haitian children running around and they only speak creole! It was super fun though, and the kids loved getting to do something different.

Another part of what I will be doing here is teaching English in a tent camp. Chadasha partnered with a nearby tent camp, and has english and bible classes for women, men, and kids. The classes are taught in old gutted school buses on the edge of the tent camp. It is a great ministry to bring up Haitian leaders that can take the gospel to their area. The interns teach the ladies and children's class. I am in the children's class. We have a range of ages from 3-15 (just a guesstimate) and have an average of 30-40 kids each class. We have a bible lesson first then an english lesson. The kids are really smart and want to learn. With so many kids and such a wide range it can get really difficult at times even with a translator helping us out. I am really excited about diving into teaching this class. Hopefully by the end of it they will remember to call me "Cheyenne" instead of "Hey you" or "Blan" (which is white in creole).

If you are new to Chadasha, their biggest ministry is pediatric heart surgeries. This was started in the DR years ago, and now we are doing that here in Haiti. A few times a year children are found with severe heart defects that need surgery for survival and taken to the DR where sufficient equipment an doctors are to perform the surgery. This time we had 5 kids that came to stay with us a few days before heading over to the DR. We took them to the dentist, played with them, and gave their mothers some rest time. Djoudly, Richama, Christman, Ciara, and Todd all were taken over to ahve surgeries! Richama was able to return home because her heart issue was minor and did not require surgery! Praise Jesus! The doctors said her heart would heal on its own just fine! Djoudly and Christman have had their surgery and are recovering great! Just waiting to hear when Todd is scheduled for his! Ciara's issue is too complicated for the team there and she is too high risk for the surgery. She is scheduled for the November round of heart surgeries. Please be in prayer for her that the right specialist and surgeon can come to perform the surgery, It is a miracle she has made it to age 4. I have been so blessed to be a part of this branch of the ministry even if it seems small. The kids are wonderful and so brave! Continue to pray for each of them!

Djoudly!

Ciara!

Todd!

Now I will share some of the more comical and intersting things that have have been going on in the life that is Haiti. (disclaimer: not for the faint at heart)

-So the sun and I have always been on good terms. Nice tan skin, no burning, no sunscreen, you know every girls dream. Well take away the humidity blocker we have in Tennessee and add a really big mountain, and a dash of you're in the Caribbean and really close to the equater, you get a very burnt Cheyenne. I have NEVER in my life experience something like that. My skin was literally rotting off my back (sorry I know that is gross). That was the first week I was here. I am better now, and skin doing just fine. But it was touch and go for a while there.

-Then I fell down a hill

-And even better I grabbed, will full force, a razor wire and sliced my finger open. And it bled A LOT! Good thing it was in Haiti where supplies are plentiful. Slapped a band aid on it, and went on my way. (For reference, most houses are surrounded with a concrete wall with broken bottles on top or wire, kind of like barbed wire but covered in razors)

-I have been able to work on my nursing resume in the last week. One of our dear Haitian translators and security burned his leg horrifically on a moto, and we have been doctoring it up each day. And when I say doctoring it up, it is not the most pain free or sufficient supplies way. But it has not been infected and healing!

Nurse in training!

-Somehow our water system got infested with thousands of tadpoles. The thing is the tanks are on the roof of the house and they were full of the little swimming critters. We had to bleach them out, and drain all the water out. And had no water for a couple days until the water guys came to fill it back up.

-I killed a tarantula in the kitchen!!

It was a baby tarantula, but I am sure mama is somewhere close!

 -When your life revolves around Creole, you find different ways for Jesus time. I am working on reading through the Bible, and so far have gotten through 15 books! Praise Jesus! Can't wait to see what the Lord reveals through these times. 

-I have never been bit my mosquitoes in Haiti til this trip. And it usually happens in the shower

-I was never that into track, just didn't know a lot about it. But watching the Olympics track with a two time Olympian track runner makes it the most exciting sport there is! And I love her dearly!

The great Wilna!!! Love her!!

We didn't get to watch much Olypmics but track, so we had to cheer America on somehow!

I know this has been long, and I hope not to go this long with out blogging. If you have made it this far without getting bored or passing out you are a champ! I appreciate all your love and support! Sending my love and prayers from Haiti!

Pita! 
Cheyenne