Starting to feel as though I'm getting situated...

I've been here for three weeks and I finally starting to feel as though I'm getting situated.

The big thing hanging over my head the past few weeks has been my Chem 101 class. And I finally caught up tonight. I'm back on track with the rest of my class. My professor was gracious enough to take my situation into account* and give me some leeway on some of the deadlines. But I just finished my Week 3 exam and I'm back on track.

Of course, this science stuff has always been interesting -- though never particularly easy -- for me. I can do it. It just takes time. And this 100-level class is taking me way more time than my MBA 500-level class I took last spring. But hey... I asked for it. And I do enjoy it. So no complaints from me.

Nice thing though is that I'm hoping next weekend I may be able to stroll around town a bit. Right now we're in the middle of a project building ten homes in -- what is probably -- one of the most poverty-stricken neighborhoods in the world: Makandal. It's in Jeremie, Haiti and it's a truly fantastic project.

When you see clay / cement homes with holes in the wall that you could stick your head through... you know it's not a wealthy area. And you know people truly long for the oppotunity to provide their family with a better life.

I'm glad to say we're making it happen.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to visit it yet. I had the opportunity to visit last week as the foundations were being laid. But I've just got too much to learn with the transition at this point. And I had my studies, but I'm ok there now too. So hopefully I'll be fully situated soon. At that point, I'm sure I'll become more involved in the community / culture... learn the language, etc.

But in the meantime... off to bed....

Tim White

* ya know... stuff like no power... regardless of a hurricane... don't speak the language... no idea of where to look for an ISP... local holidays where the country closes... etc.