Thrifting in the Rain, Just Thrifting in the Rain

The rain didn't keep me from thrifting today! I found some great stuff!

Treasure from Goodwill

$8 Yellow 

Rain boots

$1 thick brown suspenders

$1 thin black suspenders

Now all I need is a yellow umbrella and a yellow raincoat!!

Photography Website

This is my photography website check it out!


http://www.wix.com/briana_payne/portfolio

Its for my photography class.. I will add more pictures and fix it up later

My #1 Fan

On May 26th I lost my number one fan.  She read my blog posts constantly and was the one who inspired me to start writing in the first place.  My grandmother "Grabby" was an amazing person.  Even though a few months have past it seems like it was just yesterday we were planning a train trip around the country.  I have never been at a lost for words, but when I think about her I have nothing to say.  Only for her funeral was I able to think of something, even though it did no justice to how I felt or the relationship we had with each other.  Since then I have not been able to put into words anything about her or how I feel.  I have never experienced a loss so close or a grief so great.

Until We Meet

Briana Payne

You can rest now for you have done enough,

But I still have much to do until we meet again

Until we meet, I must study up on my Jeopardy trivia,

Because you would never answer my phone calls when your show was on.

I must practice my acting skills,

Because you are not going to beat me out-acting Ms. Scarlett.

I must continue to suffer through Clint Eastwood film’s,

Because I know how you love your “shoot ‘em up” movies.

And I must keep reading until I can’t keep my eyes open,

Because you introduced me to almost every book I have read.

Until we meet, I will grow mentally and spiritually,

Because you taught me something new every time we talked.

I will pass your stories and wisdom to my own children,

Because you passed them to my mommy and me.

I will travel to all the places we dreamed of,

Because in heaven we will have new adventures to plan.

And I will practice my sprints,

Because when we meet your legs will have “grown back”

And I know you will be ready to race.

Until we meet “parting is such sweet sorrow,”

But “in my father’s house are many mansions,”

And mine is right next to you.

Sorry peeps

So.. I cannot find my Haiti journal so... I decided to come back to it once I do and just start with my trip to Guatemala!  I really hope I find that journal though because it has a part of my life in it

No I Have Not Gone Missing

I know that it has been forever since I have blogged.  Just in case you were freakin out, no I am not missing or anything so don't go searching for my picture on milk cartons.  A lot has happened, so much to blog about. Which I will not be doing until I finish my project for school, so maybe I will blog in the next couple of weeks.. I promise to finish my trip to Haiti.. once I clean my room and find my journal.  And I will be filling you in on things that have happened in my life, as well as my trip to Guatemala. More to come peeps. Talk to you soon!!

Meet the Family

I thought I should take the time to introduce you to my kids.  You have already met one of them, but the oldest you have yet to meet.  Here they are:

Luna.  She has been in the family 8 months now

This is her after she just wakes up

What! Did you say food?! IM UP!

Gimme my food

And let me out of here

Camille.  She is 10 years old.  And she goes EVERYWHERE. 

Camille is not too happy about the new arrival.

Bevo is my moms, and Camille is not to happy about the longhorn in her house

Because Camille is a Baylor Bear

She is the best educated bear that I know

A Look Into the Mind of A Psychological Anthropologist

Take that Sigmund Freud.

Water Bottles Fund Well Drilling in Haiti

Mission Waco's has a new Well Drilling Fund Raiser that is both creative and useful.  I wish they had one in every color. I will be giving these out as gifts.  See more here.  500 water bottles drills 1 well. And they are BPA Free!!

coming this summer

They also have new t-shirts coming out in the summer featuring pictures from their mural of people who live in the different places where they do their exposure trips.

get yours while you can =)

"Green Relief"

This morning I went thrifting again.  It was another successful endeavor.  And it also had an unexpected twist!

So Rianca and I went to The Clothesline today for a quick thrifting run, and I bought a new pair of shoes, a belt, and a sweater.


First I stopped at the belt rack.  They were $1 so I could not pass that up!

Thin black leather belt $1

Although I did not look at the clothes rack, I thought I should see what kind of shoes they had...

Nine West white leather flats with gold buckle $6

I thought my trip was over at this point- until I got to the register and the lady said "You can have anything in the store that is green for free"

I was confused and she said "This weekend we are having a "green relief" sale.  With your purchase you can have another item free as long as it is green."

Thats all I needed to hear and I was back on the racks looking.  Rianca found this sweater:

Cherokee green and pink sweater $4

BUT THAT WASN'T ALL!!

The lady also said "You can pull a slip of paper out of this jar for additional savings"

I said a little prayer, reached my hand in the jar, and pulled out a 10% discount coupon.

So.... my grand total was:

$6.82

I love going green.

Dia Del Thrifting

Yesterday was dia del oso and while everybody was out partying, I took time out from my homework and went thrifting.  There was some success in the trip.  I found a great clothes exchange store Amelias Fashion Exchange.  After trying on 12 different things I ended up with two pairs of shorts.  Not too bad.  They were both $6 a piece.  I did good.

Old Navy Khaki shorts $6.00

Old Navy Brown woven shorts with front cuffs $6.00

HAPPY DIA DEL THRIFTING!!

Ferrier's First Surgery

Wednesday, March 9, 2011- Ferrier, Haiti Day 6

On Wednesday of our Haiti trip, My mom, Kim, and Sharon had a meeting with the teachers at Jackson's school.  During this time they were able to tell us things that they needed, to ask us things they needed help with, and to just tell us how it was being a teacher in Haiti.  Of course I wrote notes during the meeting:

"How are the students tested in Haitian schools? 

They prepare paper examinations.  One of the teachers takes her students outside and put them in a circle to help them learn left and right.  

What is it that they would like help with?

Kindergarten teachers use concrete to have difficulties with materials.  They need help with abstract things such as touch and hear.  They do not have materials for that.  The teachers like the students to determine and discover what things are.  They need ideas of what to do with them.

In place value taught in school?

Yes.  They do charts and do expansions.  

How do they do place value?

They do concrete and abstract concepts and mostly algebra.

What do they have trouble with?

There are students that are smarter than others.

Sharon- what I do if the student is ahead I let them help teach those who do not understand.

How many students in a classroom?

There are many students in each class.  There about 50 kids for each class which is a major problem.  They divide classes or call another teacher to help.  

Kimm- At our school we have them write definitions in the journal....

We showed them the large teeth with the toothbrush to use as a teaching aid.  We also showed them the food pyramid so they can divide food into groups and learn about nutrition.  After the meeting I talked with a man who is a foreman working on the school.  He spoke Spanish so I had another opportunity to practice.  He lived in the Dominican Republic for 8 years.  He has a wife and 2 kids.  A 4 year old boy and an 11 year old girl.  He asked where I was from and if I was African because I have dark skin.  I told him about myself and my family.  He was very friendly and he laughed at me when I used the wrong tense in Spanish and tried to correct myself.  He told me that it is hard for his wife to find work.  His kids go to Jackson's school.  I asked him if he planned to live in Ferrier and he said yes because this is where his family is from.  He said everyone is in the Dominican- Cubans, Americans, Mexicans, and Haitians.  It seems like that is the place to go fro schooling.  He asked how many times I had been to Ferrier and when I would be coming back.  I told him I would love to be able to come back every year....

Also at the school I met a 5th grade teacher named Welson, who spoke English very well.  He is going to school in the Dominican for law.  He said it takes 4 years to do that.  He has already been in school 4 years to become a teacher...

We went to some of the sponsored kids' homes to give them news from their sponsors.  There was one house with 3 small rooms that cost $1,500 and 13 people live there.  I was very small, but survived the earthquake with no damages.  There was a boy there who I saw at the school getting his picture taken to send to his sponsor.  He had a camo shirt on with a Micky Martelly sticker.  He is 20 years old in the 7th grade.  He is the same age as me.  Here I am trying to finish college early because I don't want to be old and in school and this man is the same age as me, still determined to get his education even though he is surrounded by children younger than him.  He asked me how old I was and when I told him I was the same age as him she fell over laughing.  I was confused.  Then he raised his hands to show how short I was.. Even HAITIANS are making fun of how short I am.  I get no respect.

At the clinic a little girl sat with me and we colored on sticky notes.  She taught me my numbers, ABC's, shapes, and fruits and vegetables.  She was six years old.  There was a lady in the clinic earlier.  She was 28 but looked so much older.  She had AIDS and the doctors did not expect her to live much longer.  AIDS is so prevalent in Haiti and awareness is not spread.  They need health education.  I am so glad that Dr. Johnnie is here now to be able to give them continuous access to health care.

We were able to watch a surgery today.  Rob had to remove a benign tumor from a lady's side.  There were no anesthetics he was just able to numb the area.  She laid there in the same spot for two hours, and we were able to watch the whole thing.  While Rob was performing surgery I went back to help with triage.  There was a little boy there that I remembered from last year.  He had sores on his leg and also an infection.  We got the peroxide and he started crying because it hurt so much.  I gave him candy and a balloon to try to help him calm down....

After the clinic we went to the micro loan meeting for a little while.  They had their items laid out on the table and we window shopped...

I had Cergi at dinner.  He has gotten so busy since he was given antibiotics.  He is trying to walk, talk, and cant eating.  He drinks so much gatorade its crazy (hint the nickname "chugalug").  I had to move things out of the way because he was grabbing for everything.  He is like a totally different baby.  He is happy and laughs all the time...

On the way to church we passed out glow bracelets because we had to walk in the dark.  The kids loved it and pretty soon all you would see was a group of colors moving through the dark.  During church Mom and Jeveline were filming the singing.  Jeveline took the camera to the front and while she was taping, Guermanie did was she was good at- bossed her around.  Then we passed out sticky notes to the kids and they colored with some crayons I have in my backpack and wrote us notes.  We showed them pictures of our families.  There are some things that can be communicated across language barriers and one of those things is love.  I love those kids.  They are great kids.  I wish they had the same opportunities that we do in the U.S.  They have so much potential just not the right means to reach their full potential.  I have become attached to all of these people and I could not imagine my life without them or without these experiences."  

Peterson

dinner?

Philippe!!

Guermanie and Me

Beating his friend with the whip

PAYBACK

Where they make caskets

PICTURES FROM THE SURGERY. NOT FOR THOSE WITH WEAK STOMACHS...