 When I met my husband Endy (then-boyfriend), he would tell me all about Haiti. He would tell me stories about growing up with his siblings, his best friends. He would tell me about the journeys they had to get to school, the funny stories of dressing up in their parents clothes and the soccer games they played on the roof of their house. He would tell me how beautiful "The Real Haiti" was. I mostly just listened, and quietly doubted that a place I always heard was a "third world country," could be beautiful. What? You're going to Haiti on vacation!? It took years of convincing to plan a trip to Haiti...7 years actually! Endy planned everything for our 10 day adventure. Although I was excited, my worried mind kept playing questions over in my head like, "what if we can't find water to drink?" and "what if we get TB or yellow fever?" As I type these ridiculous things (that I never actually said out loud), I can't even believe I thought such judgmental things about a place I'd end up falling in love with! As an innocent Italian-American, red-headed, 28-year-old, I really had no clue what Haiti was really like. I had no clue that visiting Haiti would change my life. As our vacation plans neared, I secretly wanted to back out or hoped for some reason we weren't going to end up going (sad, but true). The time came and we flew from Florida to Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. My life was forever changed and my eyes and heart were opened like they had never been before. For more of an in depth look about what I saw and experienced, read my blog about things I noticed while in Haiti. Before my first trip, my husband encouraged me to start a blog about Haiti to share what we saw. I wasn't fully on board with the idea, but I did. When I was there and then returned home is when I started blogging about all-things-Haitian and really fell in love with the idea of blogging. I embraced the culture and through my experiences, I had to share all of the amazing things that were so new to me. Some of the best memories i have in haiti Fast forward EIGHT years later Since I started The Real Haiti, Endy and I got married and have two little boys now! Although we don't get to travel to Haiti as much anymore (adulting too much), promoting the Haitian culture, food, people and life in Haiti is still my passion! I couldn't find one place online with resources for teaching kids about Haiti and Haitian Creole so I created my own for my boys and am sharing it with you! I have added a kids section (there's also a tab above) to The Real Haiti where you can find a variety of resources to teach your kids or students about Haiti -
While all of this started as a fear of Haiti, then a love for Haiti, it's now my business and a huge part of my life. I am so grateful for all of you for following my page for all of these years. Lastly, thank you always for your encouragement! Happy anniversary of The Real Haiti blog and business. Mesi anpil!!! If you're new to The Real Haiti, sign up below to subscribe to the blog!
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The first time I visited Haiti, my life changed. I opened my eyes to realize there are other places beyond South Florida where people live, work, have families, do life. Because I had a tainted opinion before I went, going to Haiti was the best decision of my life. Can we say CULTURE SHOCK?! I needed a culture shock badly. I had no idea what kind of positive experiences would help shape the woman I am today. Our 8 day adventure through Haiti was amazing. We saw so much of the country that even my husband never saw while he lived there on his younger years. Mostly quiet in the beginning, I had to take in every piece of my experiences. It was overwhelming, beautiful, sad, hopeful, peaceful, chaotic, contradictory and surprising. I took notes and wrote down the things that left the biggest impression on me.
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