Haiti: Land of High Mountains

Today marks a week spent in Cange, Haiti.

I came here to visit my dear friend Nicole Bryant who is teaching English at a school called the Centre de Formation Fritz Lafontant School (CFFL). Founded in 2012, CFFL is a vocational school that was partners with an organization called Zamni Lasante. Since her arrival in January, Nicole has been living in the Zamni Lasante complex. The complex is a joint effort between Partners in Health, the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina, and the Clemson Engineers for Developing Countries and features guest housing, an art center, a full-service hospital with two operating rooms, adult and pediatric inpatient wards, an infectious disease center, an outpatient clinic, a women’s health clinic, ophthalmology and general medicine clinics, a laboratory, a pharmaceutical warehouse, a Red Cross blood bank, radiographic services, and a dozen schools.

Over the next five weeks, my time will be split between volunteering at the art center, assisting with administrative tasks at CFFL, studying Creole, reading, hiking, swimming, traveling, and assisting in the planning of Nicole’s upcoming wedding in October (yay!).

If there is anything I have learned over the past few years, it is that God is a very big god and it is our delight to uncover the mysteries of His creation. The culture and the land in Haiti are incredibly different, yet similar to the United States in odd ways. Haiti is considered the most destitute and impoverished country in the Western Hemisphere yet, somehow, it is a country filled with people who exude contentment and joy in every day life. Spending time here has challenged me to redefine poverty and redefine my preconceived notions of what it means to be a missionary. I plan to unpack these concepts over the next several weeks, so stay tuned.

One of my favorite things about God is that He is not limited by time, space, nationality, or culture. He is not an American God and He is not a Haitian God. He is simply, God.

Isaiah 43:10-11 says, "You are My witnesses," declares the LORD, "And My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me."I, even I, am the LORD, And there is no savior besides Me"

Summer 2013

Right now I am sitting at my office which can be anywhere as long as it has a) coffee and b) internet. This place qualifies.

This summer I am interning with Elanco Animal Health. My job is to work with a field representative of Elanco and his veterinary hospitals to complete a project based on communication methods to the end-users of our product. It's a mouthful, I know.

Here are some of the highlights of my internship so far:

- I frequently take Pretzel (my dog) to veterinarian clinics that I visit. Considering that she thinks she is a person, she does very well with the veterinarians and staff that I talk too.

- Yesterday I went to my first trade show at the veterinary conference. Prior to setting up the booth, I surveyed a few veterinarians on their favorite types of chocolate. As it turns out, Kit-Kats, Twix, Reeses does the trick. Those things were gobbled up in no time.

-I honestly cannot brag on my Elanco co-workers enough. They have been so kind to teach me, put up with me, and become my friends.

- I travel a lot. So far I have been to Indianapolis, all over Virginia, and all over North Carolina. Don't get me wrong, I do love Clemson, but I've gotta spread the Clemson love elsewhere! I run into Clemson Alum everywhere I go.

- I LOVE living in Virginia. I will always be proud of South Carolina but man, Virginia is AWESOME! Every where you turn in Virginia, history comes alive. Before coming here, I was a little confused on whether Virginians were really true southerners or not so I decided to ask someone at http://hopecentral.com/ church one Sunday. I must've phrased the question wrong because the 4 foot 11 inch woman leaped up and exclaim, "we are DIE hard southerners, we live and breathe our southern heritage as the capital of the confederacy (I was in Richmond) and the place where the more civil war battles were fought than anywhere else in the nation".

-Confession: my love for history may be the nerdiest, most eccentric part about me. One of my favorite places so far was the Virginia Historical Society (VHS). This was a pretty big deal to me because I have been listening to their podcasts on American history for a few years now. I find them fascinating because the podcasts are filled with juicy and interesting details about history that my school textbooks conveniently decided to leave out. Imagine that.

While visiting the Virginia Historical Society, I was delighted to find out that they were having a book sale. The day I happened to visit the VHS also happened to be Father's day. Thus, I was feeling a little guilty about not driving back to SC to be with my dad. So I thought to myself, "I'll buy him a book and it will make up for me not being there". Two hours and sixteen books later, I emerged from the VHS with a smile and giant box of books for my dad annnnnd myself.

I am going to read every one of them.

Okay now for the negative.

Every once and a while I am filled with sadness because I have not been able to see some special people in my life in a while. I can't wait for our reunion and FOOTBALL(aka tailgating) season this fall!

mmm... Christmas music

When I think of Christmas, I don't just think of Christmas day but the entire Christmas season when the whole family is together in blissful chaos. I have so many fond memories with my family and miss them dearly right now.

The other day I turned on some Christmas music by Amy Grant and a flood of emotions welled up inside of me as I reflected on the memories associated with the music. A felt tears came to my eyes as I blankly stared at my computer screen... at work. I tossed a glance from left to right and grabbed a box of tissues to have on hand before anyone noticed. They were going to be necessary to finish the song. I've always loved Amy Grant's music and felt obliged listen to at least a few songs and forget about the present.

I remember waking up on a Saturday morning to the sound of grinding coffee beans and Christmas music by Amy Grant. As I would tiptoe up the stairs, the early morning sun would be streaming in the windows with a slight warmth that seemed to contradict the frost that covered the ground outside. My dad would always greet me with a warm bear hug that reminded me of how happy he was that I am his daughter. I always felt a sense of peace, contentment, and joy during those mornings. Time seemed to rest and stand still for once: everyone else was sleeping, his Bible was open, and he was there to enjoy the moment and revel in the beautiful morning that God created. Everything trivial disappeared and we talked about the joyful and meaningful things that supersede the problems of everyday life. Those mornings always reminded me of how blessed I am to be given such a wonderful earthly father by my heavenly father.

I love my dad.

Is it already November?

Last Wednesday, tricker-treaters in my neighborhood knocked on our door constantly for a solid 5 hours. Heaps of kids. My host-mom told me that I should be the one to answer the door because I'm an American and it's my fault that Australians have adopted our fabulous tradition of begging for candy. Somehow the basket of candy that she gave me to hand out to the kids didn't last very long. Ehem. Adults need candy too, right?

I am now eight weeks into my internship. As I walked into the Sydney office for the first time, I reminded myself to keep an open mind and resist any urge to rely on assumptions. Why? Because I came here to do market research and relying on preconceived notions is not exactly the best formula for success. It was harder than I thought. The Western culture of Australia is just close enough to the United States to be quite confusing at times. One moment you think you've got the hang of it, and the next moment you hear about some sort of random law or custom that catches you totally off-guard.

During the first couple days of my internship, I sat in several long meetings while a team and I planned out how I would structure my research project. The initial plan approximately 30 potential clients across Australia. In theory, it was a great idea. In practice, we ran into a few bumps in the road. First, it took nearly two full days of calling these companies to secure a few appointments. It was nearly impossible to get in touch with the right person in order to ask for an interview (no thanks to the receptionists who were roughly equivalent to guard-dogs). The only companies that we managed to secure interviews with were the 3 clients that we already had and companies so small they couldn’t afford a receptionist. The interviews themselves went fairly well. Most of the people we interviewed were willing to answer my questions and quite often would go off on tangents that did not necessarily “fit” into my data, but were nonetheless useful. It all goes into the big picture.

After several interviews, I started to evaluate the direction of my research. What was the core objective and how was I going to reach it? As I looked at the answers that I had gotten, I started to realize that there is much more going on below the surface that perhaps, even the companies themselves didn’t understand. After all, a majority of the companies that we interviewed had a maximum of five employees. If collectively their actions determined the direction and characteristics of the market, would they only have five employees? Sure, it is great to know what products they like and such, but I question how much influence they have on the overall market. Going back to some of the original objectives of my research, I determined that it was absolutely vital to get an accurate representation of both companies and market share.

Fortunately, I had the opportunity to go to a horse race in Melbourne that was also networking event. It was at this event that I met other manufacturers and distributors who eventually became the ticket into another side of the industry. After an evening filled with discussion, I not only gained a whole new understanding, but several new “connection” requests on LinkedIn. To be honest, I never thought that LinkedIn was very useful. In fact, I thought LinkedIn was for people who were job-shopping. I was wrong. LinkedIn provided me the contact information and the job titles of people that I needed to get in touch with.

After a few interviews with well-known and experienced people in the industry (such as distribution managers, association directors, consultants, sales reps, etc), I gained a far more in-depth understanding of the market. It has been exciting, thrilling, and overwhelming. Yet, I still feel as if I’ve only witnessed the tip of the iceberg. In my mind and on paper, I have categorized the market into three categories: structural- who the key players are and why, behavioral- how the key players interact with one another to deliver value, and dynamical- how the value created by key players has and will continue to develop over time. As a side note, it is my belief that big and small companies are important. I am still continuing with the original research plan while pursuing other sources.

So where am I with my research now? I’ve had interviews in Melbourne, Adelaide, and Sydney so far and over the span of this month I will cover Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. I am recording my findings in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. I will use PowerPoint for my final presentation but will also hand in a Word document with findings and suggestions on what things should be examined further.

God has been so good to be and guided me every step along the way. Trust me, I am not just saying that- He really has. The church that I am going to here has had an enormous impact on my walk with Christ. The preaching and worship is amazing but the love and openness of His people is what has truly impacted me in a way that I can't explain. I've been challenged to re-examine my life and confess to being a lukewarm christian.

Revelation 3:14-22 says,

“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation. “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see"

I cannot even tell you how many times I have been that apathetic christian who only goes to church to feel good about herself and see friends. Yes. It's true. The beautiful thing about God is that He has me in the palm of His hand and will never stop pursuing me. Slowly but surely, he is beckoning me back to the cross. He has melted some of the hardness in my heart and shown me that once again, He is all I need. If hurricane Sandy were to destroy my entire home and family, I would still have Christ to lean on for comfort and support. I would know His presence and His peace because it is not conditional. In fact, He has often shown me His peace in the most unlikely and undeserving times of my life.

He is good.

And I am thankful.

"These are a few of my favorite things"

If you haven't seen the Sound of Music, please stop reading this blog and go watch it. It is well worth your time. You might want to warn your friends and family. The music is so good, you will be singing the songs for weeks.

One of my favorite songs in the Sound of Music is "My Favorite Things". I love it because it talks about the little things that make life beautiful. This post is about some of my favorite things that have made my stay here in Australia so good.

people.

Australians are some of the kindest, friendliest people you will ever meet. I have not met one person who hasn't been welcoming and friendly. Whether it is at church, work, the mall, or just random people on the beaches and such... anyone will stop and talk to you (or help you out if you are lost..ehem). Several of the girls my age at church have gone out of their way to invite me to Bible studies and drive me to and from church. Free rides definitely beat biking to church in cycling gear and then changing into a dress.

As a whole, Australians tend to be well-traveled and have a pretty good idea of what is going on in the world around them. This makes it easy to talk and relate to people of all ages and walks of life. There are also a lot of people who have immigrated here from all over the world- most are from South Africa. Some of the stories that I've heard are amazing. So far I've met people from nearly every continent in the world here.

land.

So far, the variety of landscape in Sydney alone, amazes me. There are tons of Palm trees throughout the city, Eucalyptus trees in "the bush", and Cyprus trees that line the beaches. One moment you can feel like you are in a jungle and the next, you can feel like you are in a semi-desert area with red rocks, sand, and bushes.

The unpredictable weather and variety of landscape makes the land here impossible to tame. Man will never be able to subdue the land without first subduing the weather. I love that.

Today I went out for a run in bushland of a national park that is adjacent to my neighborhood. As I ran and climbed up and down the rough terrain, I was struck by just how awesome the land was. I probably should've been paying better attention to where I was going instead of where I was because I got completely lost. No joke, I literally thought I was gonna be camping out with the kangaroos. After about an hour and half of wandering on mountain biking trails, I eventually found civilization and made my way back home.

FYI The mountain biking out here is siiiiiick. Probably better than road biking actually.


animals.

My favorite animals in Sydney are Penguins, Pelicans, Parrots, Kangaroos, and Wallabies. Two days ago I spotted a Wallaby in my neighborhood for the first time. I was nearly beside myself with excitement. Its cute little tail and innocent eyes made my heart melt. Right then and there, I decided that I have to have one. So naturally, the next day I wasted a solid hour on the internet trying to figure out how and where I can get one. As it turns out, it is legal to have a Wallaby in South Carolina and there is a guy who sells them in Illinois. Who would've thought? The smallest type of Wallaby is called a Dama Wallaby. They are grow to about a max of 20 lbs, can be house trained, like to swim, and love to chill out. How perfect is that? The males cost $1200.. which is really not so bad! Check out the website . Right now I am waiting for the owner to return my email.

I just got back from a week-long excursion to Australia’s country music capital, Tamworth to work on Dow AgroSciences research farm. Don’t be fooled by the “country music capital” nickname, this place is sparsely populated. The cozy town is nestled between tree-covered hills and is surrounded by a combination of hills and flat farmland with rich soil. The journey out to the farm took about an hour of driving on dirt roads into what seemed like the middle of nowhere. Eucalyptus trees hung over the river, wheat fields swayed in the wind, and the sun beat down overhead and the hills provided a stunning backdrop. The land was unique in that it has characteristics of dry and wetland. About this time of the year (October), there are such deep cracks in the land that if you stepped in them, the dirt would come up to your knees. Next month, however, it will flood shortly after harvest and everything will look different. Dead things will come to life and animals will appear out of nowhere. Deadly snakes, parrots, feral pigs, foxes, bandicoots, giant lizards, kangaroos, and koalas to name a few.

I saw my first kangaroo on my first day out there and was awed by how awkward and cute they are. The next morning, I got a call on my phone, “Molly, I found you a koala”. I’ll be honest; I didn’t know that koalas even lived out there. I took off running as fast as I could through wheat fields, scurried under an electric fence, and arrived at the foot of a giant Eucalyptus tree with a koala nestled snuggly in a nook of the tree. I ripped off my boots, rolled up my pants, and shimmied my way up that tree as fast as I could. The higher I climbed, the higher the koala climbed until I started to worry that he would fall out of the tree. Fortunately I had time to whip out my Iphone and take a few snapshots.

The sighting of the deadly snake came a few moments after seeing the koala. I exercised a little more restraint with this one. I couldn't afford to take any chances because if it bit me, I wouldn’t have had time to get to the hospital.

Don’t worry though, I still got a picture.

Down Under

It's been two and a half weeks since I stepped off the airplane onto Australian soil. Where did the time go?

Have you heard of Cirque de Soleil? It is a Canadian acrobatic group that performs all over the world. Last week, our whole office went as VIP guests to see them perform in downtown Sydney. It was a jaw-dropping, nerve-wracking, thrilling experience.

As I watched them do flips and practically fly all over the stage, I felt a twinge of jealousy and reminisced on my childhood dreams of becoming an acrobat in the circus. If only I had practiced more on those monkey bars...

My big mouth has already gotten me in trouble. Sort of. When asked *ehem* about some of the beautiful places around Sydney, I happened to mention a few places that I had been on my bike. Now, to all of you non-cyclists, perceived distance and exhaustion on the bike is significantly decreased when you own the right equipment and have had some training in your legs. It didn't take long for a rumor to start going around that I am some super long-distance athlete. Monday morning at work, as I filled up my mug with coffee, my co-worker walked in and announced, "Molly, you are going on a 25km trail run with myself and three other people. You will need snacks, running shoes, a camelback, and possibly a light jacket. Oh, and you will be collected at 5:30am on Saturday morning". I wasn't sure how to respond. "Awesome"?,"You're crazy?","do you wanna repeat that?". Turns out all I could muster was a half-enthused "great!".

After late night at Cirque du Soleil, my alarm clock made the most revolting sound as it woke me up at 4:45am. I promptly made some coffee, scarfed down some oatmeal, and ran out the door for what I knew would be an interesting morning. It wasn't long into our trail run before I felt the urge to take pictures. It was too gorgeous not to at least attempt to catch some of the beauty.

God is amazing isn't he? He also has a sense of humor. Just look at a kangaroos and pelicans (two of my favorite animals).

Work... last week, I went down to Adelaide to visit two of our companies
largest accounts. The purpose of the trip was to gather information for the design of the market research project that I'm doing. One of the most important things I've been learning is not to rely on assumptions. Just because business is a certain way in the US, does not mean that it is the same down here. It is considered very "American" to think that the world revolves around us and everyone operates, or would like too, off of our system. I learned that pretty quickly by accidentally riding my bike on the wrong side of the road...
The preparation for my research project has been an ongoing process since I arrived and seems to be taking a long time. Other than my trip to Adelaide (see photo), I've spent a good bit of time sitting at my desk and in various meetings. At this point, I feel as if I am in the calm before the storm. Over the 4-5 weeks, I will be traveling to a different state in Australia every week to put my project into action. Ah!

To be honest, I am very excited about my work here. My project has the potential to be a total flop or be a catalyst for launch of a new product.

Overall, I am really enjoying it here. The ocean, the hills, the city, the culture... I love it! There is a 5k circuit that several people at the office run every day during lunchtime. Some of the guys try to act like they are not
trying to beat the rest of the group when it's obvious they really are. There's
even a course record (announced, of course, by the course record holder).

work hard, play harder

Thursday was my first day of WORK! Shortly after arriving, I was led through a maze of desks and offices to meet my new co-workers. The office had a lively, cheerful, international flavor about it. One guy was from South Africa, another from Canada, another from China, and so on. Finally, my tour guide ushered me into the break room and proudly introduced me to a grand coffee machine that makes 12 different kinds of coffee. It appears to be a workplace bonding tool.
Besides touring the office and filling out tax forms(etc.), I learned a lot more about my project and what I will be doing during my time here. In preparation for the launch of a new product, my job is to plan and execute a market research project to determine the pricing and position of the new product. I will be working closely with the product manager and the some of the marketing experts in the office. The freedom and flexibility to tailor and design it the project is a little daunting. I've never done marketing research and the last thing I want to do is let down a company that flew me to the other side of the world to work here. However, with great challenges comes great opportunity. Also, my host family have been very welcoming and kind to me.

Saturday, I went to a church called "c3". Ironically, the preacher was a visiting American. He was a funny old man. The church was warm and welcoming- several people introduced themselves to me and one person even gave me her contact info in case I need anything.

After church, I went to a get-together that my host family's extended family was hosting a few blocks away. We had a delicious dinner and I got my first taste of Australian wine.The company wasn't too bad either..

We laughed and joked around the kitchen table about everything from Morgan Freemen to Tasmania. Before I left, the mom of the family gave me a few classic Aussie books to read. I can't wait to dive into them.

Sunday, I was planning on doing a race that my new friend Elliot told me about. Kind of last minute, I bailed and decided to do a long, easy ride instead. I dont know, I just had a gut feeling that it wasn't going to be a good race and I'm glad I didn't cause I was a little stiff that day. I ended up doing a 4.5 hour ride through a national forest nearby. The views were so beautiful that I felt as if I was obliged to stop every 2 minutes to snap another picture.

You are awesome, O God, in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God!
~Psalm 38:35

Job 38:2-7
Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone,
when the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?