Tom V. asks

Isaac - here's the question that I'd love to hear your answer to: "If you could tell a class of 5th graders in the United States one thing about your country, what is the most important thing you'd like them to know about Haiti?"

Dear Tom,
Sometimes when I write I am in a lethargic mood and I don't say as much.  I guess I did that with your question.  The thing I would tell your class of fifth graders is this:  Haiti is a very nice place, especially when it comes to landscape like the mountains, the oceans, the waterfalls, or the beautiful fields.

Thanks for asking about your fifth graders,

Isaac

Sarah asks

Hi Isaac!
I just finished reading through your blog. I loved reading all your great answers. I have a couple questions for you. My family is hoping to be moving to Haiti this year (we're still not sure when or to do what thoug). I have four kids. What should they know and be prepared for before we move? Also, what are some important things for them to pack and make sure to bring with us when we move?

(edited version below)
Sarah,
There are a ton of things (not stuff) your kids should be prepared for, but I'll tell you like 4 things.  First, be ready for traffic; one of the main problems of Haiti. Second, prepare your hearts for a lot of sad things. Now, on the positive side, third, prepare your eyes to feast on the gorgeous landscape. Fourth, you get ready to taste the best food ever. The thing your kids should pack are some books, a journal, and a notebook in case one of your kids likes to draw. 

Owen and Kyle ask

Kyle and Owen recorded their question for Isaac:

Isaac answered them and added "It is always really fun meeting other kids adopted from Haiti. The fact that you are coming here makes me VERY excited."

Marcia asks

Marcia said: “It was fun spending time with you the last couple days, but it was hard saying goodbye. Is it hard for you to say goodbye to so many people you love and care for?

Marcia,
Yes it is hard for me to say goodbye to people I care for and love and no matter where I am, Haiti, or America, I'll always have to say goodbye.  For example when I went to the States after the earthquake I got to see a lot of friends and family but after our non-tedious trip I had to say good bye. So it's a paradoxical situation no matter where I am I sadly have to say goodbye that's one of the hard things about being a missionary kid. 

a funny rap we made last year

"This was one of my favorite Christmas plays ever. I am so glad I got good at rapping and singing quickly. It was so fun and I am glad my Dad creatively came up with this song. I hope you guys enjoy it and think it is creative and cool." - Isaac 

Lyrics:
This here's a tale for you ladies and fellas - Tryin to do what our culture tells us ~ Go out and shop like you're super zealous - But don't forget our God is jealous

Ok smartie go to a party - It's Christmas time have you been nice or naughty? ~ Have we forgotten the reason for the season? - It's about our God, not time for self-pleasin

Next day's function, turkey luncheon - Will you thank God for this food you're munchin? ~ People in the world never have that chance - So don't eat so much you nearly split your pants

This world is needin, hearts are bleedin - We need help to solve this pain we're feelin ~ When you have a chance don't forget to tell - God sent His Son - Emmanuel

Ooooh Yeah, Ooooh Yeah, Mmmm, Yeah, Oh, Yeah (Emmanuel)
We need Him, God sent Him - We need Him, Our God sent Him (Emmanuel)
--
You're on a mission and you're wishin someone could cure this sinful condition ~ Lookin for joy in all the wrong places - All these toys but still sad faces?

From frustration, first inclination is to forget God in your situation
But every dark tunnel has a lighter hope, don't give up on Him - He can help you cope

Don't be bummin, sad song hummin - God hears your cries and your Savior's comin.. He made a way so many years ago - He sent His Son - and now you know:

We need Him, God sent Him - We need Him, Our God sent Him (Emmanuel)

Country or city, things ain't pretty - Sin abounds, we're dirty and gritty
But God sees clear, He came down here - Thank Him for that this time of year (Thank Him for that this time of year)

Chorus - Ooooh Yeah Mmmmm Yeah ...
(c) 2011 Troy Livesay All Rights Reserved

Jake Asks

Hi Issac my name is Jake. Im 10 my little sister Myna is from Haiti. Are there any restaurants in Haiti? If yes what is your favorite one and what do you order there? Thanks for answering all of these questions.

Rough draft ...

With corrections ...
I don't really have ONE favorite restaurant. I have two favorite restaurants that I find remarkable. They are Wahoo Bay Restaurant and Karibe Hotel Restaurant. Here are the things I like to order... At Karibe I usually order  these two deliciously astounding meals which are fettucini alfredo and the splendid steak sandwich. When I'm at Wahoo I take my ususal, which is rice and beans, pikliz, Haitian Creole Chicken with sauce and french fries.  These may not be options here in Haiti at restaurants but I also love Chili, Enchiladas, Tacos, and Turkey Burgers. 

Rocky asks

Hi Isaac. My name is Rocky and I really enjoy reading your blog. You are a very blessed young man to have such a good mind. I am glad to see a young person who is using what God has blessed them with. My family will be staying at an orphanage in Carrefour from the end of September to the beginning of December. I would like to know what you think is the best way to connect with all of the children at the orphanage and to show them how much God loves them. Looking foward to your wise reply.

Hi Rocky,
FIrst, if you want to connect to the children at the orphanage you want to learn some Creole so you can communicate with them.  To show them God's love, you should take them out to do some fun things like hiking. 

Els asks

Els asked: Isaac, You love steak. Where is your favorite place to get steak? I am Dutch, the Dutch play soccer and wear a orange jersey. Why do you wear a Brazil soccer jersey instead of a Dutch soccer jersey?

Upon further reflection:

Dear Els-
The restaurant that makes the best steak if probably in Texas and it is a country-like restaurant called Logan's Road house and guess what? I know someone that works there.

I am not Dutch. I am not Brazilish. I have no idea why I wear a Brazil shirt instead of a Dutch one.  Probably the most likely reason is that my Mom bought me a Brazil one.

love,
Isaac

Livia asks

What are your favorite animals?

Saved Mama asks

Saved Mama asked -
Hi Isaac - I would like to know what you love on your steak and how you like it prepared? How do you cope with the heat in Haiti? Are you still available to marry my daughter?

Rough draft

Second draft

Hi Saved Mama -
Well, what I love on my awesome steak is: NOTHING. Plain.  I love my steak to be mediumly prepared. The reason why I like it this way is because my Dad always cooks it that way, so I am used to it. We cope with the intense heat by jumping in our cold pool which tends to be QUITE cold even in the summer months. Okay, so, that is just a joke, right (?), about me marrying your daughter?

love,
isaac

Nicky asks

Nicky asked: Isaac, What are the things you would want Canadians to know about Haiti. Also, do you have questions about Canada?

Dear Nicky -
The top, very most important things for people in Canada to know:  Haiti is VERY mountainously wonderful. The ocean is such a wonderful sight. People diligently work hard in their fantastic fruit fileds.  Here are questions about Canada:
1. Does it have huge fish?
2. Have you ever seen any?
3. Is the water very cold?

Cynthia asks

Hi Isaac, Two questions what is the silliest thing that has ever been sent to your family while you've been in Haiti? and What do you miss the most from the USA while you are in Haiti? 
Cynthia A long time Livesay blog reader who has sent a silly package or two.

Corrigan asks

Isaac, I'm making a movie about adopted kids, but you probably already knew that. What's it like to be adopted but live in the country you were born in instead of the country your parents were born in? –Corrigan Clay

rough draft:

edits:

Dear Mr. Corrigan,
Living in the same country I was born in is pretty much the same. (You know, because I was born here and now I am here. It's just normal in a way.) It's just different that in America you don't see as much poverty like you do in Haiti. I only lived in Minnesota for three years when I was very small. Haiti seems normal to me. Thanks for asking me. I bet your movie will be very good.
Love,
Isaac

Stephanie asks

Hi Isaac! I've read your parent's blog for a couple of years now and have been enjoying your posts as well. My question for you is: If you could travel to any place that you've never been too where would you go? Why would you go there? What do you think it'd be like? For me I'd like to go to Zimbabwe some day. My husband is from there and we want to take our children to see his old country. Thanks.

Stephanie,
Thanks for this question. A place I would really want to visit is Panama. The reason why I'd want to visit Panama is because it is made up of a lot of jungles and there are some cities and it is very mountainous and I read on the internet that there are FIVE HUNDRED rivers.  There are lots of places I would like to go.  Panama is one of them.

Isaac ASKS his readers:

Hi everyone!
This is Isaac again. I am really enjoying all the questions you are giving me.  You all told me some really interesting stuff about your jobs. I liked that.

How is your summer going in this great year of 2012?

I have about 13 questions already answered and ready to post here in the next weeks but I think that I lost some of the questions too.  I am sorry but I truly lost them.

If you asked something and you are still very impatiently waiting on me to answer, PLEASE will you ask it again in the comment section of this post?  I'll try to do better at keeping track of them.

Summer is almost half over already.  Isn't that crazy?  I go back to school on September 3rd and I can hardly wait for that day. I will try to keep my blog going until then if I have things that I can answer.

Looking forward to some new great questions,

Isaac 

Carol asks

Hi Isaac! Congratulations on starting your own blog. It's a great idea and I, of course, have questions for you. I will try to ask just one or two at a time and spread them all out over the summer. :) I am the principal of an elementary school in the US and I like to talk with students about school stuff. I hope that's ok even though it's summer. What do you think about homework - is doing some practice work at home in the evening a good idea? Do you learn things when you are completing homework? How much homework is the "right amount" for a student your age? I look forward to your answers! From, Carol

Rough Draft:

Final:
Dear Carol,
My Mom told me that we are (second) cousins! That is wonderful!! I like homework but it is not my favorite thing. Yes, homework is good for you and when you turn it in the next morning and have three wrong and the teacher corrects it and you look over the corrections, you CAN learn from your mistakes.  Yes, I do elatedly learn stuff when I'm intelligently completing homework. The right amount of homework for me is probably 3 or 4 things that won't take more than one hour.
Thanks for asking me!
From your cousin Isaac 

Anonymous asks ..

Isaac, I am wondering if you're able to make friends with Haitian kids in your neighborhood? Do you get to see any movies that are popular in the USA? Where do you buy your clothes? I also wondered what it is like having so many people in and out of Haiti. Do you like having so many visitors?

(From Tara -  Dear Anonymous - Isaac answered your questions about two weeks ago (and lost it until last night) he had answered again while the other one was lost.  I posted both his first and second answer. The typed version below is the final draft version.)

Dear Someone,
No, I don't have any good friends here besides my family. At times I have though. Just some of my friends moved back to America. Yes, I can play with other kids in my neighborhood but the annoying thing is whenever I play soccer on the soccer field somebody ends up taking the ball so I have to get it back. Yes, I love meeting new visitors. As you may already know, I am a very social person.

TAKE TWO:

Someone,
It's possible to make friends but I don't have any in this mammothly wide neighborhood. I have an awesome awesome family instead. Yes, I do get to see some of the popular movies, like Megamind, Tangled, ToyStory 3, Cars2. The reason why I've seen these movies is because people sometimes bring them in. How we get our clothes is pretty hard. We don't really buy clothes here very often. We just sometimes have someone bring them in to us. Seeing visitors is fun, and yes, it is hard living with SOME of them because we're not so used to our amiable parents talking for like TWO HOURS straight!


Isaac

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Parental clarification on a couple things ...
Our neighborhood is not mammothly wide.  He must have wanted to use that word. :)


We occasionally buy clothes here. It is time consuming (lots of negotiating and searching) and we are spoiled Americans that think buying should be easy, so we usually just buy clothes once a year when it makes sense to get them here. 


Isaac does not speak Creole, that is a major problem with being close to neighborhood kids. He is slowly learning but after moving here he was teased for not knowing it and that made him put the brakes on learning it for a number of years. Additionally the fact that he has white parents makes him the odd kid and causes some challenges for him.  He and Noah both try on occasion to interact and hang out with kids in the neighborhood but it doesn't always end well. Kids like to practice their English and the last time the English they practiced was "Your mom is a b-****". That stuff really keeps Isaac from wanting to try. As parents this is probably one of the main reasons we sometimes question if we want to raise them here or not ... they are outsiders in many ways and that is heart-breaking for us.  We're grateful they have some MK (missionary kid) friends and they have each other but we recognize that this is a very hard thing for them. At this point the kids are joy-filled and quite happy and we're not too concerned. We talk a lot about these things and we're the kind of parents that refuse to put Haiti or mission stuff before our kids. Our kids are our first "mission".  If we ever see they are not doing well or recovering from a difficult time, we'd begin to think about heading northwest to resettle there. 

RR asks

Mr. Isaac, Why do mosquitos bite us ? Sincerly RR

Dear RR-
I think mosquitos only bite people with tasty blood. For example, my brother does not get bit unless he's in the water. Mosquitoes are notoriously blood sucking insects.  That question was funny. Thanks for asking me.
Isaac

Jessica asks

"Hi Isaac, My name is Jessica and I have been to Haiti twice. The first was over Christmas of 2007 when I helped with what used to be the orphanage at Heartline. I was also visiting a friend of mine who was caring for your baby cousin Annie(do you call Annie your cousin or sister?). My friend gave me the website to your family blog so I could read about Annie once I got back to America in January 2008, and I have been reading about your family and keeping you guys in my prayers ever since :) I was just wondering how Annie is doing and if you get to see her when you visit family in America? Has she ever been back to Haiti to visit you guys? Thanks for writing this blog it's great to hear your perspective of Haiti! Jessica F."

Jessica,
Would I call cutely joyful Annie my sister?  Sort of. Well, I don't really get to see her so often unlike a sister  - a sister stays with you until she eventually goes to college or sadly passes away.

Yes, whenever we get to go back to America we usually get to see Annie and the rest of her family. No, she has not been back to Haiti since she was wonderfully adopted.
(I think someday she will come back, but right now she doesn't have her passport yet.)

From,
Isaac

P.S. - the picture i posted was the last time I saw Annie. It was Christmas of 2010. Maybe next summer I will get to be with her again. I definitely hope so. I sure do love her a lot as my sister and as my cousin.

my family with Annie's family with my Grandparents at christmas time 2010

Liz asks

Dear Liz,
I cannot find your question to cut and paste in above my answer. Maybe if you don't remember the question my answer will be very strange. But I answered this:
Do my dogs play with coconuts? NO.
They really enjoy playing with deliciously tasty mangoes because of this habit of eating magoes they get diarrhea, the stinky yet SICK mushy kind of poop. My dogs do not understand every language spoken on the island of Haiti. (My dogs seem to speak English and maybe a little Kreyol.) No means no in both languages!!! 

Kristie asks ...

Hi Isaac! I love Haitian food and American food. My favorites are Griyot and pizza. Do you have favorites, too? You are a very smart young man. Love, Kristie, mommy to three children all born in Haiti

(Another reader asked about Isaac's favorite Haitian food. We apologize that we cannot locate that question exactly as it was posed  - but this answer is for that reader too.)

Hi again "Chapter Two" (I know your real name and I know you!) -
I loved meeting your kids. They are nice kids and playing that foosball game was exciting! Last time I answered you I only told you my favorite American food (wonderful steak!!!) I did not say what my favorite Haitian foods are. I also wanted to tell you that I love fried plantains a lot. The best ones ever are the ones Geronne makes at my house. Hers are better and more delicious than any other that I ever tried. I also LOVE spicy and surprising Pikliz (this is a spicy coleslaw) and fried chicken. I also like Haitian spaghetti and fried Akra and rice and beans. I like almost all Haitian foods but not goat very much.