I have gotten used to sweating all of the time. My body is sure to be toxin free, since it sometimes feels like I'm living in a sauna. Let's just say that there has been a lot of time spent by various bodies of water. At times the heat is uncomfortable, but for the most part I'm adjusting. I am continuing to really enjoy my time here and fortunately haven't been sick up to this point besides the occassional, short-lived stomach ache. They use a lot of oil in their cooking here, so even the change in diet can cause stomach problems.
It's hard to believe that it's been 11 days since I last posted. I have been doing some inventorying and rearranging of the craft shop here, which can be a little tedious, but trying to figure out how to display so much stuff in such a limited space has given me the opportunity to get my creative juices flowing. It's almost become a game. I think I will be helping out another guest house in Port-au-Prince, Norwich House, with a scholarship program they run. It should be a good opportunity and they are really needing the help. Erin and I may be taking some trips in August to rural Haiti to visit some health clinics out there as well.
I have had the opportunity to meet a lot of people who work for international development organizations (as in third world development), which has been helpful for after-college career advice and connections.
I've done a fair share of playing as well. I've been out to a country club type of place, that is open to the public on Wednesdays. The Wednesday night clientel consists mostly of UN officials and other aid workers and the Haitian bourgeois. It's an interesting mix. I went to a beach about an hour outside of PAP last weekend with some of the BC crowd and some of Erin's friends, which was nice. Several of her friends have pools at their houses/apartments so we've been taking advatage of that as well. To date we are keeping ourselves well entertained. The BC students leave in a week. I'll be sad to see them go. They're a fun group and Erin and I will definitely have to work harder at having fun without them here.
I'm sort of getting accustomed to the shoe-shine man who begins ringing his bell just outside my window at about 6 every morning. I atleast can get back to sleep after that until it's time for breakfast at 8. It has taken me a while to realize that my eyes were bothering me because of all the pollution, especially the large clouds of black exhaust that pour from the pipes of large trucks. The black clouds are difficult to avoid when out driving in a vehicle whose ac consists of open windows. Overall I am not missing the comforts of home too badly. Taking cool showers in this heat is really rather refreshing.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
A Taste of Haiti
I’ve arrived in Haiti safe and sound. My bags didn’t make to Haiti with me, but they did arrive the following morning, so it wasn’t a big problem. I’m loving it as much as I did when I was here before. It is, of course, an alternate universe of sorts, but I think that’s what I like about it so much. It’s so different from anything that I’ve known before. Hospice, where I’m working and living, is a diverse community and I love that too. There interesting people around most of the time and breakfast and dinner are eaten together.
There are six students here from Boston College who are running an English camp for neighborhood kids. They’re great and we’re having a lot of fun. Several of them lived in Haiti when they were young or have Haitian parents. It’s nice to have some younger people around. There’s been a lot of card playing going on. I’ve been to class with them everyday this week. The kids (ranging from about 4 to 20) are so incredibly eager to learn. The older kids stayed to have more lessons when given the option.
The security situation is good in Haiti right now, better than it has been in a long time I was told. That is a comfort. There are still UN troops here though. I don’t think they’ll be leaving anytime soon. We talked to a couple of them from Argentina today when we were out to lunch. They’re not really too alarming though because they don’t carry weapons, it’s really the armed guards at many places of business and at a lot of apartment buildings/neighborhood entrances that are a little nerve racking, but they all seem pretty sane. Shooting at a blan (the Haitian word for white people and probably foreigners in general) is probably not in their best interest—a little sad that that’s how it works, but most likely true. A car stopped for us so we could cross the street as we were walking down the hill from the school, which is unusual and I am wondering if it had anything to do with skin color or our obvious American-ness.
Traffic in Haiti is unbelievable. They are no discernable driving rules and up until recently there have only been two stop lights in this city of 2-3 million people (the infrastructure is so bad that no one knows the population for sure). Now there are probably fifteen which are probably tied to some development money or project (i.e. we’ll give you this money, but you have to use it for stop lights or something like that.)
It is hot here too, but I’ve been managing. There are fans in our rooms and then windows are open all of the time. Somehow last night, I think it actually got hotter after the sun went down. I’m not sure how that works, but I wasn’t the only one who thought that. The power went out yesterday (both the city grid and our generator), so we had no lights or electricity for fans for a while. It went out again this morning, so my last few hours of sleep were a little restless due to the heat. I’ve been showering much more often than is my usual, but it’s so hot and humid here that it’s necessary.
There are six students here from Boston College who are running an English camp for neighborhood kids. They’re great and we’re having a lot of fun. Several of them lived in Haiti when they were young or have Haitian parents. It’s nice to have some younger people around. There’s been a lot of card playing going on. I’ve been to class with them everyday this week. The kids (ranging from about 4 to 20) are so incredibly eager to learn. The older kids stayed to have more lessons when given the option.
The security situation is good in Haiti right now, better than it has been in a long time I was told. That is a comfort. There are still UN troops here though. I don’t think they’ll be leaving anytime soon. We talked to a couple of them from Argentina today when we were out to lunch. They’re not really too alarming though because they don’t carry weapons, it’s really the armed guards at many places of business and at a lot of apartment buildings/neighborhood entrances that are a little nerve racking, but they all seem pretty sane. Shooting at a blan (the Haitian word for white people and probably foreigners in general) is probably not in their best interest—a little sad that that’s how it works, but most likely true. A car stopped for us so we could cross the street as we were walking down the hill from the school, which is unusual and I am wondering if it had anything to do with skin color or our obvious American-ness.
Traffic in Haiti is unbelievable. They are no discernable driving rules and up until recently there have only been two stop lights in this city of 2-3 million people (the infrastructure is so bad that no one knows the population for sure). Now there are probably fifteen which are probably tied to some development money or project (i.e. we’ll give you this money, but you have to use it for stop lights or something like that.)
It is hot here too, but I’ve been managing. There are fans in our rooms and then windows are open all of the time. Somehow last night, I think it actually got hotter after the sun went down. I’m not sure how that works, but I wasn’t the only one who thought that. The power went out yesterday (both the city grid and our generator), so we had no lights or electricity for fans for a while. It went out again this morning, so my last few hours of sleep were a little restless due to the heat. I’ve been showering much more often than is my usual, but it’s so hot and humid here that it’s necessary.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Preparation
I am off to Haiti in just a few days. It's been quite the summer. I do not think I have ever traveled so much in such a short period of time. It's likely to be my last real summer, so I guess it is living up to this title. I am looking forward to staying put in one place for longer than a week for the first time since the end of May though. It's a little odd that my most permanent residence and possibly my least stressful period of time for the summer will be a foreign country, the Western hemisphere's poorest at that!
After my long-weekend visit to Port-au-Prince (Haiti's capital) in May, many of my fears about the country's political instability have subsided, and the State Department's travel warning has recently expired. Currently, my fears are revolving around my French skills. While I have taken over three full years of French courses in college, it is not the same as actually having to live in the language. If I were only there as a tourist it would be a bit different, but my internship will require me to use my French on a professional level, including over the phone, where all non-verbal communication signals are lost. I have been trying to watch some French films, but I think that my best bet at fluency(or something like that) will be immersion. I am hoping for patience from the people of Haiti.
After my long-weekend visit to Port-au-Prince (Haiti's capital) in May, many of my fears about the country's political instability have subsided, and the State Department's travel warning has recently expired. Currently, my fears are revolving around my French skills. While I have taken over three full years of French courses in college, it is not the same as actually having to live in the language. If I were only there as a tourist it would be a bit different, but my internship will require me to use my French on a professional level, including over the phone, where all non-verbal communication signals are lost. I have been trying to watch some French films, but I think that my best bet at fluency(or something like that) will be immersion. I am hoping for patience from the people of Haiti.
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