beach and children's program

On the 26th Leon, Jacky, the visiting family, Nadege and I went to the beach. We went to Obama Beach Hotel which was very quiet and not as resorty as the last place. The beach was pebbles and there was shade to sit in and beautiful water to swim in. we had masks and snorkels and while the colors weren’t the brightest it was fun to see…and scary. Jellyfish were somewhat abundant. They don’t really sting but make you itch for a while (I think as I wasn’t stung). A couple of bright blue fish. Spiny anemones. And a live starfish. We tried conch as an appetizer for lunch and then had fish kreyol (fish with a Creole sauce). It was served with hot ketchup which was great. (Here in Haiti they also do a hot peanut butter that I also really like.) The kick was subtle.

some of the audience before the program began
(girls from the girls' home down the road)
graduates (in white robes and red stoles) and performers
center graduate/performer is the oldest (13) from the girls' home

We got back just in time for a children’s Christmas program which is also the graduation for kids to start going to big church. It was lots of fun with songs, poetry recitations, skits, and presentations. Very well put together and entertaining for everyone. There were even refreshments—cake and drink and candy. I sat with Pastor Luc’s family. His 2 kids go to an American school and have great English—not shy at all either.
After that I found out there was a soiree going on in the courtyard next. I’m still not sure what that entails. It looks like a church sponsored date night that older youth (?)/young adults come to and stay up all night. With the microphones and speakers—right outside my room. I was ok with the music but at 1:30am they started yelling (maybe just speaking loudly) into the microphone and it was all I could do to not go out and yell myself…or start crying as I don’t like confrontation. Needless to say, I’m going to ask for some warning next time—and hopefully get myself out of the way for the night…

coming soon: mom's visit (I'm obviously behind as this is from December...and Mom left Jan. 29)

Iron Market

Another outing into town! This time on a moto from the compound to the main road…motorcycle taxis—fun way to get around as long as there is no traffic…I can’t imagine being on one in town…we stayed on the dirt roads. Then 2 taptaps (they stay on one road so you go as far as you need and then catch another one—I think). It was Nadege, Espayder (spider-who works at the school), and myself.
The Iron Market is a big red building (made of iron) that houses stalls selling everything. All the tourist craft things, paintings, voodoo paraphernalia (with cats tied to their little areas), food, hair products. Out one side was the hair dressing area with dozens of women doing hair or getting their hair done. Another area with clothes…more options than a mall. And more people than you would ever think would fit. Following Espayder and flanked by Nadege so I don’t get lost we weave in and out but without having space to go in and out…the aisles are maybe a single persons width and yet no one slows down and everyone fits through. We ate ‘marinades’ which are puffy fried dough with a hot relish and ‘akra’ which is long skinny fried dough. (I liked the marinades.) Real Haitian is what they told me. Then more wandering but we didn’t really stop to look at anything…none of us were in buying moods—more for getting out. We then walked past the palace or where the palace used to be as it crumbled in the earthquake and has just recently been demolished (within the month). We bought a plate of fruit from a woman selling—mango, pineapple, avocado, papaya, melon, watermelon, orange, tangerine. I got a show as well as both Nadege and Espayder joked with the woman about the servings—it was the thinnest piece of pineapple I have ever seen! And she relented and gave us another. Then to get some ice cream (lovely!) and then home again…a hot, dusty and fun day out.

the new gate at the site of the new high school (delvery and installed)

Nails

The day the group left I had my first adventure in public transport. Nadege was going out to get her hair done as she was in a wedding that afternoon and said I could come with her. I was all for going anywhere! We dropped the group off at the airport and then took a taptap. A taptap is the Haitian equivalent of the Malawian minibus. Which means put as many people in the back of your pickup and charge 5 gourdes (pronounced gudes) for the ride. They have put covers over them and benches along the sides for the passengers. My first ride we sat up front…and the windshield was a complete spider’s web of cracks…less so in front of the driver which comforted me. We went to a place where Nadege used to go…she told me I should get my nails done while we were there or I would just have to sit and wait. Sounded ok to me but I hadn’t realized she’d said anything when it became apparent that my nails were going to get done. So a manicure and pedicure…I was loving it and figured it was my Christmas present to myself as I wasn’t getting out often…French tips on my fingers and a dark color on my toes. When Nadege told me the price I almost fell over! All of that for only $5! I better watch out it might become a habit…

swimming with the jellyfish!

ah paradise

New Year

New Years Eve I went with Nadege to a church in town where a friend of hers was getting baptized. Delmas is an area of Port-au-Prince (quite a large area) and we were somewhere there. We were going to leave in the afternoon but it turned into early evening before we got away. Motorcycle taxi to taptap to other taptap. It was getting darkish and Nadege and I stayed very close together. Her mother said that she had to hold on to me and seemed surprised when I was ok with that. Didn’t bother me at all not to get lost or separated. The taptaps were pretty full as everyone was headed home from work or wherever they were. First we went to Leon and Jacky’s house (her parents and heads of HOM) where we were going to stay the night (what was left of it after the service). Then instead of getting public transport to the church, they dropped us off at the church… gridlock on the streets so that it would have been faster to walk but it was a great people watching opportunity. At one point when we were stopped I made eye contact with a man in a wheelchair who was singing while just sitting in the middle of the road. We both smiled and nodded to each other. The church was relatively empty when we arrived (around 9) but filled up. Lots of singing, standing…a long sermon or talk that I found it very hard to stay awake through since I wasn’t understanding any of it. there was the cutest little girl next to me (sometimes next to me as she was passed up and down the row) she even sat with me for a short while. We didn’t see the baptism and so we don’t know if it happened before midnight or not (not that it matters in the big picture). We left around 12:30—well, tried to leave. When we left the church they were locking the gates out front because people were starting to come for the food they were going to hand out to the people who came to the service even though they didn’t come for the service. It was getting rowdy and not friendly. We waited a little while and then were able to sneak out the back. It was way past my bedtime and I slept well the rest of the night—until the roosters got too much for me.

Saut d'Eau--jumping water

evenings with 1st group

The devotions were a time for reflection on the day and a way to tie it in to how we are called as Christians to live out our faith. It was short and sweet with a few open ended questions but not too much in depth. That seemed to happen during team time. I stayed and was made to feel welcome which was great. I felt this in Mississippi as well—a chance to get to know people (especially since I wasn’t working with them) and most groups really do make you feel welcome to the point of sharing or just observing. This was a sharing group. If a question was asked it went around the circle and everyone answered…from high, low and mediocre points of the day or week, to what you are most scared of, to where you saw God and Christ at work, to an affirmation circle, to something most people don’t know about you (hard for some as they’ve been friends for a while—pretty easy for me). Some of the questions it would have been more comfortable for me to opt out but that would pull me out of the group. Giving answers is hard but it opens you up and I’ve found that is a good thing.
Thursday night we sang…we’d been hearing songs from the church and choirs all week…it opened with playing “God of this City” (I think that is right) and then led to “How Great is Our God” and others. They had some great singers in the group.

Then came games…Skipbo, Uno, Psychiatrist (one person leaves the group and the rest come up with a pattern that they use to answer questions. When the person comes back they ask questions to figure out the pattern and it can be anything. If someone answers incorrectly according to the pattern the others call out Psychiatrist so that the guesser will know. For example, once we were all characters from Twilight series so we had to answer as a vampire or werewolf would) , Zoo (rhythm game where everyone has an animal with a sound and motion so you send the movement around the circle. Just stay on beat), and Contact (a spelling game with definitions. It starts with someone thinking of a word and telling what it starts with. Others pose questions whose answers would start with that letter. When someone else in the group knows what the answer would be they say Contact-5-4-3-2-1 and say the word. If the person with the word says no it’s not ___ before the countdown it is null. If not and the two say the same word, they are given the next letter in the word).

traffic

I’ve been in all sorts of crazy traffic—from Naples, Italy, Paris, France, San Juan, Costa Rica…but never have I tried driving in those places. Different laws, different attitudes, different expectations…crazy places I have driven are NYC in a UHAUL van, Malawi on the left with people, goats and chickens sharing the road.
Driving here in Haiti seems to be taking your life and everyone else’s in your hands…there are no lines on most of the roads—at least the ones most travelled—and therefore no lanes to stay in. Roughly I guess each direction gets half the road…unless there are lots of cars going one way and not the other…then they pretty much take over the entire road. You must drive aggressively in order to get anywhere and any hesitation is seen as weakness and will be exploited to keep you stopped so the others can go.
We were in a traffic jam and there were no cars coming in the other direction. Soon there was no room for any cars coming in the other direction as our lanes had expanded to take the entire road (even though there was a divider in the middle), squish up as far as possible and again ‘park’ until the cars up front moved (which they probably couldn’t because the cars coming toward us had nowhere to go now either).
Needless to say, I haven’t driven yet but am contemplating trying. I’ll keep you posted but I might lose my nerve to venture out behind the wheel as even as a passenger I cringe at many of the maneuvers on the roads.
Addendum: I think I really might try it. especially if I go out of Port-au-Prince and not into it…the other roads don’t seem too bad with traffic (mostly). The speed bumps here are stoppers. They aren’t the gentle humps we are used to…sharp pointy and sometimes not well marked which really makes for a wake-up call! As do some of the pot holes and or cracks in the roads that have yet to be fixed…but I am thankful for the paved roads that are here—the dirt roads are so pitted that it is similar to riding a bucking bronco (assumption).

This is Haiti's public transport called a taptap. Most are brightly painted with religious sayings on them.

Creole

A derivative of French with mostly English grammar from what I’m learning. I’m using the book Creole Made Easy and wishing I had one of these for English…the spelling is just how you would pronounce it (unlike French where you don’t pronounce many of the letters) which makes it easier. And with my French it makes it a little easier to understand though I still get lost very quickly. When looking at the words they often don’t make sense at all until I try to say them outloud and then many of them are so similar to their French counterpart that I understand.
Mesi = Merci = Thank you
Bonswa = Bonsoir = Good afternoon (in French it is more of Good night but here it is used all afternoon)
Kapab = Capable = Can
Wi = Oui = Yes
Sitwon = Citron = Lemon or lime
Kontan = Contente = Happy

Sightseeing

The group came in on Saturday (not a workday) so we took the weekend to do some sightseeing. Fun for me as I’d not done any of this before. We thought we would have all day but their flight was late getting in. We went to the lookout which is up the mountain and gives a view of Port-au-Prince. I knew it was big but wow. And from so far away you can’t see the rubble and trash and poverty. It is breathtaking.

Sunday we went to church (5:45) and then went to the beach. This crew coming from Malibu I expected some water babies but many of them were not crazy about the water. It is a different view from what they got the rest of the week as the resort makes it a paradise—white sands, blue waters (not sure they did a whole lot for that), beach chairs, volleyball nets, etc. Of course places like these, especially in a place like this, make you call into question what you are spending you money on…the entry fee could be spent in so many different ways to help this country. It makes you think about it and I think that is a good thing for all of us to do. Think about where and how we spend our money. The contrast just seems so much bigger here when you see right in front of you how much farther it can go.

Market

Off to the market on Saturday. Matt, PG (Haitian artist) and Jan Gaudy (pronounced John Goody) (works for HOM) came with me. It was not too far from the compound and I think only 2 turns to get there but I was glad to have the company (and didn’t have a choice). The ground was muddy and the small road way was quite narrow…There was produce though not the prolific amount I was expecting. Small stalls on each side of the road with produce or soaps or shoes/flip flops. One place was even selling electronic items—I saw a blender but only the container part that one lady was trying to explain to a guy how it would work. Christmas lights for sale but they didn’t work so we didn’t get them. I found grapefruit and passion fruit that I bought as well as some doughnuts that were very tasty. I saw avocados but was told we have them all the time at HOM—I still haven’t seen any and am kicking myself for not getting some.
It was nice to get out and walk around some. On our walk back to the compound Matt thought he recognized a girl passing by but she had no idea who we were (and if they’d met us they would have known—white skin and all) and I could tell she thought we were pretty scary for the reception that she got from a complete stranger. A funeral procession passed by on our way back. Another little girl came and took my hand as we made our way back—a beautiful smile that made my day.

The gate for the new high school was delivered and installed. Now construction on the inside can start once there is money to build.

Christmas Eve

A concert at the church. The Fidelity Gospel Choir. Nadege is in that choir and they practice a lot! Friday nights, Saturday mornings from 6:30-10 easy. I can’t believe it. But then they are good. I went in and sat down and the next thing I knew Wahite Frick (Wyfrik-English assistant) was at my side. Nice to see someone I know. And he translated some for me which is an extra bonus. Praise songs abound and at the beginning the volume was good…but as the evening went on the volume kept getting raised to the point that I actually left early (not too early but still—and not like I could go far, I could hear it all over the compound). They invited some other choirs as well as some soloists and they were amazing. For one of the songs they had a couple who danced which was a lot of fun and a surprise for everyone I think…at first I thought they weren’t supposed to be doing it but it was too well rehearsed and very well done. Nadege sang the last song’s lead. It really popped! Wahite Frick told me that it was a conversion song about coming to Jesus. A fun night.

This is not the concert but a group wedding for couples who have been cohabitating. They go through a Sunday school class at church. The dresses and rings have all been donated. There are 8 couples that got married on Dec. 30.

Christmas

Christmas arrived and it was a gorgeous day. I thought I would start by sending some emails but the internet was down so I contented myself with thanking God for my many blessings and people in my life that have meant so much to me and wishing for them to have a wonderful day and holiday season.
Then I joined the visiting family and Nadege in going to the orphanage that she is responsible for. She had presents for the girls there and we could go along to play some. It was so fun. The clothes and toys end up being communal but for a moment the girls got little things of their own and already they were sharing with each other.

Came home and called home for a few minutes…so good to hear those voices.
Then off to Saut d’Eau (pronounced SO DOH) meaning “jumping water” which is a waterfall about an hour and a half from where we stay in Port-au Prince. Nadege and I were in the back of the truck where she promptly fell asleep (we’d brought pillows for the bouncing) and I listened to music and took in the scenery through the grill. We passed one of Paul Farmer’s (Mountains Beyond Mountains) teaching hospitals in Mirebelais and kept going.

When we arrived in Saut d’Eau we found that the prices had gone up since the last time that Leon had been…it was $5 Haitian for Haitians and $5 US for Americans ($5 Hatian is about $.63). Leon was able to get a lower rate promising that now that he knows he will pay the other price in the future…it took some doing but he did it. It is a beautiful place. And the water does seem to come from nowhere off this cliff and it flows down among banana trees. As the water seemingly comes from ‘nowhere,’ it is a big place for voodoo offerings—candles, food offerings, alcohol, animal offerings, and bathing in the waters to ask the spirits for good luck. Leon says it is very, very busy in June and July and probably around the new year as well (good luck for the new year). The trees are now covered in tin to try and keep the flames off of them so they will live. There are pairs of underwear all over the place since after sacrificing you are to bathe naked in the falling waters…

Sermons

I went to the wedding that Nadege was in as it was here at the church and the whole church is invited. They have a full sermon at the weddings. They are done in French so I was following ok. But the preachers started with so people aren’t whole until they are married…and so I tuned out. I find it very hard to believe that I can’t be a whole person on my own. I will admit that I would love to get married one day but until then I think God will work through me as me and not as someone who could be so much more if I were part of a couple. There was also a lot about wives being submissive which I also don’t hold to closely with. But it was a beautiful ceremony and the couple did look very happy.

On Sunday I went to church here (of course) where there was a guest preacher from the US. He went to school with Pastor Leon and was a very strong reason that HOM is here today. He came down with his family for the Christmas holidays (wife and 2 daughters). He started his sermon saying that he was preaching to husbands and wives…there I was out again. Granted he also said that the fourth Sundays are usually about strong families as that is very important to God and is in the Bible so many times with many allusions to family and Christ as the groom, God the Father. But really. I felt marginalized already. However, as he was preaching in English with a translator (Leon whose French I can usually understand) I ended up listening anyway. And it was a pretty good sermon. He wants us to look at our lives and as the New Year is coming, to clean it up and throw out the things that are keeping us from God. He started with a story about some village in Italy that has the tradition of literally throwing things out the window at the New Year that symbolize how they want to change. He gave us 3 things that we should throw out.
1) our negative attitudes…it helps no one around us much less ourselves
2) that personal thing that is between us and God…no one else can tell us what that is
3) our fear of failure…for how else has anything happened in this world without someone being brave enough to try.