Cap Haitian

Sans Souci Palace

Sans Souci Palace--back

I got to go up to Cap Haitian with the ladies. I was supposed to be on an earlier flight that left at 7:15am but as it turned out the airline was 3 hours late because there was only one plane available (and actually I think we were flown up on a plane from another airline so I don’t know what the story was)…but there was room for some of the ladies to come on the first flight with me. We went up and started the sight-seeing with the Sans Souci Palace (without worries palace) that was built in the 1800s. It is only ruins now but still very beautiful. With our guide there we weren’t hounded much by the vendors. We walked up and through the palace and got picked up on the other side.

Catholic Church at Sans Souci Palace

Then we were dropped at another parking lot where we got horses that took us up to the Citadel, a fort built after independence in 1803 by 200,000 freed slaves (20,000 died in the construction). It was built so that Napoleon wouldn’t be able to come back and take over which he never tried to do so it was never used. There are 365 iron and bronze cannons that were brought up by hand and then never used. The Citadel is being restored now and is a pretty intimidating place.

We took our horses back down and were mobbed by the vendors there…it was not a pretty scene and while we know that they are only trying to earn money so they can support their families it is very off-putting to be so forward. We had lunch with the rest of the group from the 2^nd flight and then got to relax in the town of Milot while the others did their tour of the ruins. We went for a walk around the town and it felt so nice to wander on our own. (It’s nice being out of the city!)

pillow case dresses

After church the White Memorial group went over to the House of Hope which is a children’s home very close by that is run by Nadege. We went to see the second floor which is almost ready for more children move in (there are 11 girls living there now downstairs) and to play with the girls for a while. They had brought some balls and some string to make things like cat’s cradle, chicken foot (which I recognized as a broom) as well as some pillow case dresses which are so simple and so cute. Everyone got a new one and there were a few extras so I tried to get into one…it took some doing but I did it! not as a dress of course…

Tap Tap

A group came in from White Memorial Presbyterian church (where I was a Youth Director Intern in Raleigh). They had many things on their plans from visiting many different partners that they have here (HOM, Hearts with Haiti—St. Joseph’s home and Wings of Hope as well as others). They brought down health kits or tooth brush and toothpaste for all of the kids in the 4 schools that HOM has. On Monday they also had an educational program to do in the schools. They used the book Tap-Tap by Karen Lynn Williams. In teams of 2 (they had a lot of classes to get to) they would read the story with the help of an interpreter and show the pictures to the class. They told them about the gifts they’d brought which also included an inspirational picture in a frame for the teachers and left them with a coloring page of a tap tap (Haitian public transport) and crayons. It was a good (busy) day!

examples of real taptaps

Church

We’ve heard rumors about an English service somewhere on Delmas (close enough to get to but far enough to require some planning). Matt and I were on our way to find it when we got a call from the group we had in country called and asked if we would go with them to the services they were going to. We hadn’t actually gotten out of the neighborhood yet so we decided to turn around and come back. We had thought since the group had been here multiple times they would be ok on their own but I also understand that they would want us (Matt) with them. We had missed the Terre Noire service but picked them up and took them to Cite Soleil and then Repatriate. The services are spread out enough (and long enough) that it works for groups to visit 3 churches on a Sunday morning. Terre Noire starts at 6. If you leave just before communion for Cite Soleil (starts at 7) and stay until you have communion and then leave for Repatriate (also starts at 7) for the sermon and end of the service. I think it is good for the groups as we don’t really understand what is going on but they get to experience 3 pretty different churches. Try as I might I still can’t understand most of the services but the dedication and energy found in the services is refreshing and inspiring.

Repatriate

Terre Noire

May 1

May 1 is Labor Day around the world (in the US we celebrate it on the Monday so that we get a long weekend). So we got Wednesday off. No school (which I wasn’t officially told until Monday afternoon—not that I would have done anything different but still)! There was a youth fair in the courtyard that was set up by the church. I think it was aimed at the youth or something (I didn’t quite understand that part of it). Music and stalls all day with typical Haitian foods and crafts for sale. I went to check it out and was immediately set upon by about 4 children who then walked me up and down and pointed things out but really didn’t talk much. Some of them were from the school here and I recognized them but the others I am pretty sure that I didn’t know.  The music was good and it was just a really laid back nice time. But after a couple of hours I was done and escaped upstairs…not after trying lalo (a green leafy vegetable?) which is a Haitian dish that they really like and I thought was ok. I shared with 3 of the girls who were still wandering around with me at the time. I was very glad they were there to eat it. I also had grilled mais that is like eating popcorn kernels grilled on the cob—a little softer than regular kernels. Not bad but again not my favorite unless I’m hungry.

That afternoon I got the chance to go to the national fair that was about 15 minutes away. It was a bigger fair with more offerings of the same really. Crowded and friendly. Lots of straw hats for sale (as well as anything else). We wandered through the agricultural section with chickens, goats and even a crocodile. Ate sugar cane (like chewing on a tree but sweet) from a vendor who chops off the bark and cuts it into smaller pieces for you to consume. You tear off a bite sized piece, chew twice to get the juice, and then spit out the fibrous pieces. Here in Haiti they spit them back in the bags that they have them in whereas in Malawi you throw it on the ground…I’d been wondering about that as I’d seen so many people eating and selling it but not see it on the ground.  It was a nice day off!

 

Visits

from Malawi

Last week I had a friend in town. Klaasje and I lived together for 2 months in Nkhoma! She had come to work with the youth department (before that job ended for me). She came down with a friend who was a nurse and who didn’t feel confident with her English so Klaasje and I did most of the talking…She is now working in Holland for the international organization Word and Deed (Parole et Action in French and Woord en Daad in Dutch) who have quite a few ties in Haiti. She came down for some partner meetings that lasted a week. I got to meet up with her on Sunday to hang out and do what she was doing. I got to her hotel early (nice place—hot water, air conditioning, pool—thought I’d move in for the week at least) and we went to church with the former Haitian CEO of the organization. Eris drove us through parts of Port au Prince that I didn’t recognize (not really hard to do) but at one point I did recognize where we were—we just usually come from a different route (I enjoyed recognizing something). We went to Calvary Chapel which is held right now in a very large tent (they are planning a building I think). We were given headsets into which a translator translated the service into English which was nice (except when I was trying to check her and listen to both at the same time). Then we went to lunch at the Karibe Hotel (very nice). After that was a clinic opening that their organization helped with in a part of the city that I hadn’t been to.

It was great to see Klaasje and to see parts of the city I hadn’t seen and probably wouldn’t have—we get into the routes of where we go and how we go, so discovering new places doesn’t happen often.

Listening

I’ve been trying to figure out how to get my classes to practice more actual speaking. And I don’t know that I’m doing a very good job of it but at least I’m thinking about how to do it (any suggestions are welcome). I did family relations and then at the next class just put up some questions on the board and they could pick and choose as they went around asking and answering questions. Not too bad. Then I found a short listening exercise of someone talking about his family and speaking slowly enough (for the most part) to be heard…and asked questions and talked about that some. It might work. We’ll have to give it a little longer before I know anything (and quite possibly I won’t ever really figure it out).

Someone did tell me that they thought Madame Sterling and Jean Gaudy were getting better! That was great to hear as I can’t tell. I think I’m too close and see them too often to see the improvements.

We prepare them for today, tomorrow and until eternity.