The End

The internet was not cooperating my last few weeks in Haiti, so forgive me for the lack of posting. I am now back in the States and began school today, but I'll give you a recap of my final weeks in Haiti.

I spent a few whirlwind days in Haiti's second largest city, Cap-Haitien. It is Haiti's former capital and, being a more popular tourist destination than Port-au-Prince, has a more relaxed feel. I attended several concerts, hung-out with some majorly bourgeois Haitians, and spent some quality time at a beach resort. It's so easy to get sucked into the bourgeois lifestyle, but it's not the reality for all but a few select Haitians.

While in Cap-Haitien Erin and I visited a citadel built by one of Haiti's first leaders following it's independence from France in 1804. It lies on the top of a mountain about 30 minutes outside the city. We were lugged up this mountain by two pitiful-looking horses and were accompanied by several tour guides, although the term should be used lightly. The view from the top is quite stunning and is worth the trip.

We wouldn't have managed this little day trip if it weren't for the generosity of one of the aforementioned bourgeois, who lent us his car and driver for the day. Having drivers isn't too unusal in Haiti and many organizations and wealthier individuals in Haiti have them.

The following weekend we anxiously anticipated Hurricane Dean, but fortunately he didn't make much of a show. A little rain and some dark skies is all he amounted to.

I did do some work in Haiti as well. I finished up my work at Norwich House, which culminated with the annual meeting of scholarship program students and their parents. It was a very rewarding day to see the appreciation of students and parents as we handed out books and backpacks to the students.

It's been about a week and a half since I've been back and the adjustment hasn't been too bad, although I have had the occassional urge to honk at times that are inappropriate in American culture. It's nice to be able to drink water from the tap once again, although I have found myself hesitating at times before I run my toothbrush under the faucet after six weeks of being so careful NOT to do that.

Thanks for joining me in my experiences for the last several weeks. I'll leave you here until my next adventure with a photographic taste of Port-au-Prince.

Some Observations

The streets of Haiti are lined with people selling everything from fruits and vegetables, to soap, to phone cards, to kitchen utensils, to art work. All of it vibrantly colored. You see women (and men) making their way through the streets carrying an array of itmes on their heads. It's incredible. They carry anothing from bags of grains to baskets or tubs of fruits and vegetables, shoes, plastic utinsels. The piles are sometimes stacked high or they're carrying oddly shaped sacks or duffle bags. They glide up and down the steep, slick streets of Port-au-Prince with what appears to be very little effort. I absolutely love watching them!

This week has given me a slight feeling of inadequacy with my language skills. While French is an official language in Haiti and is the language that is most widely used in the education system, very few Haitians can speak it with any amount of proficiency. I heard at one point that the percentage of Haitians that speak French is around 10% (my guess is that most of these speak Creole as well). The language of the Haitian masses is Creole (Kreyol). The language of the Haitian bourgeois is French. A easily detectable barrier between those who have and those who have not. One of the lasting divisions left behind by a colonial power that was ousted over 200 years ago. The use of French becomes, then, a sign of class.

Until recently, I have been getting by with my French, English and the handful of Creole phrases and words I know to string together something that resembles a sentence. You could say that I am still getting by on these things, but the necessity of Creole seems to have become much greater since I have begun working at Norwich House. Hospice has quite a large staff of 22 and we get along well enough exchanging smiles and simple greetings in Creole. In all the comings and goings of the house, there is enough going on that these quick exchanges suffice. Norwich House has a much smaller staff, who are absolutely fabulous. Because of its smaller size, there is a greater feeling of intimacy. I was introduced immediately to everyone and am asked 'Kijan ou ye?' (How are you?) pretty much anytime any of the staff walks past where I'm working. I always reply, but I wish that I could do better to return their friendlyness.

There are attempts on their part to speak French, which at times are only rewarded with looks of confusion on my part because I don't understand or didn't recognize the switch in languages from Creole to French (they have similar vocabularies). I feel terribly guilty responding in this way when I know it is such an effor. The conversation is either dropped or they graciously slow and separate the words so that I am able to understand. I wish I could express my appreciation with more than 'Mesi anpil' (Thank you very much).

Lekol ('school' in Creole)

I’ve begun work this week for another guest house in Port-au-Prince--Norwich House. They have a scholarship program that supports the education of about 100 students in PAP. I have done some more inventorying, this time of books. Unlike in the States, education is not free in Haiti, nor are books provided. As I have been going through the books this week, I was able to catch a glimpse of what it’s like for the children of Haiti to go to school. These books, some of them decades old, are thin, colorless, full of text and unimaginative pictures. It’s no wonder so many of Haiti’s children are not in school. School would quickly lose any fun if lessons were presented in such a drab way, not to mention the lack of creativity from teachers. “Learning” in Haiti comes down to memorization of facts--not very effective. Despite all of this, students thirst for knowledge that might lead them to a better life.

I was also astounded at the way different years in school are classified. There are about four different ways of identifying which year of school a student is in. Some use ascending numbers, some descending. There are cycles and various other groupings. I have to use a chart to figure out which grade a student is actually in. There is little continuity as far as I can tell. Furthermore, there are nearly zero national guidelines or requirements for schools or teachers. Just about anybody can open a school and to be a teacher you need have only completed a grade or two above the one you’re teaching. There are several national exams that are required before a student can progress to the next step of their education, but students from different schools are not equally prepared. All of these things point to the lack of infrastructure in the country.

On a lighter note, we’ve started some salsa dancing lessons. A volunteer cook at Hospice is a professional dancer and offered to give us salsa lessons. Our first day was Tuesday. There seemed to be more ballet (as well as some, shall we say, pelvic movements) than salsa. Apparently when a bunch of Americans are involved, dancing becomes a spectator sport. Most of the young men in the yard left their soccer game to laugh at us. A new rule seems to be in order: No spectating allowed. All spectators will be made to participate or leave.

Bonswa (Good After-eleven or so in Creole)

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.

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.

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.