Finally!

I am finally here! I can’t believe the day actually came. I feel like I have spent all of this time preparing and talking about going, but I don’t know if I ever realized it was really going to happen!

The actual traveling part was kind of a disaster. I was fortunate enough to be on the same flight as two seminarians from my Kreyol class who were also coming down to HHF. I arrived at JFK at about 3:30 AM exhausted and sad, but still excited. Tom and Robert (the seminarians) got there around 4:45 and came and sat with me. We began boarding the plane on time, but then the pilot got on the intercom and said that something with our generator needed to be looked at. A while later they decided our back-up generator would be fine if they put fuel in it. Evidently they were wrong because we had to surprise land at Washington, Dulles airport in DC. The back-up generator had failed.

The landing is fine, but now we need to fix the plane. I am half-asleep for most of what goes on in the airplane at all times throughout this whole trip, by the way. Because we have been sitting on the plane for a while now, they bring out those mobile lounges to take us into the airport and they give us meal vouchers. We ate and then waited, and waited, and waited. We were told we would board a new airplane flown in by American Airlines and depart by 2 PM. At around 5 we finally board and then depart a little after 6 PM. Arrival in Miami is a mess at this point because EVERYONE on the flight needs a place to stay so we are ALL in line for meal vouchers and a hotel stay.

After landing at 8:15 we wait in line for almost 2 hours for our vouchers. It turns out we will be staying in the Doral Resort which is seemingly a 5-star hotel. However, it took until midnight for us to find the shuttle to the resort because when we called the hotel they were describing to us a blue shuttle that said Doral resort on it. It turns out to be an unmarked white van. Anyway, at around midnight we arrive at the hotel (which would have been really nice to be in 2 hours earlier…) so after a bath and a phone call I go to bed.

Three hours later we are up and getting ready to get back to the airport for our 6:45 AM flight to Port-au-Prince. THANK GOD everything went smoothly for the flight. But, (of course there’s a but with the way this trip was going so far) our luggage did not come in on our flight. We had to wait around for the next flight from Miami to receive our luggage. At least it was on there even though Tom’s was basically the last bag to come off the trolley.

The driver hired by HHF, Parice, picked us up at Toussaint L’Ouverture airport and brought us to the small airport to catch a Tortug’ Air flight out to Jeremie. On the way, we stopped at a gas station to eat and it was actually really delicious food. I got full and felt reallllllly bad about wasting the leftovers. Our short flight to Jeremie was quick and on-time. Callie arrived only about 5 minutes after us to pick us up and bring us to HHF. We dropped off Tom and Robert and she brought me to the house. I was exhausted, and wearing shorts (and shorts is never really the best option- esp. in the countryside, which I knew and had something to change into, but going back to the house was preferable anyway).

I unpacked and Callie talked to me and showed me around the house. I met her friend Jessica who works in Abriko and her friend Popo who lives close-by. Later on a girl named Naima came over. She’s from UConn med school and is staying with Bette until next Thursday. We all went down to bathe in the Grand Anse so we got moto taxis (Callie’s friends, not random taxis) to drive us down, and then walked back up. It was nice to cool down after the hot day. I passed out and then slept in the next morning because I really needed to catch up on sleep.

After lunch I went into the office with Callie to begin learning my job. She went through a lot of the soccer program files, and is going to give me a lot of computer work tomorrow. We left work around 4:30 and went to the house to get ready for a little party that a local youth group was having. The girls of ORCJC was celebrating the one year anniversary of their youth group. Now, when I say “We went home” I mean we started walking home but stopped every hundred feet so Callie could talk to someone she knew. You cannot just go somewhere in Haiti because you must stop at everyone’s house as you pass. We don’t worry about being on time here.

When we did get home, we put on dresses and headed over to the party. It was held on the roof of someone’s house and the roof was all decked out with pretty curtains as the stage backdrop and a bunch of benches and chairs. They had huge speakers and a CD player and microphone. The girl who appeared to be the MC was not shy at all and had no problem speaking in front of everyone. The same goes for all the girls who performed songs, dances, or skits.

I was impressed by how many were involved. There were moms, dads, siblings, friends and neighbors all helping out. They had cooked a feast and had soda and beer to give out. Callie and I ate before we went because we didn’t want to have to eat a lot of their food when there were other people there who needed it more. While there I accepted a Prestige and a piece of cake though, to participate. At the end they just turned on music and everyone kompa danced around the roof. I got passed to four people in one song… I guess because I’m the new girl! The first girl I danced with seemed pretty amused that she was dancing with me because she kept getting her friends’ attention and pointing at me. After the party we went back to the house and I went to bed.

Friday morning we arrived a little late to work because, once again, we had to stop and talk to people. This is good for me because I get to meet all of these people as well and start to form relationships with them. At work from 8-12 I put in education data. By the end my eyes were swimming and I could barely recognize the numbers. We took a long lunch (to talk to people as we walked home) and I put in data from 2-3:30. The computer I sit it to do work is in a grouping with other people who actually arrive to work on time and leave on time, so those computers get shut down at 3:30 even though we usually will stay much later.

So, my computer got shut down at 3:30 and Callie still had a lot to do, so I left with Naima. We went back up to Bette’s and went swimming. After that we showered and walked back down to my house. It was pouring and thunder and lightning so we hung out and watched a show on my computer for a little while. Callie and Laura got back in the rain and then Laura’s boyfriend Jacqueline arrived so everyone was speaking Kreyol. I tried really hard to pay attention, but I was so tired I decided to take a little nap. I did not get up until Saturday morning!

On Saturday Naima took me downtown to exchange money and get a phone. We went to Kay Brunell which is a nice, legit bank. Plus it has air conditioning so it was nice to be in there for a little bit. I found out I can cash my own checks with Western Union so with my stipend and my own money I should be fine. From downtown we went back up to Bette’s house and ate then went back down to the Center of Hope to meet Naima’s friend Gerald. He gave me a tour of Jeremie on his moto. It was actually pretty helpful because I was able to put things into perspective. After the tour Naima and I went to the beach. We met up with Marie Pierre who is a French girl working on the Water Project. After the beach we caught a moto back up to Bette’s to shower and eat. After such a busy day we didn’t really feel like doing much so I got a ride from Ronald back down to the house and went to bed.

On Sunday Callie and I went to the beach then to a party at this place called Vertigo. It is a club/hotel by the river. There were a lot of people and live Reggae bands there. The music was really good, but it’s hard not being able to have a good conversation with people. I can’t wait til I’m better with my Kreyol.

This week we’ve just been working at the office. I finally finished entering the data I started last week and did a little project for Better and Sr. Maryann. On Tuesday and Thursday there were soccer games that we went to. On Tuesday I met this boy named Clifford. His English is pretty good. He is 17 but he looks younger. We are gonna go to church together on Sunday, and then he is going to help me with my Kreyol… I hired him as my tutor! He also wants to teach me guitar, but for now I’ll stick with Kreyol. I am excited for tomorrow and next week—I finally get to go andayo! Out in the countryside to different villages.

Friday I am going to Moron to a post. At posts they give vaccines to children, have a handwashing station, weigh babies, check on pregnant women, etc. I loved going to the post in January and clipping and washing the little kids’ fingernails. I am glad I can be useful tomorrow. Then next week I am going back to Moron overnight to see all the houses they are going to rebuild for Kay Kontan or Happy Houses. I have to take the “before” pictures and then later go back out and take “after” pictures. By that time I should be able to get stories by interviewing the owners and pass the info back to HQ in CT.

Some observations:
-It’s sad and awkward when people ask to have your earrings or your bag or what’s in your bag.
-No one seems to really get embarrassed here.
-By no means is everyone nice here, but when you say hello, people tend to smile and say it right back. I’ve never been ignored.
-No one tries to hide that they are staring.
-I am constantly looked at and stared at. Children smile back when I smile at them or say hello back when I say hello. Other people are not so nice… It’s usually pretty easy to tell when they’re being rude so I ignore it and keep walking.
-I finally know what it’s like to be the minority and different from everyone around me.
-Yon moun se moun. A person is a person. Right?