My Second Week and a Half

Okay so I left off on 2 Fridays ago. We went out to Moron for the day to a post. Laura came which was good because she was able to keep me with what was going on. It was a bumpy ride but not too long. At one point we had to stop and walk across a river. We had coolers and boxes to bring so some local women came and carried things on their heads. Laura and Sergo had pants on so they had to take them off and carry them but luckily I was wearing a skirt so I could just walk across. The water wasn’t that deep but because I am short it went a little higher on me than on everyone else.

That week was international breastfeeding week, so we talked all about that at the post. Different mothers groups and girls groups did skits and songs about breastfeeding and waiting to have sex. Breastfeeding is really important for babies (obviously), but especially here when people have so little. There is no reason babies should be malnourished if their mother is able to provide breastmilk for them. The women sang about some of the benefits of breastfeeding. Sometimes women may think with the heat they need to give their babies water, but there is water in the milk so babies will not be dehydrated. Also, bringing the baby right to the breast after birth helps the mother’s placenta to drop which eliminates health risks for her too.

The next day, Saturday, we went to Numero 2 where they had a party for Fete Saint Louis. This is the party season apparently. They had a band and dancing. It was fun except for the part where the thatched roof fell in on the tables. No one was hurt though, it was just annoying. After the party Laura’s boyfriend Jacquelin brought me home and I pretty much went to bed.

On Sunday morning I went to church at HHF with Clifford. Then he came down around noon so we could meet Marie Pierre and go to Anastazi (the beach). It was really hot, and it’s a really long walk so we decided to take taxis. I thought I had 100 gourdes but apparently at church I gave my 100 bill to the collection instead of my 50 gourdes, so when we arrived at Anastazi the taxi driver was none too pleased with me. Although, before we left I asked him how much and he said “Senkant gourdes”… 50 gourdes but apparently he meant per person and just failed to mention that detail. Marie Pierre had to give him the other 50 gourdes. The beach was nice though. It was going to storm so it was cool and refreshing. Mapi’s other friends were there so we all swam and the guys played soccer on the beach. Then the UN came and they played soccer. They are all Uruguayan and assorted other South American nationalities though and only speak Spanish. After the beach we walked alllllll the way back into town and Mapi bought us some bread and then a taxi back up to Caracolie to my house. From there Clifford walked home and Mapi came up to see the house… she is thinking about moving in here. It would nice to have a friend once Callie leaves ☹

Monday into Tuesday Callie and I went andayo out to Castillon. That is one of the farthest villages from Jeremie. It was a LONG and BUMPY ride. Towards the end it was raining and the roads were pretty hairy but we have a good car and experienced driver. First there was a post where the nurses looked at pregnant women (took blood pressure, weight, etc) and then we all headed down to the soccer championship for that area. We went in the car because Callie had sprained her ankle plus it was raining and muddy. People packed into the car though.. we had 14 people in a 10 passenger car and from the clinic to the soccer field the roads were pretty bad.

The field was nice.. although one side of it went way uphill. It was clean though and had pretty even grass, unlike Jeremie’s that is covered in litter and has dirt paths and moto tracks through it. This girl Nancy came with us from Jeremie who is a player from a different village but she wanted to see the game. She held my hand from the car to the field and told me to be careful and had her arm around me for a good part of the game. I made some little girlfriends while we were there too. This one girl whose name was something that sounded like Ketchia (Katria?) kept holding my hand and reaching up to touch my hair and face. Leaving the field after was a disaster though because people were hopping on the back of the car like it was a tap-tap (kind of the same idea as a city bus) and we would have to stop so Tifrere could get out and yell at them. I think he slapped one kid in the face too…

That night they had music and dancing at the clinic because we brought a generator. The opposing soccer team had to stay overnight because it had gotten dark so there were a lot of people there. I went to bed early because I was exhausted. There was a ton of rain and wind though… it was so loud! And people were up dancing until 3 am! The next day we got up early and headed back. I showered and headed up to work. I did a little bit of work but then went online for a little while to catch up on some emails and stuff

Wednesday into Thursday I went andayo again, but this time on my own. I went back out to Moron to a village called Terre Rouge. I went around with the health agent Maude and took pictures of houses that will be rebuilt for the Happy House program. The houses were in really bad shape. Most had thatched roofs, or didn’t even have walls. And almost none of them had latrines. There were probably 10 (out of 50) that had multiple families living in them as well. My first day with Maude included a lot of walking and sweating, but it was really good. I got a good chance to practice my Kreyol with her and her children. At her house I met her 3 children: Emmanuel Nelson, Marie Anastazia, and Samanda. They were all adorable and were so good. They were always helping and cleaning. Nelson helped me with my Kreyol too.

It was an odd experience at Maude’s. She was serving me like I was someone important, and at almost every house we went to she would ask the family what they were going to bring up to her house for me. I was like noooooo. At her house she made me so much food and juice and kept saying “sa tout pou ou” it’s all for you. I do not like being waited on like that.. it was so awkward. By the time I was leaving, her entire living room was filled with fruit and sugar cane for me to bring back with me. I told her that I wanted to share, so she kept some of everything, but not nearly as much as I would have liked. She enlisted her neighbors to come help carry things, so I had her husband carrying my backpack, her children carrying sugar cane, and her with 3 other women carrying sacks of fruit on their heads. I felt horrible.

Anyway, Maude told me she loves me and will never forget me and wants to come visit me in the United States. She told me she has no money and I told her that neither do I, but maybe some day. Marie Anastazia is now my goddaughter as well. I don’t know how I get myself into these things. I didn’t get back until after 5 on Thursday so I just came home and relaxed.

On Friday Callie and I just went into the office to do computer work and then I got to talk to Mom, Marl, and Jenn all on skype! That was exciting. Friday night Clifford came over for a little while, then Love and Sadrak came up when Clifford left and hung out and ate for a little while.

Saturday I slept in then Callie and I went to the soccer game, then we were supposed to go to the beach for a party there, but she went out to Dayere to bring a soccer team back so I hung out at home with Love and Sadrak. I was planning on going to a boat party on Sunday, but it was beginning at 6AM and I wasn’t feeling up to it so I stayed in all day and was lazy. Love and Sadrak came over from about 2 to 7 and we watched movies on my laptop after they did the dishes and fed the dogs and then had lunch. I also made them eggs for dinner. They entertain me. I texted Callie and asked her to bring me fritay home… that’s when things went terribly wrong.

Fritay is fried vegetables and meat that you can buy on the street and the put pikliz in with it which is kind of a spicy coleslaw. Well, I think the meat was bad in the fritay because it tasted kind of funky, and when Callie ate it she spit it out because she said it tasted like poo. Shortly after eating it I got diarrhea that didn’t go away for over 24 hours. It was horrible, but I took ciproflaxin and now I feel better. I lied in bed all day yesterday and most of the day today because I couldn’t really do anything else. Clifford came over around 4 today so that got me out of bed. We just did some Kreyol work then watched Bend it Like Beckham.

3 days in bed consisted of me watching stuff on the computer. I watched My So-Called Life, Arrested Development Season 1, The Hurricane, Family Guy, Run’s House, Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, and some other things. I was feeling realllllly homesick late this morning. I think mostly because I had been sick, and lying in bed all day doesn’t do much for a mood-boost. I think I’ll be okay though.