I spent the last week in Haiti moving rock, painting, playing with kids and reconstructing walls. The trip was my first out of the country. I wrote every night. There was so much information to absorb. Haiti is a lush country, full of fruits and surrounded by crystal blue oceans. Port Au Prince the capitol is encircled by mountains which rise from the coast. The group that I was with worked at three sites across the city. Each site serves community functions as a school and a church for the surrounding areas.
Saturday
- Those who have met “blancs” before shout “hey you” often followed by “give me”. Some stare, others wave. The Haitians are easily dis-guarded by a simply “bon jour” followed by “ca va”.
- The concrete roofs don’t have enough re-bar and there is no engineering bureaucracy.
- There aren’t enough birds here – where did they go?
- The American’s drink 20oz glass bottles full of coke followed by fruit champagne and sprite.
- There is no alcohol allowed at Blanchard. I can’t see how it would be kept cold. The Haitians do not seem to consume beer or wine in abundance.
- There are UN peacekeepers scattered across the roads in groups of two primarily near the major slums.
- The smell of human waste and death comes in waves
- Men work all day for $5 dollars.
Sunday
- Pot wafts across the roof. I saw three fields of it growing while riding in the tap tap’s. One dispersed amongst corn and the others hidden behind walls.
- I ran 3 miles out on the streets today. The smell of human waste was sickening.
- The sounds of the city, death, singing, animals, chatting, fire, screaming, preaching, are all becoming normal.
- We watch from the third floor of the compound the lives of the Haitians who surround us. There is no room for privacy in this culture.
- Gregory came up to me – apparently I’m the boss. He wanted a job.
- The military men drive in Humvees
- The roads are dirt intermixed with stones.
- Creole french is different from french.
- There was an old man at church who had a cell phone. Haitians pay 7 cent a minute to talk on the phone
Monday
- There are eyes of jaundice here. Some of the kids have parasites.
- I’m speaking french. It is coming back.
- Two kids in particular from the school attached to me – Alexi and Alexis. They were brother and sister. The kids don’t want to be at the school as there are concrete ceilings.
- The kids love candy.
- The mountains at night are great for sunsets.
- I ran on the soccer field and did steps today in the compound.
- You are running through their backyard. Eyes glare but are friendly with salutation.
- The mountains have been deforested.
- Men, Women and children sing all hours of the day and night.
- There are dog’s on the roofs.
- The way the Haitians build with concrete is incredible. It’s very labor intensive for the scale of the projects.
- Everything is build on site.
- My french is coming back.
- Thank you Lindsey for the 98% Deet.
Tuesday
- Coffee and sunrise are such a treat.
- I shared a coke and a hat with a Haitian construction worker.
- Everything is pre-built with the aged look of ruins
- A cool breeze flows across the rooftops every night. It carries the smell of smoke intermixed with herbal fragrances.
- Singing blossoms every night; from every corner
- Chickens scratch through piles of garbage cleaning the scraps of bugs
- Green mangoes droop from unplanned trees
- Haitians view cell phone ownership as a status simple. Unused ear buds connect to ears and blare mp3’s fed from the phones.
- There is no plumbing or trash infrastructure to speak of, as well as electrical consistency. The entire infrastructure for the city needs to be built. I wonder if there is such a thing as eminent domain here?
- A woman watched me as I showered through the window. The white skin must seem odd.
- The roads are pot hole marked paths of dirt pebbled with grapefruit size boulders. This is not a smooth driving highway. There are no traffic laws.
- In Citie Soleil women make pies full of mud and oil to fill empty lunchtime stomachs. Given that human waste is present in the mud, one can’t help but wonder about the parasite problem.
- The gate keepers family at the school, does not attend the school itself. This is an odd juxtaposition.
- Large 14 foot walls, are capped with razor wire or broken bottles.
- After three days – the replies of bon sois have stopped instead replaced by “hey you”
- Tall heavy iron gates leading into compounds for tell of previous strife.
- Tents, tarps and bedsheets on poles are the home of choice for millions. There are regulations you see for erecting structures of stone here.
Wednesday
- I wept today.
- What does one do as a person with disabilities here?
- I played a game of football. The Haitians at any age are better than American’s at the game. Some play shoeless.
- I hugged my mom.
- I’ve started jabbering in French. Verbs and their conjugations are coming back.
Thursday
- The young Haitian school children love blond hair. The girls wanted to clean my fingernails.
- I’m sick of the snoring in the dorm room. It’s worse than the smell of wafting waste which drifts in every night.
- The kids danced in the rain tonight. It poured for a few hours.
Friday
- I miss Lindsey. I miss the way she smells and holding her.
- We drove for three hours today. I road in the back of the tap tap. Up and down unsafe roads. No one else seems to worry about riding in the back of a truck. One hit and we are all on the side of the road. Road rash and getting run over isn’t fun. I hate going out in the cars.
- The older men who have jobs are such noble workers.
- I saw a naked man today. He waved, just staring up at the blancs with his birthday suit on.
- The art gallery had some amazing carved reliefs and stones for incredible prices. Stuff would sell for $400 dollars that would costs 2-5k in the states simply due to the labor costs.
- The animals, Goats, chickens, dogs, pigs, cows and cats live amongst the people. The climb in, on and around everything.
Saturday
- We remained in the Haitian airport for 5 hours past the flights anticipated departure. A part had to be flown in from the states?
- We missed our connection and remained stuck in Miami through Monday. I was inconsolable for some time. It had been a very long week.
- Aid workers and Missionaries are Haiti’s tourism.
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