Cabaret,
Haiti
Saturday, September 13, 2003
Another beautiful Saturday morning! I got out of bed this morning to my mother knocking on my door with breakfast at 6 :30am. A typical breakfast of oily spaghetti and a nice cold glass of fresh lemon/lime juice. I ate as much as I could and gave the rest to the dog, Mendi. I went to my banana thatched bathing area for a nice bucket bath in preparation for my trip to Cabaret to use the internet. I returned to my room to change and brush my teeth. When I opened the door again, Kilene, my host mom was waiting dressed in her best clothes for the upcoming journey. We have be accompained by a host country national if we leave our community and Kilene was so excited to join us. Drury, another Peace Corps Agricultural trainee joined us at 7 :30am. We walked to the city center where we got on a tap tap (local public transportation) bound for Cabaret. Mendi, the family dog, chased us as far as he could before turning back. A tap tap is a converted pickup truck painted in bright colors. They usually sit between 15 and 20 people in the back and every now and then they add a goat, a few chickens and a pig. When there is not enough room for the goats they hang them over the side by thier feet and their yells and screams provide a pretty interesting soundtrack to the ride. So now I am in the air conditioned internet cafe typing and surfing the net. Ten minutes ago, I listened to the lady tell us that there would be no internet today. Se la vie! In Haiti, you can only rely on your surroundings and the here and now. Expectations only provide disappoinment. You have to take what you can get and be happy with that! It's not hard to be happy, though, because the people are very polite for the most part and they always want to chat with the blans (foriegners). The scenery is breathtaking if you can avoid looking at the litter and urban sprawl and concentrate on the mountains, banana fields and gorgeous beaches. There is never a dull moment either! For example, the other morning I woke up to find a trarantula the size of my fist under my bag. I calmly asked Kilene to come and take a look. She thought I was pointing out a snake so she was a little hesitant. When she saw it was just a gigantic spider she laughed and crushed it with a broom! Come to find out that this monster spiders are all over the place b/c of the bananna fields but the are harmless unless you try to pet them. Yesterday I walked by a black cross that marks an itersection near my house. As a vodoo tradition, it signifies the first person that passed away in the neighborhood. People were gathered around it pouring rum on the cross and setting the rum on fire, for what, who knows! And there is always excitement in the tap tap rides. Break neck speeds and roads that haven't been repaired in 8-10 years! The only thing that is tedious is our language program. Four hours each morning with tons of new material. Our classroom is not very condusive to studying with all the animals, kids, and pestering bugs but I am learning none the less, pitit pitit zwaso fe nich. Little by little a bird builds his nest and little by little I learn Kreyole! Our afternoon classes usually focus on culture or the technical aspects of our projects. Some are wonderful some are boring but all have the same conclusion : Haiti is bad off and some say beyond repair. We are truly not expected to do much becuase its next to impossible to do anything fruitful in Haiti. A speaker told us that he was talking to a Belgian aid worker who has lived in Haiti for 26 years. The Belgian said, Organization in Haiti is not difficult, it's impossible. The information is not discouraging though becuase we know that we are making a difference in the lifes of our host families and for the friends we make. We will have a positive effect just be staying here and interecting with anyone that we can. At the least, some Haitians will know some kind hearted Americans that came to share culture!
I am having a great time! I love my bedroom and my nice comfortable mattress! We go to the fancy beach work every other weekend . Its like Club Med so we are far from suffering and we have an all around good time from day to day! The Best to all and I will write again ASAP!
