A Year Unlike Any Other: Patience Really Is a Virtue

I think over the next several months, patience and I are going to have

a little battle. It is already very apparent that in order to survive

here, patience is going to be needed!

What the typical day has been looking like so far:

Wake up, tie the mosquito net up and get ready for the day. Go

downstairs have some cornflakes and soy milk which I have come to

love, and get ready for Kreyol class.

Then for three hours M-F we have Kreyol. Due to the amazing spanish

teacher I had at DGS, I don't consider myself to have ever taken a

language class.... getting used being a student and learning a new

language is a whole new world to me. The class has been nothing but

difficult, but good things don't come easy I suppose. I am trying to

tell myself, I can't learn it over night. Our teacher is really great,

except sometimes my intelligence is insulted a little as he explains

how to tell time, explains what a verb is, and he wanted to double

check to see if I could count to ten in english....After I get past

the frustrations part, and try to remember to have patience, I get

really impatient and wish I could already know the language so I

didn't have to sit in this class that I didn't understand.

Then we eat lunch, and do random things around the house, prepare

dinner, eat, and have reflection. The days have been pretty cookie

cutter for me the past few weeks. Unlike me Jen has started to get

involved with a scholarship program, and she has done a few things for

that in the past weeks. I have been given a few ideas, but I can't

really do much of it until I can speak. So while I am wanting to get

right into things, I have to remind myself to be patient and really

focus on the language.

Variations to the day:

We have gone on a few hikes in the afternoons when it is a little bit

(3 degrees maybe) cooler, or on a Saturday and Sunday. We've gone

exploring to the river which we walked through, and we went through

the market as well, which was very cool. Just like a Haitian farmers

market, but not really.The streets are filled with girls and children

carrying buckets of water on their heads or in wheel barrels. Men

driving on motos. Donkeys carrying loads of goods, directed by

someone. People selling things like mangos, bread, and other goods.

Along with the people there are dogs running around, garbage and

liquid that you have to convince yourself that is water. Along the way

we still get yelled at by children, and stared at by many. Most will

stare until say hello to them first, they then light up and return the

greeting.

Here is one of the roads in town. The only paved road

within the whole town.

We went to a celebration/ goodbye for a sister who has been here for

many years. There was a lot of loud music, singing of songs, thanking

her for all she has done, and sharing a meal (pretty much in the

dark). When we were leaving, we ended up driving some people back

including the sister what was leaving. We were walking to the car, and

in front of us was a strange man carrying a live turkey. This wasn't

bothersome until we realized he was wanting to put the turkey into our

car. He ended up putting it in the back of the van under the seat

where I was supposed to be sitting. It was dark, a man wanted to put a

live bird under me where my feet and legs were vulnerable and waiting

to be eaten. I instantly started tearing up. (for those of you who

don't know me very well, I have a GREAT fear of birds). This man

expected me just to act normal as we drove an hour with a turkey under

my seat... I don't think so.

Jen was kind enough to inform everyone of my fear so I got to sit in

the front of the van. Some of the Haitians just came up to me tried to

console me and told me he was sleeping. I know better. Thats something

you tell a five year old. As we were driving home I decide you don't

get to drive with a live turkey everyday... so I decided that I wanted

to pick it up when we took it out. Well here it is. Me scared out of

my mind. Holding a live bird. I can now cross that off my list of things to do.

We had a mango eating contest which was really interesting. Jen and I
along with two Haitians. They won. It was a lot of fun though. The
mangos here are amazing, but the way you eat them, is with your teeth,
even the skin. Haitians eat them in no time. We learned comparisons
one day in Kreyol and the joke was that Jen can speak better Kreyol
than Aileen, but Aileen can eat better mangos than Jen. That was the
day we decided for a competition. It was pretty official and we taped
it. Jen put it on youtube, so if you would like to watch it, heres the
link. Mango Eating

We've gone out and had some fun a few times. We went to a place called
Tidens for dinner one night, in hopes to hear a new music group, but
they didn't show. We still had fun enjoying each others company,
having a few drinks, eating a meal, and getting out of the house for a
few hours. The bar is by a river, and there was a bridge, so Jen and I
went exploring, and the next few pictures are from on the bridge.

It defiantly feels like I am on a vacation, meeting great people,
having a wonderful time and will be coming home soon. This doesn't
feel completely real yet. Missing things at home like my moms surgery,
and simply a family party sets in the reality that this is more than a
vacation, this is my life for the next 11 months. Slowly I think the
bucket showers, hot weather, the people, sleeping under a mosquito
net, and the frequent noises of animals, people and music are going to
feel more like home. It has been nice starting to get a feel for where
places are, who the people who visit the house frequently are, and
beginning to get a feel for what will consume my time when I can
communicate. Slowly Gros-Morne is starting to feel like my second
home.

This is Jen and I with one of the sisters living here, and Gardyne. A
woman who has been living here for a few weeks helping out. She's been
a lot of fun to hang out with, practice Kreyol, and learn from.