In one week, my brain was worked harder than it had to in all of math in high school

 For those of you who know me, it can be a struggle to run some errands alone. (I have gotten better) but for the most part I enjoy company. The week had come that I had been dreading for a long time. I was to go to a place called Pendus, alone with a woman in the church community to learn kreyol, and be immersed into the culture. So the week started and we took a 1.5 hour drive up and down mountains to get to this town. By the time we had arrived, it was getting dark, we had our meal, and went to bed.
The meals that I had were delicious. There was just one pretty big flaw to eating here. I stayed in an area with two connected rooms. One with a bed and desk, the other with just a desk.The room with just the desk, was my kitchen table. I was to eat every meal alone in. Again for those of you who know me, I like to talk. Not even having an option to talk, resulted in me talking to myself. I stared at a wall, attempted to read, but I just couldnt do it. That was probably the worst part of the week.   
I woke up. First thing I saw was a tarantula. I was ready to begin my day. Day one was walking around the market, getting things that were needed for the week. Right outside the property was the place were people sell their live cows and goat, ect. After lunch, we went to the clinc where mostly women who are pregnant come, but some other patients are seen. A woman came in and she was going to have her twins! So this ment, I was going to get to help..... She didnt start until about 630 (it was dark) we didnt have light until about 5 minutes before the babies came. This whole process was interesting, and resulted in me knowing I dont want to give birth in Haiti, plus there are not pain meds...
The next day did some studying before breakfast, then went to the clinic. Because I had gotten friendly with the mom, I had enough courage to walk to the clinic alone and go see the babies. I was greeted by about 15 Haitian women.....So I just stood in silence as they all at once tried talking to me. They had given me a baby to hold so I was content. After about five minutes, a woman turned to me, started pulling up my shirt and was trying to give my breast to the baby......This might have been the most akward thing that has ever happened to me, not only because she was trying to give a baby my breast and everyone was looking, but she did it so fast, I didnt know what was happening in addition to not being able to communicate. Finally I just handed the baby back and left the room.
The rest of the days followed some structure. I woke up, studied, had breakfast, went to the clinic, had lunch, and either studied, talked with some people, worked with someone on my kreyol or played with children. By the end of the week I had one boy who was my boyfriend. We decided he was white, and I was black. Then had dinner and went to bed. One day I witnessed our dinner being killed, then got to enjoy it...
Over all the week was fantastic. I learned a lot and met some wonderful people. By the end, my brain was so tired, I was very happy to be back, with a shower and have the ability to speak english to people other than myself.

                                                                   My boyfriend.

                                                       The school on the church property.

                                                              The delivery room.....

                  The recovery room/nursery/place where sick people rest/visiting and waiting room

                                                                      My other boyfriend

                                   This is what I looked at and talked too as I ate my meals.
















 The next few pictures were from a few days before we left. We were informed that the president of Haiti was coming to a little public area in the center of town. So, we decided to go. I was excpecting a lot of security.... There was a little rope guarded by mostly boy and girl scouts and a few men with guns. We eventually worked our way to the front.... and one of the men with massive guns, let us go in front of the rope by the boy scouts, police and near the president. For a while we had enough room, but as time went on, people presenting the president, we were inching closer towards the stage where he was standing. When the president started speaking, thats when people started pushing, and getting closer. At the end he threw out soccer balls and money (not confirmed), but needless to say, we were pretty much trampled. At this point there was nothing the boy and girl scouts could do. We struggled to go the opposite way of the stampede. We were successful and got out of the crazyness so we dont really know what ended up happening, but I was assuming the worst, that a gun was going to go off in attempt to back the crowd up. 

                                     A man casually carrying a desk on his head down the road...

                                           The president himself. (Jen has better pictures)

                                Jen and the UN truck. Jen loved this day. It was full of politics.

A picture update.

I spent about five hours uploading some pictures, and not even all of them got on here. My computer doesnt like to work here. I also intended on writing about the things that happened about two or three weeks ago but never did. Here are just some pictures for those who dont have facebook.

                                       A picture I thought the slightly older Aileen would enjoy.

                                       A tree nursery, that my dad would enjoy to go to.

 For a whole day Jen and I assisted in building a latrine by cutting metal all day.

 My little friend for the day while building the latrines. He is eating a kinep ( a little fruit with a wierd texture).

 The money this little boy is holding, he won in a raffle. It is equivalent to a little over a dollar. He won it because there were only fifteen kids at school the first day, so we had a raffle. There is a myth that bad spirits reside in buildings, when no one has been there for a long time...So most dont go the first day, to make sure the spirits are out. 

 I was out and saw my kreyol teacher on a moto... I thought it was funny especially because he is wearing his favorite hat.

 At the end of the day, this is what was done. The base of the latrine. Under is about a 20 ft hole....

                                                 A picture of part of the market in Gros-Morne.

                                       What the inside of the latrine looks like when it is finished.

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.

Sr. Pat, Gardyne, Jen, and I
 

 

A soccer team Jen and I  took some pictures for.
 

 Jen likes having her picture taken. So I took one for her. This is
 just a pretty picture of Jen sitting on a bridge.

Just two friends loving Haiti!

Welcome to Gro-Morne!!

The day I have been waiting for finally arrived. The beginning of fulfilling a desire I have had since high school. I have now been living in Haiti for almost two weeks.  Most of what we have been doing up to this point is adjusting, exploring, and getting accustomed to the house routines,the people and places around. Right now it feels as if I am coming home to the states in just a week or so.... like I am on vacation. It doesnt feel as if this is my home for the next year!!! 

There is so much to say, I have been asked by several people to give an update, but for the beginning its such a change, its hard to describe it all right now. So I am going to try and give a brief summary to start.

 Our travel here was very interesting. Although we were two very excited girls (Jen and I) getting up at 2:45 am to arrive at the airport by 4am was not fun. When we were checking in they pretty much told us we may not get into the country because we had no Visa or proof of return. After an hour, they let us go, but told us it was our risk to take.The rest of the travel time I was a little nervous and very ready to be in Haiti. Needless to say we arrived, made it though customs, and “into” the country ok. 

As we walked out of the airport (which is a big open warehouse looking place) we were greeted by the fresh hot air, and A LOT of men in red shirts. I was warned about men who want to take your bags to whoever you were meeting, so that you would pay them for doing so. I didnt think it was going to be as crazy as they made it sound, but it was. They tried saying they know who was meeting me, trying to grab my bags, and they walked with me trying to convince me to let them carry my bags. After a lot of ignoring and saying no thanks, we were finally greeted at the end of the walkway by the sisters!

The drive to Gro-Morne was a very interesting. It was a good preface to the year for me. There are really no rules of the road, so a few times I held my breath because of the oncoming traffic, thinking we were going to run over a person, die, or hit something on the side of the road exct.  It was all just an eye opening, and crazy experience. It was about a 3.5 hour drive. Including the 30 minutes we had to wait in traffic (people all over the road, in and out of their cars) because a bus was being pulled out of a ditch. My first impressions were nothing that I could have ever expected. I think I was pretty silent the whole drive down, and pretty quiet the first few days. I dont think  even at this point I have even processed the drive and the things I have seen in Gro-Morne completely. It was an experience that began to break my heart. Pictures couldn't begin describe what I was seeing on the outside of the van.  

So far the free time that we have, Jen and I have been going on walks or hikes. We have been trying to begin getting familiar with places around the town. This has been fun getting out of the americanized house, and observe the way people live in Gro-Morne. Most of these walks make me very grateful for the life I have been given. A lot of the walks include walking over piles of garbage, seeing people hungry walking the street, seeing people bathe in the river, people carrying containers to get water, and people sitting in the blistering sun trying to sell their goods. I have enjoyed going on these walks because when we have seen children, they either stare, follow you, talk to you, one walked us home, or my favorite they tell "BLAN" which simply means white. The best part is they say it in a scared, alarming or excited voice. For a mere second I feel awkward or famous haha. 

Our kreyol lessons started this past week. Our teacher is very interesting, and is very passionate about his language. The lessons are very frustrating and fun at the same time. Our teacher uses the phrase, its the “its the beauty of the language” as explanations sometimes, right now its frustrating, but hopefully I will be able to understand its beauty in time.  Today we learned parts of the body. I wanted to say " tet" meaning head, but I said " teet" so that was fun...I anticipate things like that are only going to continue to happen. 

       Being a person who likes to talk to people, it is hard when I am not even able to communicate with a child. So far I think that has been the most frustrating part. Although there are people I can communicate with, it is already very lonely and discouraging not being able to simply communicate to those that work around the house and people within the community around us. It is a beautiful language to listen to, so I cant wait until I can speak it. It will obviously be easier as I have more classes and practice.        

       So far life here is great. I am getting used to living here, and really enjoying building a foundation for the rest of the year. 

Lots of love from Haiti. Where the avocados are huge and fresh, where you fall asleep to the sounds of donkeys "HEE-HAW", Roosters koukouyoukou-ing, and really annoying men singing and preaching on a microphone. 

Part of the town Gro-Morne