Tale of a Wall

Last night around 9 pm I was driving home, coming up Rue Metelus. As many of you know there's is usually an overflow of market women and street vendors during the day in the area around the cemetary. Last night, there were workmen and police erecting a wall made of wood 2 x 4s and corrugated tin roofing to block the two roads where the market women usually spill out of onto Rue Metelus. I thought, "Hmm, interesting. Wonder how long that's going to last?". I assume it is the mayor's attempt clean up the street market problem.

This morning at 7 am on my way down Rue Metelus, I noticed there were no market women anywhere on the street and there were a few men 'guarding' the entrance to the cross street. On the other side, a few people were pushing on the wall as the tried to get around it.

This morning at 8:15 am on my way back up Metelus, the wall was completely destroyed. Traffic was backed up in both directions and only one lane could go at a time because pieces of tin sheeting and 2 x 4s were laying halfway across the road. There were no police officers in sight and no one looked like they were doing anything with the broken wall.

I'll pass by later today. My bet is those materials will be part of someone's house before the day is done.

Just Another Saturday in Port-au-Prince

Today's emotions:
exhaustion
fear
sadness
contentment
anxiety
anger

Today's events:
Woke up feeling tired after a late night with friends and some alcohol (no, alcohol is not one of my friends)

Ate 3 chocolate chip cookies and some scrambled eggs for breakfast

Shared some cookies with my neighbor

Met a friend at a cafe to do some work

Found out an NGO worker's husband was shot and killed last night. She's in Africa and hadn't yet been contacted

Went to the salon for a cut and color, mani and pedi; came away with color and not much of a cut- everyone says it looks great

Had a meeting for work purposes although the topic didn't have much to do with MCC work (sorry, can't give more details!)

Witnessed a mob of 20 beating a man to a pulp in the middle of Route de Delmas with UN soldiers standing by with weapons- the soldiers had even put out orange cones for traffic to move around the mob

Met a friend for a rant session about work with a little chocolate ice cream therapy at Fior di Latte

Came home and wrote this blog

A Day in My Life: Friday, Feb 1

5 am: Woke up when the electricity came on and hoped for a hot shower. Stayed in bed until 7, but the water didn’t get warm. Have to figure out what’s wrong.

9 am: Chaired the monthly office staff meeting and explained the yearly staff evaluation process.

11 am: A pick-up truck with 4 Haitian drummers and their drums beating a Haitian-roots rhythm pulled into the office. They’d been at one of the employee’s son’s school for a Carnival party and were meeting up with some other people. They continued their drum session for another 20 minutes.

12 pm: Had a meeting with our Connecting Peoples Specialist to figure out a home stay and language training for a new MCCer.

2 pm: Attempted to contact partners about the upcoming MCC country evaluation and answer e-mail in between phone calls.

2:15 pm: Gabriela (the 18 month old daughter of a volunteer) pooped on me while sitting on my lap at my desk.

2:16 pm: Hop in the shower and change. Luckily, I had a spare pair of pants with me for an overnight trip.

3 pm: Head to the airport and while waiting 2 hours for the flight (which was late by an hour), hurriedly make arrangements by phone for a tour of the city for the new employee and another woman staying at our guesthouse. Looked over staff evaluations from the Reforestation team unit.

5:30 pm: Land in Les Cayes with two people from a partner organization and we are driven to Guilleme to check on the progress of a school construction project being funded by an MCC constituent. (It looks great!)

8 pm: Head to a little restaurant on the Les Cayes wharf where I ate a plate of fresh Creole shrimp and had a rum and Coke.

9:45 pm: Take a call from a MCCer who needs more money when I get back to Port-au-Prince the next day.

10 pm: Crash into bed hoping there aren’t any bed bugs in an I-can’t- believe-this-costs-$50-a-night hotel. (There weren’t!)

The Rat in My Closet

I came home one night and I'd accidentally left the balcony door open. This wasn't a big deal until I climbed the stairs to my room, flicked on the light and saw a rat run into my bathroom. Realizing that there was no escape for Mr. Rat except the way he came, I just stood and stared at the bathroom thinking, "There's a rat in my bathroom. There's a rat in my bathroom! THERE'S A RAT IN MY BATHROOM!".

Not only did Mr. Rat have access to my bathroom, but also my closet with the majority of my clothes. I closed the bathroom door. I opened the door, went in, and closed the door behind me. I got up on the counter and collected all the things I would need to get ready for church in the morning. I didn't see Mr. Rat, but knew he was there somewhere. I climbed back off the counter and escaped back out the door.

Then, I realized that I have a nice pair of leather shoes in my open closet that I didn't want Mr. Rat to feast on. So, I went back in and saw Mr. Rat run into a second part of the closet which didn't have much in it. I closed that door so he was trapped in the closet, grabbed my shoes and left the bathroom again.

Before going to church the next day, I stopped at the grocery store and bought some poison. I stuck it in my purse and carried it into church, so then it became holy rat poison. (Really I just didn't want to leave in the car baking in the sun.) When I got home, I made a paper cone to dump the poison into the closet then promptly closed the door and hoped for the best.

On Monday, my housekeeper, Joseph, was assigned the task of opening the closet door.

When I returned from work, Joseph told me he'd spent a "bon ti tan" ( a good while) chasing the rat around the bathroom until he was able to kill it. I didn't ask exactly where he'd killed it or how. I'm just glad it was dead and that I was going to move out of that house in the next two weeks.

The moral of the story is: Don't leave your balcony door open for small (or in this case rabbit-sized) critters to enter, and if you do, let someone else do the dirty work.

Shot at the Caribbean

Just wanted to let you know I'm alright. I was shot in the Caribbean (grocery store) parking lot, but came away with only a very minor wound. It actually turns out to be quite positive because I'm now immunized against yellow fever....

So, the real story is that I needed a yellow fever immunization for entry into Mali this summer. (Yes, I'm travelling to Mali, Kenya and Tanzania!) So, I met up with the US Embassy nurse at the Caribbean parking lot who gave me a shot. So, it is true that I was shot in the Caribbean parking lot, but it was a needle and not a gun. I guess I could also say that I was shooting up in the Caribbean parking lot...

I'm Moving!

Yes, yet again- the fifth time in two years! This time, I hope to be in the same place for a while.

The house where I am now is way to big for me. The reasons I moved there in the first place was that: a) the house was available after the last person who was in my position left the country b) Joseph, my househelp/maintanance guy lives there with his family and was well-established in the community, so moving would mean he would have to find a new place to live too c) everything in the house belongs to my employer, so moving out meant moving tons of furniture and tons of stuff accumulated over 8 years at the same time as starting a huge new job.

But, now, it's time. My landlord has been a complete ass- telling Joseph that he has to pay rent which is ridiculous because I'm the one renting the property. The house is way too big for me. I only use half of it. I think its size has contributed to feelings of depression in some way because I'm so alone in that big house. Plus I've felt really guilty paying a bunch of money for a house I hardly use.

I'm very excited about the new place. I'm getting a great deal on rent- only $300/mo and the place is brand new. It has windows all the way around. I can have a roof garden and the rooms are small enough to be cozy. I've already met most of the neighbors and they are all very welcoming. In fact, yesterday when I stopped by to talk to the construction guy who is going to take out a wall for me, I ended up with 5 other people coming in to say hi!

Here are a few pics of the current house. I did some major painting, so I'm sad to have to leave all the hard work behind!

It's May!

It's May, so it must be time for a new post. I think I can acheive a minimum of one post per month!

I'm currently on vacation in Michigan also known as 'home'. I've gotten my fill of family this past week seeing everyone come together for my youngest sister's graduation from university. After the ceremony we all went out for dinner to celebrate. My sister could only swing reservations at the swankiest Italian restaurant in town. My family is NOT a swanky family. Hot dogs and beer are more the order of the day. Reading through the menu was a bit trying since there was no spaghetti or lasagna, and ravioli was a stretch for some of the family to understand. Anyway, we made it through to dessert which I was excited to have. My dear grandmother sitting next to me says, "Dessert? Oh yeah, you're a skinny girl....(then pats my hip)....Well, except for right here..." Thanks, Grandma!



Me with Grandpa and Grandma

Alas

Here I am back in Haiti and back to work. Bolivia was a great time. The bus adventure?? Well, the 10 hour trip out to Moro Moro went well. The trip back was another story. The bus left Moro Moro an hour late on Saturday (10 am) and arrived in Santa Cruz at noon on Sunday. Twenty -six delicious hours of me on a bus with no bathroom and lots of people with body odor. It wasn't too horrible. Compared to being on a bus in Haiti, I'll take the one in Bolivia any day. When the sun set and before it came up again I did some squatting by the road side. Luckily, I had the forsight to bring some TP.

The reason for the long ride was mudslides. I now understand what mudslides really are when they talk about them in the news. Masses of mud, rock and whole huge trees covered the road and blocked any hope of getting to Santa Cruz in a timely manner. We had to sit, along with hundreds of other busses, tractor trailers, and cars and wait for the mud to be cleared by bull dozers.

Not only were there mudslides, but several times I thought the sticky oozing mud on the roads would carry us over the road side cliffs. When I would look out the bus window and NOT see the edge of the road I decided to just look the other way and hope for the best. Let's just say I was happy to get off. And, I was told that sometime people get stuck on that road for weeks!!

I did come up with a few ways to express how long I was on the bus:
1. I was on the bus long enough to meet a nice guy. We'll be getting married next month.
2. I was on the bus long enough to now speak Spanish and Quechi fluently.
3. I was on the bus long enough that the other passengers are now fluent in English and Kreol.
4. I was on the bus long enough to shear the sheep hanging off the back of the bus and knit a sweater.

Despite the agony of the ride, I did have an angel with me. The woman in the next seat travelling with two kids kinding shared bread and peaches and juice with me the morning after sleeping scrunched up on a bus seat. I was very touched by her kindness.

Pictures to come....

Estoy en Bolivia

As I wrote last time, I've been crazy busy. Right now I'm sitting in Santa Cruz, Bolivia far far away from the office and my responsiblities in Haiti. It's great! I have time to breath and post to my blog. So, over the next week or so, I'll be posting lots of info about the past couple months because I actually have time to do it!!

To the most pressing question---why Bolivia? The real answer is work. I'm here for regional meetings which will take place all of next week, but I came a bit early to visit some programs here that are similar to what we are doing in Haiti.

I was not so excited about coming- mostly because I didn't want to pack and I was not looking forward to the overnight flight smushed into economy class. The forces that be also threw up a few road blocks to make getting here a bit of a challenge.
1. President Preval did not follow the recent time change, so now we are in Haiti Standard Time. My assistant realized this might mess up my flight times, but alas everything there went according to plan.
2. Hugo Chavez (president of Venezuela) decided to visit Haiti. This caused two roadblocks. First, there was a demonstration outside the airport that was on the verge of violence causing a huge traffic jam. Second, Chavez decided to land his plane when my plane was to be leaving causing a significant delay.

But, I'm here now without any major incidents. Tomorrow I'm heading to an area called Moro Moro, which is somewhere out in the country side. I'll be taking the bus; but, this could be a bit of an adventure. Last week someone from the organization attempted twice to take it. There were mudslides and he ended up turning around on the bus the first time, and walking 12 hours the second. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

I've Been Busy

I've been so crazy busy. This can be verified by the contents of my refrigerator-- beer and butter. Until yesterday. I bought some vegetables to way lay the guilt of my overloaded schedule.

PVC

No, not the pipe- the club-- Petionville Club. Every Wednesday night they have a happy hour which stretches into the happier hours. (The crowd really shows up around 8 or 9). Last night I went with my neighbor, Pam. At one point she said to me, "You see that short guy with the short hair? I think I know him from somewhere." Considering that we were swimming in a sea of short men with short hair, the comment was a bit comical.

Petite Goave

Allo Mes Amis!

This past weekend I went with the Port-au-Prince team for an outing to Petite Goave on Haiti's southern peninsula. The trip was fantastic and I'd encourage anyone with an open weekend to take a trip there. The hotel, Relais du l'Empereur (or something close to that) was Emperor Faustin's place of residence while he reigned in Haiti. In the 1970s and 80s it was a posh hotel for the jet set from France and the US.

The hotel is on Petite Goave's main square, but the associated beach, Cocoyer Plage, is an hour-long boat ride away (or 30 minutes in a power boat). But, worth the ride! Here are a few pics to tempt you to this little jewel in the Caribbean.

The hotel has 10 bedrooms, all with king-size four poster brass or mahogany beds. Every room except two have luxurious bathtubs and all the bathroom fixtures are gold-plated. Every room also has a balcony with a view facing the ocean or the mountains. One of the other impressive things is the stairway. Huge steps lead up the three flights of stairs to the bedrooms. It's good exercise, but well worth the climb!

This is a view of Cocoyer Plage. Gorgeous white sand and aqua water!

Guylene, Kurt and me drinking coconut water.

Electrocution

One of my fears is electrocution. It ranks somewhere near death by fire. I thought I might experience both of these last night when the cord to a light that is connected directly to my inverter batteries began smoking....and melting ..... and letting off sparks.

This is what happened:
1. It was raining.
2. I tried to close the window.
3. The cord that is looped through the window and the fer forge had been rubbed to the bare wire over the past ??? years.
4. The bare wire connected with the metal window frame and the fer forge causing smoke and sparks.
5. I freak out.
6. I rip the light off the cord so it is no longer connected.
7. The smoke and sparks continue.
8. I turn off the invertor and search for the handy magnetic flashlight my friend Bridget gave me.
9. I run around my house frantically searching for something to touch the cord to move it away from the metal.
10. I can't find anything suitable in my state of panic, so I move the cord with my hand. I am not dead.
11. Smoke subsides but there are still sparks.
12. I call my neighbor Tim. He is at the Vervloets, so I end up talking to Stephan, a mechanical wizard.
13. He tells me I have to disconnect the wire from the invertor batteries.
14. I unpadlock the fer forge door to go outside, but can't find the key for the lock on the battery cage.
15. I find it. I stand in rainwater as I unlock the cage and listen to Stephan tell me what I'm supposed to do.
16. I don't understand what he's saying except, "Don't touch one one of the two connections because it will shock you", and "You must disconnect it or the short will drain the batteries".
17. Tim is coming home, so he will come disconnect it.
18. Thirty minutes later he arrives (its still raining).
19. He looks everything over and yanks the wires off the battery with a few, "Are you sure this is the right one?" questions.
20. The situation is resolved. The invertor works. I am not electrocuted, nor did I die by fire.

I'm adding 'must know about electrical stuff' to my list of qualifications for a good husband.

Supper

Ah, to be single and not responsible for anyone else's eating habits! Last night in the 10 minutes I was home between work and Bible study, I supped on 6 peices of pepperoni and a grenadia flavored yogurt.

I did take a loaf of apple bread that I'd made with me to share at Bible study; it was a nice supplement to the pepperoni and yogurt.

Now, you know, if I were male and single in this country someone would have made a real meal for me. I know because it has happened to several single men I've known over the years here.

New Year's

Wow! I can't believe someone, let alone several someones are still looking at my blog. I figured everyone had given up on it because I never post! Thanks for hanging in there!

I had a fantastic New Year's doing absolutely nothing. I spent four days in Jacmel with Ana and her fiance and soon to be in-laws. Did I say it was fabulous? Because it was! We watched movies (which I haven't done in months). We went to the beach (which I haven't done in months). We spent New Year's Eve at a party given by Jacmel's mayor (which I haven't done in months--- okay, never.) And a new first-- driving around with the gwo police chef patrolling the city. I was given the official tour of Jacmel by none other than the Director of Police for the Southeast Department himself. Here's two pics of my New Year's Holiday. One of the beach where we were on the last day of the year and one of Valine (sister-in-law), Ana, myself, and Sonny (fiance to Ana and gwo chef).

The only stress the whole trip was trying to get back. I'd chosen to fly since it was only $55 for a round trip ticket and the trip was only 17 minutes compared to three hours in the car. I made reservations the week before, paid when I arrived at the airport and asked to verify my return trip. The lady behind the counter said she couldn't confirm it....okay. So when trying to leave on Wednesday to come back, we called ahead to verify my name was on the passenger list. Nope, it wasn't. Of course. We went to the airport since Ana was on the same flight, but was confirmed and wanted to double check my name, too. If there wasn't room, I wouldn't be able to come back to Port until the next day. Lo and behold, my name was not on the list and they said the flight was booked, but Dave Carwell happened to be there with a MAF plane! I hopped aboard, paid by $30 and was back in Port before my original flight.

When Ana's flight arrived, there were only 7 passengers! Oh, well. I still have a flight that I can use to or from Jacmel in the future, which means I just HAVE to go again!

Kalin

Hey, hey! It's December 30 and I finally found the camera cable! Isn't she cute?


This picture was actually taken just a couple weeks ago, but at least I'm posting something. I also caught a couple of Kalin with Joy, her mother and my sister. I found it slightly amusing that they have the same type of look on their face in both photos.

Auntie Char

I'm an aunt! Who knew that my youngest sister would fulfill everyone's wish for a great-grandchild, grandchild, etc. At least the pressure is off for a while!

I'm home now meeting my adorable niece, Kalin Joy. I'll post a picture once I find my camera cable.

This trip is also vacation. For the last two days I've taken walks with my mom. Tonight I noticed some striking resemblances to Haiti--

dirt road
barking dogs
gun shots

Okay, so the road was flat with no pot holes, the dogs were friendly pets and the gun shots were from a shooting range (did I mention this is in Michagan, home of the infamous Michigan militia?)....it's amazing how things can be so similar, but strikingly different.

The Irony of It All

A few months ago before I became chief, I worked at another organization, let's call it Org X. A second organization (Org Y) that had been involved in some of our work was interested in hosting an event in Haiti similar to the one that Org X hosted in the Dominican Republic. Unfortunately, our budget at Org X was overstretched and we did not have funds to share for a new event. Despite this, I thought the event would be a good one and wanted to help Org Y put something together. Because of my contacts at Org X, I wrote several letters looking for funding for Org Y. One person in Org Z wrote back and said they were interested in the event.

I set up a meeting; the contact between Org Y and Org Z was made. In the meeting it was decided that Org Z would finance the event. Fantastic! I felt great. Because I helped facilitate, the Director of Org Y offered me tickets to the concert that would be held on the final night of the event. Since I had 2 friends visiting from the States and 2 other mutual friends that were all hanging out together for this past weekend, I asked for 5 tickets which I received for free.

The evening came and went. It was a very nice time. Everyone enjoyed it....I thought. The next day, one of my friends who lives here in Haiti was very upset with me because I hadn't let her pay for the tickets. She felt I was trying to show her up. She said that she has money and she could have paid for her own ticket and everyone else’s'. Of course, there's a lot more to this little conflict, but this is the relevant part to this story. The thing is that I didn't pay for the tickets! I was given them for free, but she wasn't willing to listen to my explanation.

On Monday, I received a phone call from the director of Org Y. Apparently, Org Z has failed to come through on paying for the event and she was wondering if I could do anything. What is it about money and Haiti.....makes me want to not get out of bed in the morning. Maybe I'll just move to the beach, set up a little subsistence garden and live happily by the sea until a hurricane comes.

Changes

It's been a while since I've posted...partly due to huge life changes including a significant job change. I've had a post composed for quite a while, but I needed a catalyst to push me to post. That catalyst was Miss De's blog (who is currently visiting) and writing about it.

So, here it is from a few weeks ago...

Adventures in America

I’ve found that my life over the past few years has been a story about moving. Moving myself from place to place and moving my Stuff from place to place, although often not the same place that I move myself. The most recent moving episode is transporting my Stuff from Lexington to Memphis while I remain living in Haiti. The funny part is that eventually my Stuff (taking on it’s own life) will end up in Washington State while I still live in Haiti. So, while I have never lived in Tennessee or Washington, my Stuff will have resided both places. (This is because my Stuff now lives with my brother who moves around with the Navy.)

This week I found myself driving a U-Haul truck for seven hours across Kentucky and Tennessee. The U-Haul people first made me pay nearly an arm and a leg for ME (and a few very faithful friends!) to load, drive and unload my own belongings and then the U-Haul people tried to scare me from inside the cab of the truck with warning signs posted everywhere. “SPEED KILLS!” “Watch out for low overhangs!” “Wear your seatbelt—SPEED KILLS!” I didn’t hit any overhangs and I went slow enough to be passed by just about every vehicle on the road. So, congratulations to me for driving an overpriced U-Haul truck for seven hours to Tennessee, a place I’ll probably never live in, but my stuff will.

This newest adventure was part of my semi-annual-moving-about-the-US vacation. This isn’t intentional it’s just that all my friends and family have conspired against me to live as far apart as possible. Okay, so I’m partly to blame by choosing to live outside the US all together. So far, I’ve hit Florida, Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Illinois although the first two and the last were just the airports. By the time I’m done I’ll add Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York to the list.

This morning my brother dropped me off at 6 am at the Memphis airport, I checked my bags curbside and I proceeded to the gate—C13. I walked down the C corridor and came to a split. To the left was C1to C12 to the right C14 to C 22. No C 13! A cruel joke? The newest version of airport hell? Wandering around looking for your gate and never finding it? I re-examined my ticket. Hidden in an obscure corner of the ticket C22 was listed as the gate. So, I hadn’t had my coffee yet….

Once on board, there were tons of seats, so I plopped myself down in an empty seat, which happened to be in the exit row. There are several good things about exit rows. First, you have lots of leg room and…. well, you have lots of leg room. There is a drawback in the fact that you might be held responsible for getting people out of the plane alive, but really, the benefit of extra leg room far outweighs that possibility. I hope. (Just don’t think about it while typing your blog from 25,000 feet while sitting in the exit row.)

I did, however, discover another small issue with sitting in the exit row. It’s called the faulty, oh-so-inadequate window shade. This was especially obvious when the 7 a.m. sun was shining so brightly. Unlike most window shades that pull down, the exit row shade pulls up and then only half way. This renders the shade practically useless unless one is trying to block out views of terra firma (which is generally obscured by clouds anyway) or the plane happens to be flying above the sun (somehow this seems unlikely). Ah, the joys of travel!

Chicken Adventures

I know the following is pre-return to Haiti material, but it was just too good not to share when I ran came across it in my computer files:

Hey, Baby, got a chicken bone?

Okay, so my life isn’t quite as exciting as it used to be in Haiti- no run-ins with policemen at 2 in the morning or breaking down in the Mothership (Toyota Land Cruiser). But, my summer in Kentucky has its own adventurous anecdotes.

After sitting on my backside for the past nine months reading thousands of pages and typing zillion page papers for grad school, I thought a little exercise would do me good. I started walking a three and a half mile route and much to my chagrin, I am the object of catcalls and horn honks every time I venture out. My sister says I get their attention because I’ve got “junk in my trunk”, since most of the attentions stems from local minorities who happen to appreciate women’s backsides. The other day a car was pulling out of a driveway as I was about to cross. The driver let me cross, then out his window said, “Baby, I don’t know why you’re doing that. You don’t need to walk.” I gave him a funny look, and then he drove off. Now, does that mean a) You don’t need to walk. I could give you a ride. b) Why don’t you ride the bus? It goes right by here. Or c) (my personal favorite) Baby, you’re body is so hot you don’t need to exercise!

Today I went to a plasma lab to try and sell some of the stuff running through my veins. I thought I could make enough cash to at least pay for gas this weekend when I go to visit Shannon. To be eligible, I had to pass a blood test and physical, pee in a cup and all that fun stuff. Unfortunately, my blood pressure was too low. It was only 87/53. It had to be at least 100 for me to donate. Apparently I haven’t done a good enough job clogging my arteries. Lessons to be learned: stop exercising, eat more chocolate and ice cream.

After having my plasma rejected, I stopped at Office Depot to send a fax. I locked my keys in my car a few weeks ago (one of those bright moments I had) and I needed to send a fax to my motor club to get a reimbursement. Getting out of the car I noticed a stick stuck in the crevice between the windshield and the hood of the car. I pulled it out and noticed something on the passenger side, too. I walked around the car and saw not a stick, but a chicken bone! Someone had eaten a spicy-barbequed chicken leg and somehow the bone ended up on my car! That’s never happened to me even in crazy-never-know-what’s-going-to-happen-next Haiti. Lessons to be learned: expect the unexpected and periodically check your car for chicken bones.

Those are my stories for now. I am having a great summer sleeping in until 10 everyday and lazily reading or sitting by the pool. Not working regularly does make the money issue a bit difficult, but I’m learning to trust God for EVERYTHING and just enjoy where I am at the moment. Life really is good when you’re content with where you are.

Life is a wonderful adventure!