Today I…

  -Got to see about 9 of my friends sprawled out on the top of a roof looking exactly like a bunch of dead fish during a game of sardines in the dark

-Learned some new Creole words and phrases: friend = Zami;  go home = ali oo cajou;  you’re a little crazy = pitsi le fou

   -Got to be there for the dedication of the SIFE/Davis school for the disabled, and meet the amazing kids that go there. Despite all they have been through they were so happy, and sang us a “Merci!” song that won us all over within the first ten minutes of being there. It was hard to see how the conditions they live in prevent them from being taken care of the way they need to be. Between all the kids and the sisters, they did what they could to take care of each other with what they had. A girl who looked about six was holding a toddler. A child who uses a walker sat down and let another girl borrow it because she needed it more just that second. They didn’t have enough wheelchairs, so one boy was being carried by the sisters in a small regular classroom chair. But they were all still playing and laughing and so excited to help put up the decorations we brought for the dedication.  The school is done, and beautiful, (merci ampile Rick Davis…you’re amazing)but the children haven’t been able to move in yet because the health department has said they can’t until furniture is able to be put in…infuriating. They currently live in tents, which of course have no furniture..it makes no sense. It’s extremely frustrating, but hopefully they’ll move in as soon as possible..thanks Rick for working so hard to make that happen.

-Lost a game of “kochon” (pig), and some other basketball games which meant I had to snort like a pig and bark like a dog

-Was awake at 6:37 and didn’t take a nap all day

-Ate with nuns

-Experienced the best and worst of Port au Prince. Today involved at least 4 hours in the car, and I use the term “in the car” loosely since of course we always ride in the truck bed : )  But the ride was pretty overwhelming. There are just so many people, and traffic was crazy all day…there are no lines or rules about driving at all, and watching an ambulance with its siren on trying to squeeze between honking cars, trucks, and motorcycles and not being able to move more than five feet at a time pretty much sums it up. We drove through the heart of the city, and it was pretty powerful. Tons of tent cities still being lived in since the hurricane a year ago, people bathing and drinking out of extremely polluted water, trash piled high in the streets. I had to wear sunglasses as a windshield from the dust and pollution and by the end of the ride I had distinct lines between where my sunglasses had been and the rest of my face..not from a tan, but just from the dirt. It was hard to breathe at times, and hard to see people living in these conditions. But in the distance you could still see the mountains and the ocean; it’s such a beautiful country and it’s crazy to see such conflicting images.

-Heard the best joke ever, ask me what’s smaller than a teeny weeny fly sometime

-Got to talk to Rebecca #2 about how she got here to Haiti; she has some pretty amazing stories and is doing a countless number of amazing things here.  We also talked about the tutoring program she is starting up soon, and King and I started thinking pretty seriously about coming back here to work on that either this summer or soon… J

-Danced the cha cha slide

-Got to meet one of the families that are part of the rabbit cooperative. I continue to be blown away by the people here. They had three kids that we joked around with while we were there; one of the kids brought us chairs from inside their house without even thinking about it. They have rabbits, chickens, banana trees…their land is beautiful. But we could see the rubble of their old house before the hurricane, and now they live in a tiny shack made of tin and wood with a curtain for a door. They have to walk two miles just to get to the nearest water source, and while we were waiting one of their children, probably about 10 years old, brought two buckets of water back, all the kids helped take care of it. They deal with things I can’t imagine every day but are still just so genuinely kind. The strength and kindness of people is pretty unbelievable over here.

-Carried a gnome in my backpack

-Realized we only have 1 day left here : (