Greetings, ladies and gentlemen. I regret to inform you that I don't have anything super exciting to report, but I do have several random small things that you may find interesting.
On Monday, Mum and I did a Gangnam Style flashmob with a bunch of other people. We went in the middle of the embassy cafeteria and even the ambassador stood up with us at the very end. It was a pretty good time. I've never done a flashmob before but you can be sure that later that day, I spent like an hour on YouTube watching random flashmob videos.
On Tuesday, The Red Cross came to the embassy yesterday and people could donate blood. They didn't have a traditional setup, in fact it was a large coach designed specifically for blood donations. It was probably the quickest blood donation I've ever done. Took less than 15 minutes to actually donate, which is fantastic. I've only done it several times before in MN, and I won't be allowed to donate for at least a year after I return to the States, but it's good to know that I can do it here.
Mum and I have gone to the pool on our compound a few times, so I'm a little bit more brown- actually, I should say I'm a little bit less pale (which is saying something, I'm pretty sure I glow in the dark here). Wednesday I was out of commission all day with a migraine, but on Thursday I was back up and running. Mum left Thursday morning to go back to MN to see my brother swim at his conference meet (proud of you bro!) so I've been mostly on my own for the last couple days. Dad and I went out for dinner on Friday with our neighbours and friends, A, A and C. I had sushi for the first time and it was delicious! Figures that it would take a trip to the Caribbean for me to try sushi, though. And miso soup. And endamame. Let's just move past it, okay?
Yesterday (Saturday) we went up to a restaurant in Petyonville called Fior de Latte. They have the best pizza and gelato- I got the passionfruit flavour and it had been scooped inside a hollowed out, frozen solid passionfruit. Amazing. We also checked out an Irish pub of all things, called The Irish Embassy. It serves Guiness and good Irish pub food as well as Haitian food. We were kind of dumbfounded that in Haiti there is a decent Irish pub to be found. My inner leprechaun was dancing a wee jig (sorry, sorry, I know).
This weekend I am also semi-dog sitting for our other neighbours. They have a son who is my age, W, and his dog B is probably the best behaved dog I've ever met (sorry Snickers!!). He's a Catahoula hound or something, and so tall that I can rest my hand on his back when he's walking next to me. The Haitians are generally wary of dogs, even small ones, but the guards around Canne-a Sucre know him by name and greet him as "B the Big Dog".
Today my dad and I went along with our neighbour A to a little market about half a mile down the road. It's not as big or as well stocked as the other grocery stores but it's close and it has the essentials. On the way back, we were marveling at the drainage ditches which are now full of water. It rained last night, and now people use the water in the ditches to wash their cars, water their plants and to bathe. A young boy stood unabashedly naked by the side of the road, scooping the brackish looking water into cupped hands to clean himself.
The weather has not changed; it is unwaveringly, mercilessly hot every day in spite of the rain at night. That is an odd thing about Haiti- it rains at night and then in the morning, there are suddenly sixteen new potholes on the streets outside that weren't there yesterday. The litter is unbelievable, and it is everywhere but in Canne-a Sucre. We live in a bubble, which is a mixed basket of feelings. On one hand, it's nice for us to have air conditioning and clean houses, but on the other hand we know we're not experiencing 'the real Haiti.' We are encouraged against walking anywhere but to the embassy and around our compound, and in some areas we're required to have an armed escort. It's very eye opening to drive around and see the poverty, and it's also very easy to be shocked from the comfort and security of a locked car or an air conditioned house. The guilt I feel is sometimes overpowering but I also know that this was the best decision I have ever made, to put off school and move here.
I do miss having my friends here, and I wish I could adequately explain what it's like here so you all could experience it with me. It is nothing like I thought it would be, and yet I feel like I've been here for months instead of two and a half weeks. I haven't been homesick yet, and I kind of wonder if I will be. Sometimes in the morning I'll wake up and have to go through each "home" before I remember where I am. Minnesota? DC? Haiti? I've had three homes in the past year, which is a very strange thought. But I am happy here, just like I was happy in DC and Minnesota. I guess when you move around a lot, you make a home wherever you are.
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