We had a full house this past week with rising 9th graders and our mechanic Dan Zeigler with his team adding up to 13. It was great meeting everyone, but the logistics of the groups were constantly changing or causing problems. One night we didn't have enough food for everybody. I had to tell some of the visitors to lay off on seconds!
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| Rising 9th graders from Norfolk Academy, VA |
Before the influx of guests, I sat on an English class for a group of students of all ages at the Mayor's administrative building. It was my second visit (the first I actually met the Mayor), and so I was already acquainted with some of the students. At the end of the lesson, I was to read aloud the vocabulary list written on the board, so that the class could perfect their pronunciation. Words ranged from sin, to scholarship, to accompany. Let's just say there were some interesting talking points!
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| How to use a Jerry Can to filter water |
After the class, the students asked me questions in English. I am not sure if it is a cultural custom, but I have been asked "Are you married?" more times than I can remember. To no surprise, that was one of the questions. I, of course, said no, but then added in Creole that in America, no one asks that question when first meeting someone. Everyone laughed.
Once the house cleared out on Saturday, I was dropped off at Trianon, the new birth center, about an hour and a half from Hinche. The hospital, which literally just opened, was a ways off from the main road. I wondered how any ambulance would make it back there, but one of the locals told me that paving the road was in the plans. I finished what I came for and then waited for almost two hours for a ride back. I took one of the TapTaps, the Haitian taxis. Crammed as usual, I was lucky to get in the front seat yet still squished to the door by a man three times my size. Nevertheless, I made it home safely and still had energy to go out to one of the local discos that night.
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| Sunrise from behind the house |
Just about one month down! Thank you for keeping up with me! I crave chocolate everyday, sometimes a meal other than rice, and always to say hello to family and friends in person. But, other than that, I am really enjoying myself.
Carrie, a bit off the subject...I have shared your blog address with Socorro Woods, a friend in Bluefields, Nicaragua near my project at False Bluff (falsebluff.blogspot.com). Socorro wrote "I've Never Shared This With Anybody: Creole Women's Experience of Racial and Sexual Discrimination and their Need for Self-Recovery." The book was published by URACCAN in Bluefields where Socorro is very active, both with the university and with women's education and rights.
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