A day in Haiti

So by now I’m starting to realize that you probably have only a scattered idea of what I exactly DO each day. Random anecdotes can take us only so far…

Anyways, here is a “typical day” in the life of Jon during these past three weeks:

5:40am – Wake up. (5:00 on Fridays in order to help cook breakfast. On Saturday/Sunday I sleep-in until 6:30, sometimes 7:00!)

6:00 – Morning prayer. This includes the other volunteers and the Haitian Staff, perhaps 20-25 people depending on the day.

6-7ish – Breakfast. Cooked by the Haitian staff/volunteers, this ranges from a Haitian cornmeal porridge to cereal and bread with Haitian peanut butter.

7-10 – Work projects. The first few weeks we worked longer (11:30 or later) but this past week we changed the schedule so that we could spend more time lesson planning. Anyways, over these three weeks we have worked throughout the campus and helped to clean-up, renovate, and repaint different areas of the school. Highlights from the past three weeks include painting and remodeling the entire kitchen area, digging a pipe trench with a pickaxe, and using a machete to mow the grass. I know it sounds weird to say this, but I really liked using the machete. A small group of students usually comes to the school to work the entire morning before leaving after lunch. And yes, “supervision” is part of our responsibilities. Whether Haitian or American, 14 year olds love to roll their eyes… Regardless, it’s pretty neat to see students working to clean and renovate the school during the summer. As you might have already guessed, physical labor is an integral component of the philosophy of LCS – as they like to say, “If you don’t work, you don’t eat.”

10-11:30 – Lesson Planning. I’m teaching Rheto and Philo English, the oldest students at the school. Pretty exciting. There is tremendous freedom in what I decide to teach and I’ve been using notes from past volunteers to help guide me. Fun stuff.

11:30-12:00 – Eat a Delicious Lunch. This meal is cooked by the kitchen staff (women from the community) in the school kitchens, which is different from the staff/volunteer kitchen. Just to be clear, they serve pretty much the same rice and beans every day with a bit of variety in the sauce. Yet, it truly has become one of my favorite meals. But again, I’m a relatively simple eater.

12:00-1:00 – Free time. This almost always includes showering. I generally take about 2-3 showers each day, though showering in Haiti differs from my normal shower routine in the U.S. Here, cold showers are a blessing. You (I) mentally curse when the sun warms the water to a lukewarm, or God-forbid (!), a warm temperature. Also, showers are much quicker and you are basically trying to get all the salt off your skin that has built up from sweating all day. And everyone sweats. Because it’s really hot.

1:00-3:00 – Kreyol lessons. These have been wonderfully helpful, as language is an essential component for understanding a different culture or society. My proficiency in Kreyol is moving slowly, likely because I haven’t been the best student (I’m still on “summer” mode – I haven’t been studying as much as I could). It will come in time. Kreyol words can be pretty fun though. I often joke to myself (yes I actually do this) that my “Kreyol” name is Yellow 15 or Jonn Kenz. Fun stuff.

3:00-6:00 – Free time. This usually includes more lesson planning, reading, playing soccer/basketball/kickball, or simply talking with the other volunteers or the Haitian Staff. A great time of the day in my opinion.

6:00 – Dinner. Cooked by the Haitian staff/Volunteers, we always eat breakfast and dinner as a school community. Pretty neat really. My favorite meal in Haiti has been buoyon, which is a stew consisting of potatoes, plantains, dumplings, and a variety of delicious spices. My other favorite meal is spaghetti (with Haitian Catsup) along with cut-up hot dog slices.

7-10 – Free time. When I’m not reading, I tend to be cleaning (either the kitchen after dinner or the bathrooms) or playing card/board games. I’ve learned the Haitian card game “casino” as well as played an intense game of Chinese Checkers.

10pm (if not 9 or 8:30) – Bedtime! My alarm clock has a temperature gauge that I have seen fluctuate from 82 – 93 degrees. Most of the time it is 88-90 when I go to bed. If it’s below 85 I have to put on my sheet to not get cold.

Perhaps this was helpful? Good.

So since the last blog entry I have made some good progress in my reading list. I finished The Uses of Haiti, Things Fall Apart, and Blink. I’ve currently moved on to The Idiot and I’m thinking of starting the Omnivores Dilemma soon.

Oh, last week we went to the Scalabrini seminary again for mass. This time, mass was said by a visiting Haitian Scalabrini priest who is currently stationed in Cologne, Germany. In the span of one hour, I heard 6 languages spoken – Kreyol, French, Italian (there are a couple of Italian nuns at the seminary), English, Spanish (there were two visitors from Argentina), and German (one of the volunteers spoke with the priest after mass in German)! Neat stuff really.

And, today we all went to a nice grocery store in Port-Au-Prince to buy some extra food for the volunteers. Aptly named “Deli-Mart,” I enjoyed seeing shopping carts, spicy Haitian peanut butter, Carlos Rossi wine jugs, Baileys, and Baguettes. No, I didn’t buy any of these. But seeing that they still exist was a good feeling.

Finally, this week I went to the Missionaries of Charity site in Port-Au-Prince with some of the other volunteers. Pretty powerful stuff. Deeply moving, but also rather disturbing. The “why” questions remain and continue to be quite troubling.

Peace

A tropical storm?

So, I've been told by two different sources that a tropical storm either hit Haiti a few days ago or is going to hit us very soon. A good thing to know since I haven't noticed any change in the weather since I've arrived. The options seem to be: (1) hot and humid with about an hour of rain after sundown and (2) hot and humid and no rain.

Anyways, life here at Louverture Cleary (LCS) is settling into a nice pattern. I'm still adjusting to a different way of living as the U.S. volunteers (9 of us) and the Haitian staff members (around 15) live in community at the school. This means that we cook, clean, play, and pray together each day. For the most part, this arrangement is excellent as I am learning constantly from my new Haitian friends. But living in such tight quarters has its moments of frustration as well. Still, the good easily overwhelms the struggles.

Last Saturday, we went to mass at a nearby seminary. There was an excellent soccer field (rounded posts!), some neat orchards, and a nice chapel. The place is run by the Scalabrini order and after mass we were served a feast by the resident Italian priest - including pizza and beer. Absolutely delicious. I also got the chance to try the most popular and best tasting (so I hear) Haitian beer: Prestige. And while it was quite good, nothing compares to the pizza. Simply amazing.

That day was full of excitement, as I also got to wash my clothes by hand for the first time(in Uganda my host family washed my clothes). In the future I'll likely pay a Haitian from the community to wash my clothes, but it was a good learning experience.

In other news, I decided to regrow my beard and now I am beardless no more!

In addition, I finished Atlas Shrugged this past week. Then I started and finished All Quiet on the Western Front just a few minutes ago. Did I mention things slow down on the weekend?

Anyways, I've had some truly fascinating conversations with the graduates of LCS these past few weeks. This week I talked to a former LCS student who is getting a graduate degree in Social Work, with his thesis concentrating on violence against women in Haiti. He told me that he expected to find that most of the violence was committed by men but in fact he has found that the majority of the violence in Haiti is systemic. He even used the social science term, structural violence, as he described the systems and structures within Haitian society and negatively affect Haitian women. He used this term freely and we talked for a good while about the French Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. A really good day in my book.

Oh yes, I've learned that bleating goats sound like children wailing. Good to remember when I'm trying to sleep and think I hear a child crying in the distance...

So, I was playing kickball the other day and a few odd things occurred. First, one player on the other team kicked the ball a little too high in the wrong direction, over the 10 foot cinderblock wall covered with razor wire. Thinking the game was over we begin walking away when out of nowhere the ball appears - tossed back over the wall by our friendly but silent neighbor. We joyously yell, "Mesi" - Thank You - and then continue playing. The second fun moment of the game was when my teammate hit a home run by kicking the ball into the incinerator (fortunately, it wasn't lit at the moment). Ah, good times.

Two more thoughts. First, there is a great JFK quote on one of the cinderblock walls surrounding the school: "Ask not what your country can do for you but ask what you can do for your country." It's nice to see my namesake represented here in Haiti. Second, myself and a few of the other volunteers taught the principal of LCs how to play euchre yesterday. He is a very smart guy, studied philosophy at the University with a concentration on Nietzsche and Spinoza. As you can probably imagine, we've had some great philosophy conversations in English - his third language!

Anways, I hope all is well - wherever you may be.

Peace

Haiti!

So, I've now been in Haiti nearly a week and her are just a few of my many observations and experiences thus far.

-First and most importantly, Haiti is not Uganda.

-Indeed, Haitian insects love me possibly even more than Ugandan insects.

-"Fume" are Haitian fire ants. Yes, it hurts when they bite you.

-Traditional Haitian food has been a rare sight at the school. I helped make dinner last night - French Toast with maple syrup. Spaghetti is for breakfast tomorrow.

-However, Haitian Catsup and Haitian Peanut Butter are delicious. It's my goal to bring some home with me for Christmas.

-Also, I learned that I will indeed be teaching English literature at Louverture Cleary. My students will be Rheto and Philo (12-13th graders). Some of the books that these classes read in the past included Animal Farm, To Kill a Mockingbird, Things Fall Apart, Cry the Beloved Country, and Romeo and Juliet. Each grade has two sections - so four classes so far. I will likely be teaching some gym class but the details are not yet finished.

-During the weekends it is very relaxing as much of the Haitian staff go home for the weekends. I'm nearly finished reading Atlas Shrugged - still undecided about the next book on my list.

-The beginning of school remains in the distance: September 14. Clearly, I have some time to adjust and plan for the year. In fact, it might be a good idea to start reading and rereading the books I will be teaching this year...

-Oh, some of the Haitian staff that live at the school informed me that when I speak, I'm "playing" the bass. Haha.

-Also, the friendly neighborhood water truck plays delightful tunes each morning - "My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic and Santa Claus is Coming to Town are easily my favorites.

-Finally, a few nights ago I noticed that it was noticeably cooler in my room - In fact, I actually used my sheet to keep warm. Oh yes, when I looked at my alarm clock before I went to bed it told me that it was a "brisk" 82 degrees in my room that night...

This is rambling and I need to go to bed.

Bon Nwit!

Ohio...

I slept really well last night. Remarkably well in fact.

It's been a good summer. Checks on the life list include:

-Living with children (and adults) from 13 different countries
-Teaching and then repeatedly defeating these same children in "knock-out"
-Becoming a Doctor
-Exploring in detail the bustling metropolis that is Piqua, Ohio
-Learning that Cincinnati isn't completely awful
-Eating the best ribs I've ever tasted
-Reminding myself constantly about the deliciousness of Stromboli and Blue Moo Cookie Dough Ice Cream.

As you can see, an excellent summer is coming to an end. And the journey continues.

But the weather is not going to get any cooler. And I'm still completely unprepared to be called "Mr. Kennedy" for the next 10 months.

So far, we have the United States. Canada. Mexico. United Kingdom. France. Italy. Greece. Kenya (I have the dirt to prove it). Uganda. El Salvador.

And Haiti? Tomorrow? Yes.

Peace

ps. If anyone wants to read about my summer in Uganda, here are some thoughts: http://www.jbkuganda.blogspot.com/