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