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