Monday, May 31, 2010

Playing House

So last week, Jeff's parents took off to Florida to visit some relatives, and they asked us to watch Zoe, the most adorable and awesome dog ever. Last time we watched Zoe, it was a little difficult to be going back and forth to their house, so this time we decided it would just be easier to move into their place for the week, instead of Jeff (or I) having to drive over to their house in the morning and at night to be with her and feed her and the cat. What a wise, wise decision.

I was feeling like a little kid again, playing all grown-up-like. Look at us, married couple with a cute little dog, and a house with a front porch swing. It was awesome! We were able to have friends over and not feel cramped (and it's awesome to not have to hide this fact from your parents anymore), and enjoy the amenities of a full kitchen, dinning room, and....CABLE!

This is how unaccustomed to these amenities we are: Sunday night we watched the series finale of Lost, and then wanted to watch the Jimmy Kimel special that was on after that. So we got into bed and turned on the amazing TV that Jeff's parents have in their room. By 12:15am we were beyond exhausted, and both of us had started to snooze through the "interviews." So we looked at each other, laughed, and decided it was a lost cause, we were just gonna turn off the TV and call it quits. As Jeff was about to turn off the TV, it hit me: HIS PARENTS HAVE DVR!!! Holy crap, we can go to sleep AND still watch the show, TOMORROW. Holy crap, having technology at your fingertips is amazing. We also got to host a Saturday brunch in the backyard, which was ridiculously nice.

Anyhow, reality hit us on Saturday when we moved back into our apartment. I'm not gonna lie, we missed our place, but it was nice to know what it'll be like to have an actual house. It gives us something to look forward to!

Update on "Justice or Injustice?"

Some of you may remember a prior blog entry on a father's lawsuit against the church that protested his son's funeral. In turns out that 48 of 50 state attorney general's agree with the father, and have filed amicus brief's in support of the father. If you're interested in the full update, click here.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Prepare for landing

Yesterday was two weeks since I returned from my trip. I think I've mentioned before that my body did not react so well to being back to full and comfortable amenities. I started getting the chills as soon as we entered the air conditioned airport in Haiti, and those later developed into a sort of fever on my connecting flight from JFK to LAX. I spent most of Sunday in bed, drifting in and out of sleep. If it hadn't been mother's day and the need to see my mother on such an important day, I probably would have stayed in bed all day. I also took Monday to finish recuperating, which was a good thing. A little more sleep, and unbridled access to kleenex was what I needed. I think I still have a few friends in my tummy from Haiti, and I guess I should get that checked out soon. But the idea of going to a clinic and paying for medication (without insurance) doesn't give me much motivation to go.

The other thing I'm struggling with since coming back is mostly concerned with my career: what I want to do and where I'm going. I honestly think I knew what I wanted to do since I was 10, living in Guatemala. I always wanted to work in a capacity where I could help countries like Guatemala improve their situation, but I never really believed in my ability to do so. Going to Haiti made me realize that performing that kind of work, where you're directly helping people recover from something traumatic and effecting change (even if on a small level) is exactly the kind of work that makes me happy.

I remember my first night at the HODR camp, our very first meeting. There was a fellow named Ben who was giving his good bye speech. He seemed to be quite a force to be reckoned with. You could tell right away this was an individual who had made a lot of friends, someone who had touched a lot of lives, and someone who had been deeply moved by what he saw in Haiti. I will never forget the words he said that night (aside from his key phrase about being f---g epic, which I believe will live on in the HODR basecamp for the entirety of the program): he spoke about going home, and making his time and his experience in Haiti his "reality," not his escape from reality. I'm not gonna lie, I thought it was a little cheesy at first: I'm sure everyone has that thought, and I'm sure most people go back home, re-join their old "reality," and move back into the routine of their normal lives. But after spending my 10 days in Haiti, I totally understood that desire to never forget, to never let yourself slip back into the mundane routine of living as part of the machine of society back home, forgetting that there are people who are living on far less, and in terrible conditions.

After I graduated college, I took a year off to figure out what I wanted to do. I knew at the time that a Master's degree would probably be more beneficial, but the idea of writing a thesis paper freaked me out, so I though going to law school would be the "easier" academic route. Ha. I failed to consider the prospect of writing over forty pages in research papers, not to count all the practice essays written for bar prep. Live and learn, huh? This isn't to say I regret going to law school, I'm sure the degree will come in handy, and I met some amazing people that I know will be a part of my life for years to come.

So as Jeff nicely put it, he was still waiting for my plane to land about a week after I landed. My mind has just been constantly thinking about how I want to make Haiti my "reality." I know the general direction I want to go in, so I've been looking into jobs with NGO's that work in the area of international development, but it seems that in order to get a job there I should have been putting in my time interning and working for free about 8 years ago.

So after two weeks, I think my mind is mostly back. I'm still trying to figure out how to get to where I want to go, and where exactly I want to go. I just know that change has to come from this experience. It might not be in the immediate future, but it's coming! I honestly believe that everything happens for a reason, and I think this trip was to remind me of what I really want to do, and to give me hope that there's a way I can achieve that. Where there's a will, there's a way.....right?

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Music as the Soundtrack to Life

So instead of sharing new music with you guys, I'm going to share some old music that has provided some intense moments in my life lately.

Let's start with the more cheesy of the two soundtracks of my life lately:

(Upon review of the actual video, it makes me really uncomfortable. Why isn't Alicia Keys sitting down at the piano? Does she really have to stand and look so awkward?).




Ok, so instead of watching the video while you listen to this song, try picturing being cramped into a little car, about 97 degrees outside, with a large backpack over your legs, driving through the streets that lead the way out of Leogane, and back to reality. Yep, our driver had some tunes in his car. This song, for example, played several times. About the third time it played, the four girls in the car asked the driver to turn it up a little, and we tried to belt it out as much as we had the strength to. I can clearly remember seeing the ocean and beach to our left, watching the palm trees whiz by, admiring the beauty of this devastated country. And to the right: the greenest mountains you can imagine, and sugar fields as far as you can see. It was one of the many surreal moments I've had the pleasure of experiencing. Hearing this song while watching all of this around me, and the lyrics started to get me all emotional after a bit:

New York
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of,
There's nothing you can’t do,
Now you're in New York
These streets will make you feel brand new,
the lights will inspire you,
Let's hear it for New York, New York, New York

It just reminded me that anything is possible. If you want something bad enough, you can make it happen. There's nothing you can't do. It doesn't have to be in New York, obviously, but at that moment in my life, those were the lyrics I needed to hear. And the background to that didn't hurt either.

This second video, I'm actually shocked I haven't posted on here yet. My soundtrack: Bon Iver, Skinny Love.


My life moment: I was on my second day back at work from Haiti, feeling highly unmotivated, with about fifteen minutes left of my lunch break. The last thing I wanted to do on my last fifteen minutes was to go back and sit at my desk (where I was going to have to be sitting for the next 5 hours or so), and I didn't feel like hanging out in the break room either, so I had a moment of genius. I had my phone on me, headphones in the car, and a pair of flats in my trunk: a fifteen minute walk it is! Best. Idea. Ever. I put on this song, and started walking away from the office. It was incredible how just a few steps and a couple beats changed my attitude. Plus, everything in life just LOOKS better when it's accompanied by music, including watching kids get into their parents car (I hope that was his mom...), random people walking across the street, and people just going about their business. The weather was perfect, the song choice was impeccable. On the walk back, I opted for a little Devotchka, and it was pretty ridiculous. Right as I was walking down the street to my building, with trees lining over the sidewalk making a perfect path for me (it's a small/older town, super cute actually), the drumming on the song was picking up for its big finale. It was like a personal motivation: you can take the last few steps Alex, just keep walking, you'll make it through this afternoon. And the next. I know it sounds silly, but it was awesome.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Charity of the Month: Hands On Disaster Response

My regular readers were probably expecting this months pick, with "Haiti this" and "Haiti that" (I promise I'll start branching out again soon!), but yes, for this month's Charity of the Month, I have decided to highlight a little bit about the organization that I went to Haiti with.

Who They Are:

HODR is a US based non profit which began unofficially in 2004, and was officially established in 2006 as a direct response to the need for help in devastated areas. Since then, HODR has helped disaster areas recover in Thailand, Indonesia, Haiti, many locations across the United States, and most recently Haiti, to name a few. I can personally speak to the amazingness of the people that you will find volunteering for this organization. I expected my experience to be rewarding because of the work we were doing, but I never expected to meet so many amazing people, all with one common purpose.

What They Do:

HODR basically gathers volunteers that are willing to do some hard physical labor for free, in areas that have been severally affected by natural disasters. They take volunteers, and through these volunteers are able to provide direct assistance to disaster afflicted areas. In Haiti, for example, the biggest projects are rubble removal: clearing large mounds of rubble off of slabs of land, so the owners of the land can move their tent onto their own land rather than on the street, and eventually start to rebuild their home. Aside from rubble removal, however, HODR is performing a huge variety of projects, including mapping out the water system for the town of Leogane, building temporary school shelters so children can return to classes (this includes making and painting the furniture that goes into these schools), helping setting up tents for displaced people, working on a research project which details how the mayor's office functions and how it can function better, and most recently: trying to create a physical location where NGO's can coordinate with each other.
(Completed rubble site at Boisonnier)

How you can get involved:

There are so many ways you can help. The most obvious way is by donating money to the organization. Your donation can go a long way. If I'm not mistaken, most of the funds going to the Haiti relief fund are going towards buying materials to build temporary school shelters for children. How great is it to know that your money is allowing children to move on with their lives, to keep being a child for just a little bit longer, to attain an education that will help them have a brighter future? Pretty great :)

Another way to donate is by attending Campout for the Cause II. Scott, one of the volunteers who was down in Haiti while I was there, is one of the organizers of this event, and it sounds pretty amazing. It's a weekend of camping, listening to music, hanging out, and what you pay goes towards several organizations, including HODR. Check out more information here.

Finally, and my personal favorite, is by actually going to Haiti and volunteering your time. I know it sounds impossible to do, we all have responsibilities: bills to pay, mouths to feed, TPS reports to turn in, but believe me, it will be totally worth it to leave it all behind, even if just for ten days (although I would recommend at least two weeks!). I won't lie to you and tell you it's a five star hotel; the living conditions are difficult, but you come home to your bunk at the end of the day, and you're happy with the work you've done. I haven't had greater personal satisfaction than what I experienced while I was down there. Project Leogane was recently extended up until January, 2011, due to the need for help in the community, so you have plenty of time to get your affairs in order and put yourself to work!















(Loading up for work, and sunrise on the rooftop)

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Introducing: The G-Fresh!

Before you get any crazy ideas, I'm talking about the perfect Subway sandwich. I'm sure someone at some point has gotten this perfect combination, but I wonder if they've ever gone the extra mile: give it a name. Well...Jeff and I did. I stumbled upon this combination, and can't order anything else now. It's delicious and feels extremely healthy (disclaimer: I don't know exactly how healthy it is, but it sounds pretty darn healthy).

So here we go:

  • -Black forest ham
  • -on white (I guess you could go the extra mile and go wheat...)
  • -pepper jack cheese (key ingredient)
  • -lettuce
  • -tomato
  • -avocado (another key ingredient)
  • -cucumber
  • -green bell peppers
  • -salt and pepper
  • -oil and vinegar

Add to this some Cool Ranch chips, and you've got a stellar lunch or dinner!


Tell me this doesn't look delicious!
ENJOY!

Monday, May 10, 2010

Haiti Wrap Up

So I've been a little reluctant to write this blog, simply because I don't want to accept the fact that my trip is done. But here we go....

The People in HODR
I can't even begin to describe how amazing the people in HODR were. What is great is that there are people from all walks of life, from all sorts of ages, interests, political ideologies, cultures, etc., and they're all their with the same purpose and intent. As different as we all are, I think there is a certain personality trait that everyone has in common. Most people you know are not too excited about going to a third world country to have bucket showers and eat the same food everyday, and sleep on a wooden bunk. But everyone in HODR is happy to do it, because they see the bigger picture, and they get a personal satisfaction of what they do. During one of my talks with a fellow HODR, we were talking about how silly it felt when people in the US told us how proud they were of us for going on a trip of this sort. I honestly felt/feel guilty when people say this, because I feel like I got more out of this trip than anyone else I may have gone to help. And I think most people who participate in works like this feel the same way. Not to say that everyone was perfect; everyone has their own personality and maybe they don't connect with everyone, but for the most part, everyone there was doing an amazing job at helping out in whatever way they could.

The People of Haiti
I've mentioned this in prior blogs, and it's the fact that the Haitian people seem quite content to sit back and watch us do work. There is some resentment among the Haitian people for our presence, but I think that's mostly based on the wrong assumption that we're getting paid to do the work that we're doing. I'm sure to them it sounds crazy that a person would agree to work for free; I don't blame them. But there are definitely people who are thankful for the help that is being provided, and that's what really matters.

If I had to describe the Haitian people in one word, I might use "loud." There were definitely times that I could not tell by the sound or tone whether someone was in a good mood or not, because they always seem to talk pretty loudly to each other; I would have to guess the gist of the conversation by looking at facial and hand expressions. There were definitely a few times were I felt I was getting cussed out, and I guess it's better that I didn't know what was going on. But they are also such beautiful people. There is something about their skin tone, and the bone structure of their faces, that make them absolutely beautiful. I could probably spend a whole week just taking pictures of them.

The Situation in Haiti
The situation in Haiti is a difficult one. I wish I could say that my work down there really helped out and made a difference, but the reality is that the clearing of one rubble site is nothing compared to what needs to be done. And it's not just about cleaning up the mess that the earthquake left behind, but instilling certain capabilities that seem basic to us, like running water or a trash collection system. Haiti doesn't have trash cans, and from what I could tell, no system of disposing your trash. Everyone burns their trash, or dumps it in the local canal or water way. Not necessarily great for sanitation.

The other big challenge right now is communication between the UN, NGO's, and the government of Haiti, including local government. In Leogane, for example, the mayor's office stopped attending cluster meetings because they don't believe their thoughts or opinions are given any attention, and because they feel they are not being told enough about what the NGO's are doing in Leogane. Cluster meetings are basically a way for all the NGO's to get together depending on what specific area they are working in, and to communicate with each about what is being done. I think involving the local government is a double edged sword: I think they definitely need to be aware of what is going on in their cities, but it's also difficult to know how much to involve a local government that is plagued by corruption and which isn't very efficient on it's own to begin with. Interesting fact, which I'm not sure if I've included in a prior post, but there are people that work in the mayor's office who have not received a paycheck since December. I guess a few of them have second jobs, and that's how they make a living, but they keep working at the mayor's office in the hopes that someday soon money will start coming through the pipeline again, and they'll get paid for the time worked.

My Final Thoughts
These last couple days back home have been difficult. It's hard to analyze what you just went through, and see how much you will let that impact what you do with the rest of your life. I don't want my experience in Haiti to just be something cool that I got to experience, I want it to be something that changes my life for the better, and helps me achieve my goals. Hanging out with people that work at the UN and UNDP was definitely an eye opening experience. They told me they love their jobs, but it's not an easy job. I know the life I want would not be an easy one, but I can't tell you guys how ridiculously happy I was every day that I was there, just living life day to day, helping people out a little at a time. It's hard to come back home and let yourself get carried away by the realities of your daily routine. It was nice talking to Abby today and knowing that I'm not the only one that feels this way: we don't want to get carried away by our routine, but want to find a way to make what we saw our new reality. We're actually trying to find a way to make it back there for a longer period of time in a few months. I really hope it works out.

My return hasn't only been challenging emotionally and professionally, but physically as well. My body has definitely had a more difficult time adjusting to the weather and food back here than it did in Haiti. Not sure why... It's finally starting to feel a little bit more normal, which is great because I can't really afford to take any more sick time from work!

All in all, I feel so blessed and lucky to have had this amazing opportunity, and I hope it is just the beginning of something amazing. I can't thank Abby enough for giving me this opportunity, and for allowing me to share this experience with her--it would not have been the same any other way.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Haiti Day 9 & 10: Friday and Saturday

This was the day I was waiting for: finishing up our site! It’s crazy that it fell on the same day as our last day here, but I don’t think I could have asked for a better project to end my stay here on. The morning started a little rough, there was some disagreement about the pace at which we should be working, but Breanne helped sort that all out and we were back to normal. The difficulty with the site today was that there was still work to be done, but it was all in one area, which meant you couldn’t really have everyone shoveling in the same tight spot, which meant some of us had to find random little projects to work on. Our project leader was Tim, who’d been the project leader for the last couple days, and he was absolutely amazing. There were a lot of girls on this site, and he was super patient in teaching us sledgehammer techniques. Over. And over. And over, again. Like I said, this man had patience. I did get to master my chicken dance technique quite a bit today: basically climb up a pile of rubble, hold on to the top, and kick your feet down so the rubble will fall to the bottom and people can shovel it into the wheel barrow. Best job ever.


We packed up for lunch and went to wait for our tap tap to drive us home. We waited. And waited. Then finally decided to take action. Since our site is pretty close to our home base, we ended up just walking back instead of waiting half an hour for it to show up. This meat the people of Leogane got to see about 10 or 12 white people walking through their crazy streets pushing wheelbarrows and carrying shovels. I’m sure they were stoked.


We went for a final walk through the town at lunch, which was awesome. I actually hadn’t walked more than to the corner where Little Venice, aka Rubble Bar, aka Gutter Bar, was located, so it was great to see a little more of the place where we were working. And I stocked up on some cookies to snack on during the afternoon session :)


We ended up having a pretty slow afternoon, since there wasn’t too much work left to do. We did mostly housekeeping, cleaning up areas that weren’t completed, then we got to have a picture session with our group and the locals on the cement slab that we had cleared. It was an amazing feeling. Oh, and one of our volunteers, Eric/Kevin, found out he has at least 3 girlfriends there. These girls were all over him, it was hilarious. The reason I call him Eric/Kevin is because his name is Kevin, but I was calling him Eric for about 2 days. No wonder he didn’t turn around whenever I talked to him.


We got back to our camp early, which meant showers and a drink before dinner! We headed to Little Venice for a beer, which turned into two since we were celebrating the completion of our sight, and also a little goodbye party since there were three of us leaving. Abby, Brianne and I were constantly thinking about our goodbye speech through dinner and the beginning of our meeting (at the meeting, new people are introduced and people that are leaving get a chance to say goodbye to the group). Thankfully we survived our speeches: Abby had a great line about loving 95% of the people there, and not liking the other 5%, but respecting them. (The next morning I heard someone talking about “the five percenters,” so I think Abby started something!) Abby and I were just a taaaaaaaad emotional, so we had to leave right after the meeting to hold back our tears with a beer. Friday night was absolutely amazing. We were surrounded by so many amazing new friends, which I didn’t expect to happen on this trip. It was definitely a bitter sweet night. More sweet than bitter.


I woke up with this morning (Saturday) with a huge sadness in my heart, but so much happiness that I actually made it down here, and that I did all the things I wanted to do while I was here. I can’t thank everyone enough for making this dream a reality, and a damn good one at that! There were a few people who came by our bunks while Abby and I were packing, to say their goodbyes. Abby and I got lucky in getting some prime real estate locations in the favellas (there are tents and their are bunks; I guess the bunk area is lovingly termed the favellas). We stumbled upon two empty bunks on what we later learned was Fourth Avenue, and we later later learned that we had amazing neighbors. To Christa, Reuben, and Jake the Snake, you guys are awesome. I can’t thank you guys enough for being as cool and funny as you are. Shawn, you may not have had the blessing to live on Fourth Ave., but you were an awesome rooftop neighbor!


Back to Saturday....we packed up our stuff, and got to see everyone off to work since our shuttle wasn’t picking us up until 8am. Once again, the drive from Leogane and through PAP didn’t fail to take my breath away. It’s absolutely incredible to see the condition most of these people are living in. Anyone would be humbled and silenced beyond belief. We were able to figure out the madness outside the airport, and got checked in without any problems. Abby and I had a good three hours to wait to board our plane, since we took an earlier shuttle so we could split the cost with a couple other girls that were leaving today. And now I’m sitting at JFK doing a little more waiting, since our connecting flight is delayed due to high winds. I guess my journey hasn’t officially ended, but for all intents and purposes: Haiti Mission Accomplished!


I think I’m going to have one final entry on some general stuff about my trip, which I’m really looking forward to writing and sharing with all of you.


To all the people at Hands On and those that helped me get there, I can’t say this enough: THANK YOU.


UPDATE: our connection flight ended up being delayed FOUR hours, but we made friends with some people that were on our flight so it wasn't too bad. What was crappy was having a sore throat, achy body, and slight fever on the flight home. It's almost 2pm and I'm still lounging in bed trying to feel normal. I guess that might take a few days, huh? :)


Haiti Day 8: Thursday

So my morning started just like every other morning here in this amazing city of Leogane: at 2 am with roosters and chickens fighting for dear life, and the cows mooing in the pasture behind our place. And a view of the sunrise through my bunk bed. And the coughing, shifting, walking and snoring of about a hundred other people. Yep, just another morning in paradise!


So today we split our morning and afternoon: we went back to our regular rubble sight of Boissoniere in the morning, and went to the orphanage after lunch. Our site was amazing. The team we had going on there today was absolutely fabulous. Everyone was chill and amazing, and worked their asses off. We accomplished quite a bit, and actually saw an end in site. For Abby, Breanne, and I, it’s pretty important that we finish it tomorrow so we can see it done before we leave :)


It’s been pretty cool getting to know the neighbors around our site. There’s definitely a language barrier, so most of us aren’t able to communicate with them, but they start to recognize you and call you by your name when they see you. One of them also has a baby called Junior, and he’s absolutely adorable. Today was awesome for me because most of the girls were calling me by my name, and when I asked about Junior, they totally went into their place and brought him out so I could hold him for a bit, awesomeness!


Abby and I had signed up for dinner duty for today, but then we realized we had made plans to have dinner with our UN peeps, so we had to track down two people who were willing to switch with us and let us take their lunch dishes duty, so that we’d have the night free. Thankfully, the first two people we approached were super cool about it, and I think one of them was even happy because he preferred to do dinner dishes anyway. So that worked out. We did our lunch dishes, tried to take a quick break, then got ready to play with some kids.


The orphanage is walking distance, so we just walked through the IDP camp, past the market, and we came up to a building that isn’t really a building. It’s a bunch of block walls, with no ceiling, and one room has a tarp over it with some desks in it. And that’s where we play with the kids. It was crazy. Anyhow, we walked into the “school” and it was the warmest reception I’ve ever seen: the kids were going crazy they were so excited to see us. Hands On does this every Tuesday and Thursday, so they were definitely expecting us. We divided the kids into two groups, one group with do English class and the other group would do art projects, and then we would switch them around. I was on the English round first, and there’s only so much you can do there: you have maybe 2 or 3 teachers, and the rest of the volunteers just sit around the kids and help them pronounce stuff. Art time was way better: you get to mingle a lot more with the kids, and I think this is where most of my interaction with them happened. At one point they started asking all the volunteers to draw for them, instead of them drawing, so I drew quite a few boats, some houses, an elephant that did not resemble an elephant, and a whole bunch of hearts that said “I love you!” inside of them. After about the fifth one I switched it to: “I love Alex.” Ha.



There was a group of older girls there, maybe between 12-14, and they were absolutely in love with my hair. They kept touching it and playing with it and braiding it a little. It actually looked pretty cool. The hardest part about today was definitely leaving those kids behind. There were probably four or five kids clinging onto each one of us, holding us back, wanting us to stay and play longer with them. I can’t even begin to imagine what their lives are like. I’m glad I was able to spend the time I did with them, but I wish I could do more.


After the orphanage visit, it was back to base camp, shower, dinner, relax, nightly meeting, then we got ready to meet up with our UN friends. They had originally planned on cooking us dinner again at their basecamp (and had actually gone to purchase all the groceries), but they got in pretty late from PAP, so we opted to meet at a pretty popular place near our base, and they offered to drive us back. So Abby, Reuben and I headed out around 8pm, to the dark streets of Leogane. Thankfully Abby had a flashlight app on her phone, and Reuben knew where he was going, but it was still a little scary to be walking around town on our own. There are also some long stretches of the street that have absolutely NO lighting, so it’s pretty dark. Thankfully we made it there safe and sound :) We ended up grabbing some food and a few beers, and our friends showed up soon thereafter. I can’t begin to tell you how awesome these people are. I mean, who are we, for these guys to go out of their way to come and meet up with us for drinks?! They also brought along another guy from the UN who Reuben ended up talking to for quite a bit, and since Reuben is planning on being out there for quite a while, I think that will be an awesome contact for him in the future. They drove us back home and we ended up finishing the night with another round of drinks at Joe’s bar. I definitely hope they either come out to visit, or that I have the chance to see them again at some point in my life.


Ended up the day with another roof top adventure, bonding with amazing people from all over the place. What more could I ask for? Oh yeah, sleeping in my bed with my boo ;)


Thursday, May 6, 2010

Haiti Day 7: Wednesday


A wrap up of last night: my immigration client didn’t show up, but I guess that was more of a communication error (ahem, Reuben), rather than being stood up. I guess he came by yesterday and told someone (ahem, Reuben) that he wasn’t going to be able to make it last night, and that he would come tonight at 8. We shall see.


Joe’s, of course, is never a lost cause though. So although my main purpose for being there didn’t quite work out, we still had a good time. Brianne, Ian and I headed over there and we pulled a table out to the open area so we could get a little bit more of a breeze, since it was pretty hot last night. My UN buddies (as I will know call them) showed up at Joe’s, along with about 20 other UN workers, so that was very interesting. Joe also tried making pizza, to see if it’s feasible to make it on a large scale and regular basis, and sell that along with drinks. I’m sure he’ll figure it out, since he’ll make a ton of money from all us homesick foreigners.


It was great to see my UN buddies again and catch up on the last couple days, as well as talk about the general situation in Haiti, and the Haitian people’s culture and approach to things. I had also talked to them about heading over there today to check out their work, but it turns out one of their drivers had a pretty serious accident last night, so I don’t think now is the best time to really bother him with my dorky aspirations.


As for today, the mayor’s office was pretty cool. We met in our office first, where I got a run down of how things go, and a chance to read the report that the team has been working on the last couple of weeks. It basically consists of all the information they have gathered from interviewing all the city officials, from what their job description is, what they do, how they do it, how do they keep their files, what could help improve efficiency, etc. It was actually pretty cool to read through and get an idea of how the government in Leogane-kind of-works. We did get done a little early though, so I was able to get some reading time before lunch, which was awesome.


Since things fell through with my trip to the UN, I joined my usual rubble sight, and had a great afternoon full of hard labor. Brianne and I ran into a little trouble in our corner of the house because the floor level was uneven, which made it really frustrating when you’re trying to pick up shovels full of rubble. I really, really like the site that I work at, and the people that usually work at it. I feel like each site has it’s own vibe. There are people that rotate sites, but I think there’s a good handful of people that stick to one place and definitely give that site it’s own personality and work flow. All the people I have worked with have been awesome: they kick ass on the site, they’re thoughtful about rotating when needed, and it’s just overall just amazing.


Funny thing today. I went to change into some shorts for the day, and I was kind of dreading it because they were fitting me a little tight when I was back home. Um....they fit me perfect! I think the hard labor and little food is working into an amazing diet! Hopefully I can keep this up when I get back home.


Anyhow, I’m making a list of things that I really want to share with you guys, just about the country in general, the situation over here, the problems that are being addressed, difficulties that non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) are coming across, etc., but I really want to spend some time on that one, so I might just save it until I get home.


One last thing: I was checking my email today around 545 pm, and Brianne came in saying my immigration guy had showed up at the door and asked for me. Hilarious, because I’ve told him multiple times that we have our meeting at 6pm, and Reuben told him to come at 8pm. It’s just funny how appointments mean nothing to some people. Of course, he didn’t come at 8pm ;)


Hope you are all doing well!

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Haiti Day 6: Tuesday

Guess what? More rubble work today! (By the way, the internet here is terrible, so I’ve been trying to upload these blogs for the last two days...to no avail. As I write this, there is a possibility you will not get to read them until I get to a decent wireless location...probably in the US.) And yes, I went back to the same site. Some of the locals already know me, and call me by my name. Oh and yesterday they brought someone else to look at my long hair again (not sure if I’ve mentioned this before or not...hope I did). Anyhow, there wasn’t much furniture to salvage today, but that made removing the rubble a lot easier, since you can just get straight to it. The only annoying thing is that you have to prep what you’re going to shovel in first, and that usually takes a bit of time. And one of the local Haitian volunteers was a little too excited with the pick axe and kept getting in my way. Oh well, we’re all there to accomplish the same thing.


Another curious thing about this place: I actually hear a lot of Spanish music. Old school spanish music. Like Jose Jose, Marisela, and right now I’m currently listening to Enrique Iglesias, in Spanish. The languages spoken here are French and creole (which is a combination of French and something else), so I don’t understand why there’s so much Spanish influence. It seems that alot of Haitians actually speak Spanish. There is one translator who’s Spanish I actually understand better than his English, so I’ve chosen to speak to him in Spanish better. He’s actually supposed to take me somewhere I can buy some Haitian rap music, so I’m excited about that. Mom, Linda, Jeff, do not worry. This guy actually works for our organization, he’s been here for a long time, and he’s pretty legit ;)


I’m actually really looking forward to tomorrow. I’m taking a break from rubbling and going to help out at the Mayor’s office. We’re basically trying to talk to everyone at the Mayor’s office to see how things are done (or not) and give them ideas on how they can be improved. It’s supposed to be pretty dull, but I’m actually quite excited.


Also, Brian from the UN told me I could stop by his work sometime this week so I could see the offices in action. I actually have to email him know to see if we can set up a time, and I’ll have to figure out how I can get there. Wish me luck!


And Dad, you and Jeff are no longer the only ones in the family with a sock tan :)

Haiti Day 5: Monday

Let’s see: more rubbling today! Today I did a full day of rubble removal at the same site that I was at on Saturday. Most people like to rotate around removal sites so they can get a feel for everything, but I honestly feel attached to this one property. I want to see it done! It’s one of the largest projects we have, so it’s taken a lot longer to accomplish than some of the other sites. Highlights of the day: removing about 7 or 8 stuffed animals (including a giant dog that had been suffocated by the dining room table) and salvaging some of the wooden furniture that we removed. I’ll have to admit that I have a love and hate relationship with the wheelbarrows. See, they’re really difficult. Once the pile of rubble that we’re dropping stuff at starts getting really high, a couple of guys start pounding a little path into it so we can get the wheelbarrow all the way to the top and unload it there. Well, these spaghetti arms of mine are ok hauling a wheelbarrow across tiny wooden ramps across trash infested canals, thinking everytime that this is the time I’m going to drop one of our precious wheelbarrows into it. What I’m not ok with: looking at a giant mountain of rubble and thinking I have to push this wheelbarrow all the way up. And I can’t. I made it half way, then about three fourths of the way, but never to the top. My hope is that by Friday I’ll have enough muscle built up that I can make it ;) So where does the love of the wheelbarrow come in? I’ve always thought bruises are kind of cool, the more colorful the better. And boy, these wheelbarrows sure know how to make some good bruises! My right knee is pretty much a black and blue mess. And I’m quite proud of it.


We went to Joe’s again, but this time I actually had a purpose other than having a beer. When we were getting a ride back home on Sunday from the UN folk, one of the Haitian guides was talking to me about his immigration issues, and how he hasn’t seen his kids in three years and all this other stuff. So I offered to take a look at the paperwork that he has, and he promised to come today after 7 pm. I never specified a time, other than after 7, so that was my bad. But he never showed. Today he found me right as we were loading onto our tap-tap, and he told me he had come to look for me but we were in a meeting. Yes, we were. I’m in a meeting every night from 6pm up to about 645. Hence why I told him to come after 7. But alas, he has promised to come today. This time I was more specific and told him to come between 7 and 8. He told me he’d be here at 8. We’ll see if I get stood up again :)

Haiti Day 4: Sunday

Where to start. Ok, one of the girls here made an announcement on Saturday night that she was going to go to a Haitian church service and anyone was welcome to go. Soon after this, another announcement was made telling us about the danger of heading to the beach during their holiday. There’s a beach that supposed to be the best beach around here, about a two hour drive through some pretty crazy mountain terrain. But this weekend happened to be Labor day weekend, and there was supposed to be massive amounts of people at that beach. They pretty much strongly suggested we not go unless we absolutely really wanted to. Abby and I crossed our names off the sign up sheet as soon as the meeting was over (Paul and Jeff, you should be proud!). So this left our morning free for church!


Church starts around 7:00, and we were forewarned that it lasted quite a while. So while we made sure everyone was ready to go, we ended up getting to the church around 7:30am. Which I guess was fine, because the church was only half full, and by the time we left the church, it was full and there were people standing in the back. There have been jokes that Haitians go by “Haitian Time,” aka, they’re always late. Anyhow, church was quite the experience. Everyone stared, of course, since there were about 8 white people who couldn’t understand of word of Creole that were sitting in their aisles. Abby and I got off to a wrong start by sitting on the wrong side of the church. I guess the men sit on one side, and the women on the other. We were promptly escorted to the women’s side of the church. There was about an hour of worship music, followed by an hour-long sermon that was being translated to us, and then another 40 minutes or so of worship music. The pastor was super nice, speaking in English to us and thanking us for the work that we’re doing in Leogane. He seemed very appreciative, and people were coming up to us after church to shake our hands. It was pretty awesome :)


But little did I know that my Sunday was about to get a heck of a lot more interesting.


We left church and headed back to our bunks. It was so hot that we were sweating while we just laid in bed. Abby and I got a bit adventurous and tried the famous Haitian egg sandwich. Yes Jeff, we bought it off the street. And it was delicious. And I haven’t gotten sick yet (and it’s already Tuesday!). It’s basically bread, a little butter spread over it, scrambled eggs, ketchup, some green leafy stuff, optional hot sauce, aaaaaaaaaand I can’t remember if there was anything else.


So there we were, laying in our bunks, not sure what to do with ourselves for the rest of the day (Sunday is free time all day). One of our bunk neighbors, Ruben, suggested we head to the beach, which sounded fantastic since it got us our of our bunks. Ruben was nice enough to wait for us to get ready, so his friends left without us, and we headed out on our own. Thank goodness one of the local Haitians, Pierre, was right outside our door as we were heading out, and he volunteered himself as our guide for the day. I honestly don’t know where we would have ended up without him. He told us how to flag down a motorcycle that acts as a taxi around here. Abby and Ruben went on one, and Pierre and I in another. So this is something most Haitians probably don’t see on a regular basis: white girl in the middle of two Haitian men on a tiny motorcycle. Ha!


Anyhow, we made it to the beach (which has cement stairs into the water), and we were able to get a table, but not before we realized that I didn’t have my wallet and we were broke. We couldn’t buy a beer--or anything else for that matter-since we had to save whatever money Abby had to get back home. So instead we just sat and looked at everyone, and then Ruben, Pierre and I decided to get in the water and play some frisbee with the locals. It was all fun and games with the little kids, but once the 14-year old boy started grabbing my leg, I was outta there and back to the table with Abby :)


And THEN comes the most interesting part. We saw two other white guys who happen to work for a major construction company doing work over here, and so we struck up a conversation and they pulled up some chairs. Their friend Brian joined us a little later, and lo-and-behold, he works for the United Nations! As those of you who know me can guess, I started asking him a ton of questions about his job, what he does, and basically any advice I could get. I even put my law school networking skills to good use and got his contact information.


Brian was cool enough to offer us a ride back into town, so we got to spend our money on a round of beer, and Brian even went to far to offer to make us dinner at the UN Headquarters...if we were interested, that is. HELL YEAH. I still don’t think that night was true. We got to see the UN HQ set up, eat in their kitchen, drank some red wine, ate some amazing food, and got to meet more really cool people. One guy I met is from Argentina, and another one was actually from Guatemala. I had such a great time talking with all of these guys, in the middle of a rain storm, in Haiti, at the UN headquarters. Yeah, that happened. To me. And yes, I took pictures of my badge and in front of the UN sign!


Anyhow, they brought us home, and I got to experience my first “rooftop club” experience. I was able to be one of the cool kids that stays up past curfew, sneaking up to the roof and just talking (in whisper voices, of course), and admiring the sky and the cool breeze. Awesomeness at it’s best.


Nothing else really happened on Sunday....except an earthquake in the middle of the night! I honestly didn’t feel it, and only woke up because everyone was walking to the middle of the courtyard. The only casualties were those caused by people freaking out, running out of their bunks, and falling onto other people. They’re obviously not from California. Abby didn’t even make it out of her bunk!


A little sidenote: Jeff should be proud of the amount of sunblock I’m wearing. I’ve been here for 6 days and I have gotten some color, but not burned. Go me! I also can’t believe my stay here is so short. This is exactly what I want to be doing, and aside from missing friends, family and my husband terribly, I honestly think I could stay here way longer if all other responsibilities weren’t waiting for me.


But alas, I am here, and taking in every single moment.