Learning how to be Haitian

So it’s my third day here. Yesterday I was very tired and felt like I couldn’t make it nine months. I really missed the kids in Leogane and all the wonderful people I have met there. I felt really lonely and just wanted to be in Leogane with the girls. My feet were really swollen and I thought they may explode. I had about 50 bug bites. And I just felt done with everything. There were some good parts too though. I had fun practicing my Creole with the workers who are here. They were very friendly. The kids and the workers had fun laughing at my broken Creole. It was wonderful to see that the kids not only got THREE meals with veggies and meat but they also get SNACKS. I was so excited when I saw that. It’s amazing how healthy these kids look. I also see a huge difference in their behavior compared to the kids in Leogane. These kids definitely have way more supervision and they treat each other a lot better. Not all the time but I can definitely see how consistent discipline affects them positively here. It’s also a wonderful thing to see how much the adults love the kids here. The American lady who is in charge rocks several of the smaller kids to sleep each night.  Some of the smaller kids are also required to nap. It’s very lovely.

Last night I fell asleep to the sound of singing from a local church service. The windows in my room are made of bars and have no screens or window panes. Thank God I have a mosquito net! There was also a tiny frog in my room but I was too scared to touch him so I left him in there. Also, you’ll all be proud to know that I saw a giant centipede in my room and decided that instead of going to get help, I’d just kill it myself. I’m getting braver. OH! And people, I have yet to see giant spider!!! Thank you Jesus!!

Today I am feeling a lot happier. I slept very soundly and don’t feel tired at all. It’s the weekend so there was no school today. This morning I had coffee and bread for breakfast so that probably helped my day be better since it's my favorite J This morning I learned how to do some laundry Haitian style so that was good. I’ll need to do my own laundry eventually. I learned from the lady who does laundry regularly and she we talked about how Americans don’t know how to wash clothes because machines do it for us. Then I watched (and helped a little!) all the girls get their hair done for school on Monday. A new (to me) worker came today named Paulette and I think we’re going to be new best friends. She talks to me in Creole like I understand it better than I do. But it helps because I have to figure out what she’s saying. I asked her if she’d help me buy a phone tomorrow and she said yes. But then she pulled a phone out of her pocket and said that she would give it to me as a gift. Yay for new best friends! But I still have to buy a SIM card and minutes before I can call anyone. I also got to walk to the market to buy bread with Paulette.

I am trying to upload a video of the kids singing (which they do a lot) but I think the internet is too slow to upload anything. Sorry!