Lé vole (time flies)

I've been filling by days with kreyol lessons and conversations. Thank goodness it's coming so much easier than Spanish did!!! I finally got a hold of Jude, the translator extrodinare from my first trip here. His wife and kids are spending the summer with friends in St. Louis so he has some free time. He's been running with me each morning. We meet outside of Wings and run/walk up to the next town, Kenscroft, and back down together. It definally upped my milage and I really enjoy his company. He also took me dancing one night down at RAM in downtown PAP. WOW - The music was over the top and that man can dance! He's also started giving Sarah and I more formal Kreyol lesson after dinner. Alcindor, the cook here, has been kind enough to let me trade my skills peeling lay (garlic) for early morning conversations. So my days go something like this:
4:30 wake and do some yoga
5:00 meet Jude and run to Kenscroft
6:15 bucket shower
6:30 peel garlic and chat with Alcindor
7:30 my breakfast
8:00 play with kids (Mwen ede Josephine marche e vole ak Delmas and Dad.)
8:30 feed ti dejane to the kids
9:45 work in classrooms or help with paperwork
1:00 have my lunch
1:30 bay mange a ti moun yo (feed the kids)
2:30 teach Teddy and Lazar how to type using the IntelKey Board
4:30 read, study, rest
5:00 plis manje pou ti moun yo (more food for the kids)
6:00 hang out in the girls or boys rooms for pre-bed quiet time
6:30 my dinner
7:30 kreyol lesson with Jude
8:30 hang out with other volunteers, Alcindor, and/or the other guys who work here (I've learner how to be a really good loser at Mancala)
9:30 bed time!!!

Sorry my email and blogging have deminished. I'm definately feeling the sand in my little Haitian hourglass rushing away.

Tonight Sarah and I will go to a concert where Jude and his family group, The Union Brothers, will be singing. Tomorrow, the 4 other volunteers, me and Jude are going to start walking over the mountians to Jakmel at 5 am. The first day of the jouney to the little cabin/cottage that's about halfway there should take us about 7 hours. We'll stay Friday night there then finish the journey with another 7-8 hour hike on Saturday. The second leg is sposed to have stunning scenery. We'll have a guide for this section so that we'll get to see all of the waterfalls off of the beaten path. [Unfortunately, I was a dope again (I *knew* I should have brought a bag with a zipper closer rather than a flap) and my most valuable possesion here - my camera, now has a new owner. I hope they love it half as much as I did and really enjoy the photos that I'd taken.] We'll spend Satuday night at Trinity House, the third home in the St. Joe's family, wake for a sunrise service on Sunday and head back to Wings via tap-tap. Renee says very few people take the time to make this journey - I can't wait!

We spent a good part of the weekend at St. Joe's. About 3pm on Saturday the 6 of us volunteers hopped on a Tap-tap (picture 15 people jammed in the back of a late model Toyota pick-up bouncing down the road) with Sony and headed to 91 Delmas, Penchonville. Adventures never end here, and nether do my "traveling in a developing nation" experiences. This was an experience similar to riding the chicken buses in Guatemala but with much better ventilation! Unfortunately, as we unloaded from the tap-tap, I was groped rather roughly by a guy. I so busy feeling offended, that I didn't notice he'd grabbed the baggie - with my driver's licence, debit card and a bit of cash - that I'd buried in my front jeans pocket. No great loss, the card was canceled easily (and I learned a long time ago never to keep all of my cash in one place). I'll just be more aware of covering my pockets rather than my breasts next time I'm in that situation. Given all of the traveling I've done over the years, I feel pretty blessed that this is only the second time anything unpleasant has happened.

Once at St. Joe's, we hung out with with the guys before their performance. It's been good to reconnect with them, especially the drummer, Lele. We spent the evening dancing during the performance and after the performance, Esthepahnia, Melika, Sarah and I continued or adventures together dancing with some of the older guys from St. Joe's that work with us each day at Wings. Over and over again we find ourselves appreciating our shared spirit of living each moment to the fullest.

I've been spending my weekday afternoons working with Lazar and Teddy, two teenage boys with CP. A guest from Boston brought an adapted key board and laptop and they've been learning to type by writing letters to pen pals in the states. I've really enjoyed working with them one-on-one. I'm also apreciating the fact my PhD research included "computer supported cooperative work" and that's exactly what I'm doing here - but in a way I never would have imagined!

I've been very contemplative today. All the Cotting folks leave in the morning and Melika and Esthephania are headed out on Monday. I think watching their good bye process has me thinking about mine - even thought it's more than 3 weeks away. The fact that there are many, many things up in the air at Galloway, and I'm feeling more than a little disconnected, if not guilty, about leaving Peter & Co. in the midst of it all.

Seems like on days like this, everything becomes a message from the universe. One of the first songs that played on my ipod during my run this morning was one I would have sworn I'd never heard before - doubtful since *I* put everything on it. So it's 5:45m, the sun has been up over an hour, and I'm hitting the first hard part of my route. Thinking about how I want to continuing doing things like I'm doing here for the rest of my life. Wondering what that means. How will a life like this effect/reduce/eliminate other things I'd also like to have in my life? Also wishing I wasn't thinking about the future and able to just live fully in the now, as Melissa Ethridge belts out:

Don't be afraid
Close your eyes
Lay it all down
Don't you cry
Cant you see I'm going
Where I can see the sun rise
I've been talking to my angel
And he said that it's alright
I've always had to run
I don't know just why
Desire slowly smoking...
There's something waiting out there
That says I've got to try...
I can feel the thunder
Underneath my feet
I sold my soul for freedom
Its lonely but its sweet
Don't be afraid...

This song was followed directly by "Moondance" - my all time favorite song for its lyrics but mostly for all the many beautiful people and experiences I've associated with it.

More conversations with angels are definitely in order. Luckily, I am blessed to have a life overflowing with them!

Finally getting to add a small fraction of the pictures that I've been taking. It literally is taking ten minutes to add each one. The selection process is killing me!

Joesphine is the girl on the horse. She's definitely one of the poster children here - and she knows it. When prompted by the phrase, "spoiled," she answers with force, "rotten!" She's brilliant and overflowing with personality. She taught me the names of most of the kids here during my first days and is one of the best English to Kreyol translators in the place.

This is Vivian. She's one of the 4 original children in the home and thrives in her role as mama bear. Takes cosmetology classes and hopes to have a salon here. One of the Cotting teachers brought her a cell phone - she's bearly let go of that or a teen magazine that another teacher brought her. I managed to divert her attention for a bit when I brought out Tantrix. Thanks Jay for your influence. It's slowly catching on here :-)

And then there was the annual beach trip - and my first sun burn of the season! What a day. 6am kids were lined up outside our door chanting "Lame, lame" [interpret as "beach, beach"]. After a quick breakfast of pb& banana sandwiches (my team won the sandwich making race the night before - yes!), we loaded up a van and a bus (a new big white one that the Haitians refer to as Obama buses - new, reliable and good at moving people), secured the wheel chairs with bungees in the isles and headed of Moulin Sur Mar (http://www.moulinsurmer.com/). Three hours, many, many songs - teachers brought guitars and led songs and danced at the front of the bus - and a couple of road sick kids later we arrived!!! 30 kids, as many staff, and a million blow-up toys poured in to the water in one big splash. We frolicked for a couple hours, grazed at a buffet, ignored the silly half hour rule, and returned to the sea. Back on the buses at 5pm, we rolled away exhausted. Another three hours on the bus were filled with many frosted Haitian cookies, kids moving from lap to wheel chair to new lap [repeat], more road sickness and a few tears. I don't know if I've ever slept so well. We were all dragging ourselves around today but the smiles haven't faded!

Glad we had a fairly "normal" day today. Gave me time to prepare my reserves for field day and ice cream party tomorrow!

Full Days

Thursday - taking kids down to Port of Prince for therapeutic horseback riding. The man who owns the facilities had a spinal injury and was told he would never walk again. After a year of therapeutic riding he could. His business caters to teaching wealthy people to ride and caring for their horse so that he can give his time and resources to kids in need. To top it off - he is from the Dominican Republic. The rivalry between the two countries makes his commitment even more unusual.

Friday - 10 teachers, OTs and PTs from The Cotting School (http://www.cotting.org/), a private day school for kids with challenges outside of Boston, arrived and will be here for a week. They've had a partnership with Wings of Hope for over 5 years. Teachers come to Haiti twice a year to help teach the teachers here, and to bring lots of equipment for the kids. The Haitian teachers go up there once a year to continue their training. I've learned a ton from them and am so glad they came during the beginning of my stay here.

Today - Saturday is pretty unstructured. We spent the day playing, playing and more playing. Most of the kids were brought up to the courtyard level. The wheel chair bound kids that wanted out were placed on mats and could roll around and had access to scooters too. I was a bit concerned at first - 30 odd kids playing soccer, playing basket ball, wandering around in their own world, rolling on mats, racing in new wheel chairs, all in a pretty small space. No need for concern. The kids do a better job looking out for each other than we do!

One week complete. I'm still surprised everyday by the kid's intelligence and humor. Given how much I underestimated them, I've been reflecting a lot on other people I've done the same too, and how often I'm on automatic, following stereotypes without question. What a blessing to be here.

Tomorrow - the volunteers and the Cotting folks are headed to St. Joe's for morning service (I'm so excited to see the friends I made there in April!)

Photos...

Sun salutations on the rooftop.

Morning classes.

Ester looking forward to lunch.

My roommate, Esthepania, and Junior displaying a rare smile :-)

Loving what is...

There are many names for the practice of loving what is - non-judgement, emptiness, acceptance, patience... This my time here, all 72 hours, is helping experience it at new levels. I'm witnessing vulnerability in many forms. The children that fill my day from 8:30-6:45 were born into the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with mental, physical, and/or emotional challenges, and then abandoned by their families. Clique or no, the kids here are truly treasures. I'm delighted over and over by their quick wits, highly developed survival instincts, and willingness to love. The more I spend time with them, the more I want to be with them. (My clothes would probably report otherwise. My current favorite modern invention is the hepatitis shot!)


We've had large groups from the States come though to tour and help feed the kids a meal each day. Malika, Estephania, and I have been very impressed at the show the kids put on when they know visitors are there. Kids who can feed themselves and move their own wheel chairs are suddenly "helpless" with the biggest, beautifulest, brown eyes ever.


The electricity has been on and off all day so I might not get pictures up until tomorrow...
Bon rev zanmi mwen!