I don't really have any time, but I wanted to write a quick post. I feel bad because I've kind of failed at this blogging thing. 3 blogs in 6 weeks isn't very good, but I tried.
Since I last posted I've been to Gros Morne, Chaimetre, Molas, Leogane, Gros Morne again, and now I'm back in the Cap. I'ts been a busy two weeks.
I leave on Thursday adn I can't believe that I'm going home. It's surreal. I feel like I was just in NC talking about going, and now I'm coming home. It's been an amazing tiem and I can't wait to tell you all about it when I get home (and actually be able to talk to people, not write emails over shotty internet connections)
But just to let you know, i clumbed the mountain to Molas (actually a lot faster than Pere Noe), I've been given more jobs in the kitchen, and I can finally make the squiching noise! So it seems that as soon as I get a hold of how to live in Haiti, I have to leave, but that's usually how life works.
I look forward to seeing you all!
In Peace,
Alison
Monday, March 24, 2008
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Cooking, Laundry, Weather and Mosquitoes
Sorry that it has taken me so long to post. The Internet hasn't been working too well, and so every time I get a chance to go online I'm on a time crunch.
My mom wrote me and told em that I hadn't written anything about the weather, mosquitoes or food, so I'll give you an update.
A) The weather is hot, but nice. It's probably about 80 degrees during the day, maybe more. At night is cools down and gets really windy, so it's nice, although we could use the breeze inside.
B) There a LOTS of mosquitoes. There is a colony of them that live in my closet, but I'm wearing what I'm pretty sure is a dangerous amount of deet, so it hasn't really been too bad. And I'm really glad I brought a mosquito net, because they definitely come alive at night.
Also this week I decided to learn how to do my own laundry, which everyone also thinks is amusing. The first week I let someone else do it because I didn't have very much and they insisted, but this week Fredeline, a young girl who helps around the house, taught me how to do it. I am still trying to figure out how our machines recreate what I just did. It just doesn't seem possible for some swishing and a rinse cycle to do the same thing. I also don't think I'll be complaining about laundry next year at college. But I'm glad i know how because now I can do it for myself, and don't have to make someone else do it for me.
But there is a specific art to doing laundry. Beside the fact that there are about 5 steps, as you're doing it there is a very specific squishing sound that the laundry makes, and it is one of the most satisfying sounds ever. Of course, as hard as I tried I couldn't get my laundry to make the same sound, but I'm gonna keep working on it.
In terms of work, this week was exams at the schools, so I've only been teaching the 6th grade class. It's been fun to have them because they're old enough to understand and seeing them everyday they've learned a lot. I also started helping Noe with communication which ahs gone really well so far. It makes me feel a lot more useful. I started a blog for him to put updates on his various ministries, which I think will really help his communication and help in in getting support for his MANY churches and schools.
This Sunday a group from Maine/ Vassar college is coming, and we will be going to Gros Morne/ Chaimetre. They are doing a medical clinic, and me while we are there me and Noe are going to hike to Molas, my churches sister parish. It is a four hour hike, straight up a mountain, so I'm a little nervous. We're also doing it in one day and then coming back. Some people have been teasing me and telling me I won't be able to do it, so I need to prove them wrong.
I'm also excited to work with the group that is coming and see what they have planned. It should be fun.
Also, next week Pere Noe is starting a feeding program in Cap Haitien that I am going to help him with. I am really excited to see how he puts the program together. That program is exactly the reason I wanted to come here, to see how he deals with the problems and does his work.
In general, I feel like I've finalyl foudn my niche, I went through a period when I wasn't quite sure what I should be doing, but I feel like I'm now in a really good place.
Well that's the latest news, I'll try to post sometime soon
My mom wrote me and told em that I hadn't written anything about the weather, mosquitoes or food, so I'll give you an update.
A) The weather is hot, but nice. It's probably about 80 degrees during the day, maybe more. At night is cools down and gets really windy, so it's nice, although we could use the breeze inside.
B) There a LOTS of mosquitoes. There is a colony of them that live in my closet, but I'm wearing what I'm pretty sure is a dangerous amount of deet, so it hasn't really been too bad. And I'm really glad I brought a mosquito net, because they definitely come alive at night.
and C)...
The food. The food has been really good so far. It is delicious, and I have never eaten so much rice in my life before. We have rice every day, usually with beans and maybe fish or meat. Let me tell you, Haitians can eat A LOT of rice. Everyone here thinks I don't eat enough, and they never believe me when I say that I'm full. For breakfast, they eat what we would eat for lunch, usually spaghetti, with hotdogs (which sounds weird, but it actually very good), then lunch is like what we would have for dinner (that's when we have all the rice) and then at night we eat what we might eat for breakfast (bead, maybe cereal, coffee or hot chocolate)
I wanted to learn how to cook, so I've been hanging out in the kitchen. Everyone is really excited about me learning how to cook, but at first they wouldn't give me anything to do. I've moved up the ladder and now they let me make the juice. And I have to say, I can make some amazing orange juice now (by the way, the oranges we use are green). But the other day they let me sort the peas, so I'm coming along.
Also, the other day Noe said that before I left I was gonna cook for the whole house (which is A LOT of people because at least 20 people come everyday to eat there)
But if I'm gonna do that, then they better give me a different job, or else all they're gonna have is a lot of juice. haha.
Also this week I decided to learn how to do my own laundry, which everyone also thinks is amusing. The first week I let someone else do it because I didn't have very much and they insisted, but this week Fredeline, a young girl who helps around the house, taught me how to do it. I am still trying to figure out how our machines recreate what I just did. It just doesn't seem possible for some swishing and a rinse cycle to do the same thing. I also don't think I'll be complaining about laundry next year at college. But I'm glad i know how because now I can do it for myself, and don't have to make someone else do it for me.
But there is a specific art to doing laundry. Beside the fact that there are about 5 steps, as you're doing it there is a very specific squishing sound that the laundry makes, and it is one of the most satisfying sounds ever. Of course, as hard as I tried I couldn't get my laundry to make the same sound, but I'm gonna keep working on it.
In terms of work, this week was exams at the schools, so I've only been teaching the 6th grade class. It's been fun to have them because they're old enough to understand and seeing them everyday they've learned a lot. I also started helping Noe with communication which ahs gone really well so far. It makes me feel a lot more useful. I started a blog for him to put updates on his various ministries, which I think will really help his communication and help in in getting support for his MANY churches and schools.
This Sunday a group from Maine/ Vassar college is coming, and we will be going to Gros Morne/ Chaimetre. They are doing a medical clinic, and me while we are there me and Noe are going to hike to Molas, my churches sister parish. It is a four hour hike, straight up a mountain, so I'm a little nervous. We're also doing it in one day and then coming back. Some people have been teasing me and telling me I won't be able to do it, so I need to prove them wrong.
I'm also excited to work with the group that is coming and see what they have planned. It should be fun.
Also, next week Pere Noe is starting a feeding program in Cap Haitien that I am going to help him with. I am really excited to see how he puts the program together. That program is exactly the reason I wanted to come here, to see how he deals with the problems and does his work.
In general, I feel like I've finalyl foudn my niche, I went through a period when I wasn't quite sure what I should be doing, but I feel like I'm now in a really good place.
Well that's the latest news, I'll try to post sometime soon
Saturday, February 23, 2008
The One Week Marker
Today Shirley said "Alison, it's your birthday" because today i've been here 1 week, although it feels like i've been here longer. I've definitely just fit into life and am learning the rhythm of everyday life here.
This week I taught in the primary school. Mon and wed I teach 6th, 5th adn 3rd gradea dn tuesday adn thursday I teach 4th, 2nd and 1st grade. The kids are great, they're eager to learn and pick everythign up fast. Since the education system here is very structured and based on memorization, they are really used to a very structured way of learning, which i have to say, makes my job easier, but i try to mix it up a little. On wed. a teacher didnt' come to the secondary school, so i taught there for a little while.
Now that I'm teaching English I realize what a crazy language ti is. It's too bad that such a complicated language is so prevalent. It really amkes no sense at all, and I feel bad for everyone who has to learn it. There are so many exceptions to the rules. Everytime I explain something I have to say "Except when...." and tell them the exception.
Also, there are two girls my age who every afternoon we speak English and they teach me Creole. Everyone here has given me three weeks to learn creole, so I better get on it.
My creole is definitely improving and I can definitely hold my own in one-on-one conversation, but as soon as multiple people start talking i'm completely lost. Or in church, when then read lessons and preach, i have now idea whats going on. Like last night at church they had a conversation about the death penalty, and a lot of different peopel spoke at church, and it seemed like a very interesting conversation, but I have no idea what was going on, except that some people agree, and some don't. Also I was very tired, and when I'm tired i just don't even try to understand.
But what I really like about Creole, it that it's all about getting your message across. You don't have to mince your words or say anything extra. You just say exactly what you want.
Today we had a meeting with the acolytes and I learned how to do everything. Hopefully I won't mess up too bad tomorrow.
Also tomorrow we go to one of Noe's other churches in Grandrivier du Nord, so it will be exciting to see another one of his churches.
I hope that everyone back home is doing wel!
Love
Alison
This week I taught in the primary school. Mon and wed I teach 6th, 5th adn 3rd gradea dn tuesday adn thursday I teach 4th, 2nd and 1st grade. The kids are great, they're eager to learn and pick everythign up fast. Since the education system here is very structured and based on memorization, they are really used to a very structured way of learning, which i have to say, makes my job easier, but i try to mix it up a little. On wed. a teacher didnt' come to the secondary school, so i taught there for a little while.
Now that I'm teaching English I realize what a crazy language ti is. It's too bad that such a complicated language is so prevalent. It really amkes no sense at all, and I feel bad for everyone who has to learn it. There are so many exceptions to the rules. Everytime I explain something I have to say "Except when...." and tell them the exception.
Also, there are two girls my age who every afternoon we speak English and they teach me Creole. Everyone here has given me three weeks to learn creole, so I better get on it.
My creole is definitely improving and I can definitely hold my own in one-on-one conversation, but as soon as multiple people start talking i'm completely lost. Or in church, when then read lessons and preach, i have now idea whats going on. Like last night at church they had a conversation about the death penalty, and a lot of different peopel spoke at church, and it seemed like a very interesting conversation, but I have no idea what was going on, except that some people agree, and some don't. Also I was very tired, and when I'm tired i just don't even try to understand.
But what I really like about Creole, it that it's all about getting your message across. You don't have to mince your words or say anything extra. You just say exactly what you want.
Today we had a meeting with the acolytes and I learned how to do everything. Hopefully I won't mess up too bad tomorrow.
Also tomorrow we go to one of Noe's other churches in Grandrivier du Nord, so it will be exciting to see another one of his churches.
I hope that everyone back home is doing wel!
Love
Alison
Sunday, February 17, 2008
I"m safe, happy and here!!!
Hello everyone!!!
So I'm finally here. After months of planning and talking about it, I'm in Cap Haitien.
I got here at about 8 yesterday morning. As soon as we pulled into the driveway i saw Shirley (Noe's wife) and his 3 kids, Noelly (6), Lexina (4), and Lex (5). I was greeted with huge hugs, and the kids haven't really left me alone since I got here, but they are adorable. They've even started calling me Alison, instead of famn blan (white lady).
We've all agreed that we're trading English lessons for Creole, and Noelly is one of my many teachers. She will go around pointing at everything telling me the name in Creole tab (table) chez (chair) etc... She is also very eager to learn English, and picks it up extremely fast. I think I'm gonna use her to practice all my lesson plans. My Creole is definitely improving, and with so many teachers i'm sure i'll have it soon.
Speaking of English, I start teaching tomorrow in the school. I'll be teaching mostly the older kids he says (8-9ish i think). I"m excited to start. I hope that I'm as good at teaching English as everyone who's been teaching me Creole.
I was really nervous before i left, but once I got here, I realized why I chose to come back. I've fallen right back into my place with everyone, and I already feel at home. Shirley is like my best friend/mother, Peterson, Markenson and Jean Louis are always watching out for me (they're three guys who help out Pere Noe) They're also 3 more of my Creole teachers, and have already gotten they're English books out ready to learn. The kids are great, and I've already seen a lot of the ones that I worked with this summer. It's so great to be back here and keep building on those relationships. I still have some nerves, but overall I have a sense of peace and I know that these next 7 weeks are going to go well.
Right now I would say my biggest worry is that I won't catch up on the sleep I missed the night before I left, but everyone keeps insisting that I take naps and go to sleep, so I'm sure that won't be a problem.
I think that I will wait until I get a little more settled to start my research project, especially because it involves me interviewing people in creole. When I start that I'll let you know
I"ll try to put some pictures up as soon as I take them. I've been kind of lazy about that. I'll try to put something up again soon!
Love,
Alison
So I'm finally here. After months of planning and talking about it, I'm in Cap Haitien.
I got here at about 8 yesterday morning. As soon as we pulled into the driveway i saw Shirley (Noe's wife) and his 3 kids, Noelly (6), Lexina (4), and Lex (5). I was greeted with huge hugs, and the kids haven't really left me alone since I got here, but they are adorable. They've even started calling me Alison, instead of famn blan (white lady).
We've all agreed that we're trading English lessons for Creole, and Noelly is one of my many teachers. She will go around pointing at everything telling me the name in Creole tab (table) chez (chair) etc... She is also very eager to learn English, and picks it up extremely fast. I think I'm gonna use her to practice all my lesson plans. My Creole is definitely improving, and with so many teachers i'm sure i'll have it soon.
Speaking of English, I start teaching tomorrow in the school. I'll be teaching mostly the older kids he says (8-9ish i think). I"m excited to start. I hope that I'm as good at teaching English as everyone who's been teaching me Creole.
I was really nervous before i left, but once I got here, I realized why I chose to come back. I've fallen right back into my place with everyone, and I already feel at home. Shirley is like my best friend/mother, Peterson, Markenson and Jean Louis are always watching out for me (they're three guys who help out Pere Noe) They're also 3 more of my Creole teachers, and have already gotten they're English books out ready to learn. The kids are great, and I've already seen a lot of the ones that I worked with this summer. It's so great to be back here and keep building on those relationships. I still have some nerves, but overall I have a sense of peace and I know that these next 7 weeks are going to go well.
Right now I would say my biggest worry is that I won't catch up on the sleep I missed the night before I left, but everyone keeps insisting that I take naps and go to sleep, so I'm sure that won't be a problem.
I think that I will wait until I get a little more settled to start my research project, especially because it involves me interviewing people in creole. When I start that I'll let you know
I"ll try to put some pictures up as soon as I take them. I've been kind of lazy about that. I'll try to put something up again soon!
Love,
Alison
Saturday, February 16, 2008
It's getting really close.....as in 2 hours
so it's 2 am, and I leave for the airport in an hour and half, which completely blows my mind. I obviously haven't been to sleep, it just wasn't really an option with my list of things to do, and my nerves, so instead I've stayed up all night trying to download photos so tht possibly my mom can get them printed and send them to me. This is after my 3hr driving adventure through Tamarac, Sunrise and Plantation, looking for a machine that could print my photos, I went 2 Walgreens, 1 CVS and Walmart in addition to trying Target and Staples which were both closes, and none of them worked! I also got completely turned around on the craziness fo Florida streets. It was one of the most frusterating things ever.
I told all these people in Haiti I would bring back the photos I took, but now I don't know if I can, and I feel aweful. I mean I had a good six months and I still didnt' get it done. I'm prett pathetic.
But otherwise I'm excited. I've had an onslought of nerves today, but I think that it was just making up for the fact that I hadn't been nervous until this point. I think it also means that I am pushing myself if I'm scared to do it, which is good. So I've decided that my panic attacks are probably healthy, and once I get there things will sort themselves out, at least that's what I'm hoping for. I'll be in touch when I get there!
Peace,
Alison
I told all these people in Haiti I would bring back the photos I took, but now I don't know if I can, and I feel aweful. I mean I had a good six months and I still didnt' get it done. I'm prett pathetic.
But otherwise I'm excited. I've had an onslought of nerves today, but I think that it was just making up for the fact that I hadn't been nervous until this point. I think it also means that I am pushing myself if I'm scared to do it, which is good. So I've decided that my panic attacks are probably healthy, and once I get there things will sort themselves out, at least that's what I'm hoping for. I'll be in touch when I get there!
Peace,
Alison
Sunday, January 27, 2008
First Blog
Hey everyone!
So I obviously haven't left yet, but I thought I would figure out how to use my blog while I was still here and had consistent internet and whatnot.
So yeah, this is my blog. I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to put in a blog, but don't expect any introspective philosophy, my view on how the world work, I'm not really good at that stuff. it will probably be more like, "so today i...." and pictures of cute kids. But hey, who knows, I' might surprise myself
I'll tell you what I think I'm going to be doing, but you never know in Haiti. I'm preparing myself for a lot changes and variations on the plan, if not an entirely new plan all together.
If you don't know, I'm heading out to Cap Haitien, Haiti the 16th. I'm working with an Episcopal priest, Pere Noe, who is the priest of many churches in Northern Haiti, including a very small rural church in Molas, which is my church's partner church. I will be teaching English in a primary school Monday-Thursday, which means lots of cute young kids, and hopefully the same ones everyday which will be nice, although I'm sure that there will be A LOT of impromptu teaching to various members of the community, of every age.
I'm also doing a participatory research project on children's perception of the environment and the environmental crisis in Haiti. I will have kids draw maps of the world, Haiti and there hometown to see how they view themselves in relation to their environment. I will also interviewing adults and teenagers to get a general sense of the regions environmental perception, and what is informing the children's views.
So that's the plan as of now. I'm currently trying to get everything together, packing, lessons plans, (which is a lot harder than I expected) research questions and equipment. So if you don't see me before I leave, it's because I've locked myself in my house with my suitcase, clothes and Kreyol books, trying to get prepared
So I obviously haven't left yet, but I thought I would figure out how to use my blog while I was still here and had consistent internet and whatnot.
So yeah, this is my blog. I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to put in a blog, but don't expect any introspective philosophy, my view on how the world work, I'm not really good at that stuff. it will probably be more like, "so today i...." and pictures of cute kids. But hey, who knows, I' might surprise myself
I'll tell you what I think I'm going to be doing, but you never know in Haiti. I'm preparing myself for a lot changes and variations on the plan, if not an entirely new plan all together.
If you don't know, I'm heading out to Cap Haitien, Haiti the 16th. I'm working with an Episcopal priest, Pere Noe, who is the priest of many churches in Northern Haiti, including a very small rural church in Molas, which is my church's partner church. I will be teaching English in a primary school Monday-Thursday, which means lots of cute young kids, and hopefully the same ones everyday which will be nice, although I'm sure that there will be A LOT of impromptu teaching to various members of the community, of every age.
I'm also doing a participatory research project on children's perception of the environment and the environmental crisis in Haiti. I will have kids draw maps of the world, Haiti and there hometown to see how they view themselves in relation to their environment. I will also interviewing adults and teenagers to get a general sense of the regions environmental perception, and what is informing the children's views.
So that's the plan as of now. I'm currently trying to get everything together, packing, lessons plans, (which is a lot harder than I expected) research questions and equipment. So if you don't see me before I leave, it's because I've locked myself in my house with my suitcase, clothes and Kreyol books, trying to get prepared
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
