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

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

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