I do not have fleas

Yesterday I took Lulu to the vet, because she needed to start her vaccinations and I was beginning to think she had fleas. What led me to this conclusion is that when I would pet her I would feel what I just thought was dirt, but when I looked it up was really eggs. Also since she sleeps with me have been feeling itchy and my bed had all of these black specks on it. The vet confirmed this and said that I do not have fleas, but I am itchy because of the eggs in the bed and I am probably getting bitten while I sleep. Hooray for me!!

I called Frank, my husband, to tell him the great news and his immediate response was, "ewww, they better be gone by the time I get there." Then he proceeds to yell to his friend Corey who he was with at the time, "Dude, Jillian has fleas." Don't you just love male sensitivity.

The solution to this problem is to apply this flea powder to Lulu once a day for three days. The vets says after that all the fleas will be gone. The slight hiccup with that is Lulu cannot ingest any of the powder, so I came home from the vet and made her a cone that goes around her head to prevent her from licking the powder. Lets just say she is less than pleased with me. All I can say is that I hope these three days go by quickly.

Clearly Internet communication is not for me

Ok as many of you have noticed I have not posted anything on this blog in over a month, which really goes against the whole idea behind a blog. In my defense, I have been super busy and after a long day I do not found blogging particularly soothing. I love you all and I am not trying to cut you out of this experience, so I am going to try to make an effort to blog more often.

Top ten interesting things that have happened since I stopped blogging:

1. Frank has officially given notice at work that his last day will be December 23, 2009, which means when I return to Haiti after the holidays on January 2, 2010, my husband will be in tow. Probably the best news ever!!
2. I am the proud mother of a little gray kitten named Lulu. She is precious, but a menace for sure (I have the scratches to prove it). The problem is that I, even after three weeks of mothering this kitten, am still not a huge cat lover. Lets just say this relationship is a work in progress.
3. My mom came to visit last week and we went to the beach, went out to lunch, talked for hours, and almost died coming down from Wynne Farm on the Kenscoff Mountain road. The story behind the last comment is the breaks on our car completely failed while coming around a corner. I was driving and after discovering the brakes were gone, I yelled at my mom “the brakes, the brakes are gone.” I pulled the emergency brake and turned the car off the paved road in hopes that the dirt and rocks would slow us down. After about 100 yards we came to a stop in front of an electrical poll. No one was hurt thank goodness, but lets just say my heart was racing for a few hours afterwards.
4. The Mission House had its first group which is one of my main job responsibilities, so it was a lot of work pulling things together, but such a relief that the first one went well and is over. I took the group to a Co-Op for women artists and to Arc en Ciel, an HIV/AIDS orphanage. The real test comes in two weeks when 11 doctors arrive for a full week medical mission trip. Wish me luck with that.
5. Three UN soldiers from Nepal asked me if I would take a picture with them because I was the first white person they met in Haiti who could speak kreyol. Hooray, I guess? It was definitely an interesting situation and I wish so badly I had had my camera, but you will just have to picture it yourself.
6. I got an 85 on my first kreyol test, which is great news since Jean Mari told me he was going to buy a whip and punish me if I did not start applying myself to my kreyol studies more. I would cautiously label myself a functional kreyol speaker.
7. One very angry Nun bitched me out; because I had so much to do I did not take the time to say a proper good morning to her. Lets just say I hope that does not happen again and if it does maybe next time I won’t feel like a 10-year-old kid in the principle’s office. I guess I do carry scars for all those years of Catholic schooling.
8. We got our cable fixed so now I am able to watch FOOTBALL on the weekends. If you know me at all you know how crucial this is to my mental stability.
9. I feel like I have more of a social life and I would even go as far as to say that I have friends in Haiti. To prove it, I am going this Saturday for a music festival and then down to the beach on Sunday to watch drag racing. Neither activity, I will be doing by myself or will Elizabeth be there. Finally, I am loosening my grip the security blanket I have wrapped myself in.
10. I am now a Pilates nut. They have a class at my gym and my friend Alexis teaches it and it is AMAZING. I never knew how concentrating on your breathing could affect the way your muscles worked and increased your ability to do certain motions. I still find it very difficult, but I am loving every sweaty minute of it.

Alright that is it for now, I promise to try and write again soon. Thank you all for your patience.

PS. My blog sucks when it comes to uploading photos and actually having them in the text of my posts, so I have added new photos to my slide show.

Emotional State: Feeling content that I actually live in Haiti

Goal: to have more patience

Giving a chair to the enemy

There are some things in life that are constant.  No matter how many changes their life goes through, such as moving to a different country, certain things will remain the same.  For me one of those things is an over healthy love of American football.  NFL or college, if it is on very little else matters.  I think one of the hardest things about moving to Haiti when I did is that I left just in time to miss the new NFL and college season.  I cannot even express how I feel knowing the first regular season games for both started this weekend I have been unable to watch a second of them. Anyway, trying to keep my bitterness to minimum, I was proud of myself for giving my seat up at church for a father and his son with a certain shirt on that rubbed me the wrong way...

Ugh, can you believe it that the freaking Michigan Wolverines followed me to Haiti?  It is worse enough they exist in the US, but to have to think about the traitor Rich Rodriguez in Haiti is absolutely ridiculous.  However, I do believe I rose above it all by standing during Mass while this man and his son were able to share my chair quite comfortably.  I did chuckle at the rise of competitive emotions I felt towards this man, who I am 99% sure has no idea what his shirt actually means or stands for.  To make matters worse, when I got home this afternoon and was still thinking about the t-shirt I found out that Michigan upset Notre Dame 38-34.  Not that I care two goudes about Notre Dame, but to be faced with the reality that Rodriguez might make a coaching comeback after a piss poor showing last season made me nausea.  OMG, are you ready for some football?  I certainly am!

Emotional State: exhausted from blogging, I hope you all appreciate this.

Goal: to find a sports bar in PAP that carries NFL or college games.

Something I have learned...

The main reason I moved to Haiti was because I got a job here, but a secondary reason was to have an adventure where I would undoubtedly learn a lot about myself.  One thing that has come up while I have been in Haiti, which is not necessarily something I would define as significant on the road to self discovery, is my complete obsession with baby animals.  I love them.  I cannot get enough of them and if there is a chance they might be homeless I always suggest will bring them back to the Mission house.

First example, on the way to Mother Theresa's Children's Hospital Enock and I were stuck in traffic and when I looked out my passenger side window I noticed the smallest baby goats I have ever seen grazing in a garbage heap.  They were so cute, sorry this was before my camera was up and running, and I naturally concluded since they were eating garbage that they must be abandon.  When I mentioned this to Enock, he laughed saying, "of course they had a home and that the mission house did not have enough land to raise goats." Strike one.

About 10 days later, Frank came to visit and we got the chance to go with my friend Mari Ange to her home in a ravine slum close to where I live (WARNING: if you also read my husband's blog than this story is a repeat as he got around to writing about it first). On the way back, we stumbled upon a teeny, tiny white kitten that just had two dots of caramel coloring on it's face.  It was so precious.  We have been talking about getting a cat at the mission house in order to solve our rodent problem, so what did I do?  I picked it up and called Elizabeth to ask if I could bring it home.  What ended up happening when Elizabeth got on the phone with Mari Ange it was discovered that the kitten did indeed have a home and once again everyone had a big laugh at my hasty assumption.  Unfortunately, I did not have my camera with me, so I am unable to post of picture of the kitten.

Over the weekend, I was surrounded by baby animals: goats, chickens, turkeys, and puppies. I discussed with Elizabeth, who really wants to start a small farm at the mission house, about bringing any or all of them home.  I was not serious about most of them, but with the recent passing of Sheba, one of our dogs, getting a new companion for Tamar, our remaining dog, has been discussed.  Thus I petted and cooed over all the puppies of varying size for the last 24 plus hours. 

I wanted a female one since we already have a female dog and are not interested in breeding.  After some discussion on whether this was even allowed, since Emily my boss is not a big dog fan, Elizabeth asked Pere Trissant if we could take on of the smaller puppies.  He said they were two small, but that I could pick any from the older litter.  Unfortunately, the ones left were all males, so my plan to bring another baby animal back to the Mission House was foiled once again. 

Emotional state:  missing the puppies, but looking forward to the kittens were are suppose to get on Tuesday from a friend.

Goal: to still get a friend for Tamar.

Why are Haitians so serious?

As an American I grew up in a society that taught children at a very young age to say "cheese" when someone was taking their picture.  I also think Americans love children who are 'hams' in front of any kind of camera, so one might think it is only natural to assume that children all over the world are taught the same thing.  In the word of the friend Vince, "FALSE."  A Haitian of any age might be rolling on the ground weeping from laughing so hard but as soon as you pull a camera out they appear to be having the worse day ever.  I have no idea why this is, except I am told that culturally Haitians believe serious photos are my attractive. Take the below photos as just a few examples of this I have gathered since my arrival.

Emotional State:  since I am doing several posts in one sitting, I would say still refreshed

Goal: to make more Haitians want to smile

My First Trip to the Haitian Countryside

This past Saturday I left the noisy, overcrowded, smog filled streets of Port-au-Prince for the mountain side community of Grand Boulage, which the newest twin parish Haitian Ministries has added to their list.  I was definitely not sure if I wanted to go, because after a long week a 3 hour drive to the country did not sound all that appealing.  However, I convinced myself to go since it is technically part of my job.  

Elizabeth and I arrived at Grand Boulage around 3 in the afternoon and were greeted by an excited Pere Trissant and a welcome cooler climate.  I was amazed by my surroundings and I relished in the fresh air and tranquil setting.  I never knew Haiti could look like this.

I was thrilled to see something different than just the poverty of PAP.  I am sure in a lot of ways people within the community of Grand Boulage are poorer than those in PAP, but the

mentality of the people in the country and the surroundings give the poverty there a different feel.  I am sure my view may be slightly skewed as I spent most of the weekend at church, which seems to be a place Haitians go to release their suffering and rejoice in the blessings they do have.  It is these emotions along with the tangible, unwavering faith most Haitians seem to possess makes the 4 hour long mass worth while. It is definitely something everyone should witness at least once.  This past weekend certainly painted my own lack of faith in a new light.

Emotional State:  refreshed

Goal: to get a country house in Haiti

 

I will talk to you, riaghta?

Ok so most kids inevitable succumb to the desire to have money and get a summer job. Personally, my summer jobs have ranged from full time nanny, to helping my mom around the house, to working at a bookstore, to a receptionist at my mother-in-law's massage business.  Some of them I have loved and some of them not so much, but I can remember how thrilling it felt to be a little financial independent from my parents.

In Haiti having a job is more about being able to survive than it is about having some extra

cash in your pocket for the movies.  The mindset is completely different.  This summer the Mission House had three teenagers, Giles, Jerry, and Hegeur, come to help us out, like a summer job.  They would clean, cook, organize, make phone calls, run errands, etc. Were they the hardest workers?  No, but were you at 17? Not to mention they were getting only $30US every two weeks. I think for the amount they were getting paid and for what they were doing, no American teenager would have every signed up for that job.  I would also not be surprised if they shared their small wage with the rest of their family.  It just shows me again and again how little Americans know about sharing and sacrificing for another.

With the comparison to my past summer jobs aside, these three teenagers were such a joy to have around.  

They were helpful and patient with my kreyol and always wanted to talk about the differences between Haiti and the US.  They even had different english phrases the knew that they loved to say.  One of them was "I will talk to you, riaghta" and they would also put this ridiculous emphasis on right.  I do not know why, but every time they would say it all three would laugh so hard. I do think a fascination wi

th the US is a natural thing in Haiti, but for Giles, Jerry, and Heguer it has bigger significance.  Over ten years ago, a couple from the US names Steve and Katharine Smith adopted their youngest brother Joey.  Steve Smith happens to be on the board at Haitian Ministries and has made a commitment to help Joey's biological family in any way he can. The Smith's last summer even brought Joey back to Haiti for the first time to meet his biological family.  I believe the visit was a very positive experience for everyone as whenever Giles, Jerry, or Hegeur mention Joey, they seem to have a sense of pride relating to his new life in the US.

The youth of Haiti inspires me as they are able to maintain their childish innocence and enthusiasm for life against the hardship of poverty.  And instead of being resentful of the life their brother Joey has, they are proud of him and speak highly of the Smiths.  I have learned a lot from them and hope that even with school starting on Monday that they will still find time to visit.

Emotional State: happy

Goal: to be more grateful for the things and people in my life.