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

 

Hi I am the dumb, mute blanc from Haitian Ministries. What is your name?

Ok the title of this post may be a little harsh, but it totally describes how I am feeling. Today, my first Saturday in PAP was spent at mass at the Catholic Cathedral, which celebrated its feast day today. Afterwards, we were invited to join selected priests, diocese administrators, and the Archbishop of PAP for lunch in the rectory. Besides, two Canadian priests who have spent over 15 years in Haiti each, Elizabeth and I were the only blancs present. Elizabeth was a huge hit as many of the priests from parishes Haitian Ministries is twinned with were there and recognized her immediately. I tried to be an active listener and stay engaged in the conversation even though I can only pick up on every tenth word or so, thanks to my french background, but my actions unnerved most of the priests as they knew I can not speak or understand Creole, so they were confused why I was acting like I did. My thought process was better to pretend and be involved in the interaction than stand in the corner by myself. Good plan or not that is what I did.

When we finally went up to speak with Archbishop Miot, I was sweating like a pig as it was over 100 degrees today, but I was also feeling totally insecure as I did not even know how to say nice to meet you. Clearly, I did not come prepared. As we approached I whispered to Carlito, who was with us, comment tu dites "nice to meet you" en Creole? He told me quickly and when the introduction was made I said what I thought he said, however I botched it completely as Archbishop Miot just looked at me laughed out loud and said to Elizabeth in english, "she does not know creole does she?" Hurray for me!

If that was not bad enough for the rest of the lunch the Pere Brennais, a priest we know through our twinning program, just kept shouting words in English to me, like 7Up, SALAD, COME, etc. I am laughing to myself about it all now, but lets just say as first impressions go, mine was pretty piss poor. Oh, and just FYI nice to meet you in Creole is mwen kontan konnen ou.

Emotional state: very frustrated with some hope on top that I can learn Creole over night.

Goal: to fully embrace my stupid phase.