dimanch

Yesterday was the tour of Port au Prince.  I thought it was really sobering to see the capitol and how destroyed it really is.  To give you an idea of it, here's a picture.
http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=910&bih=428&tbm=isch&tbnid=1VYZ5eo3I_8EeM:&imgrefurl=http://blogs.hillandknowlton.com/expoexpress/page/2/&docid=1dJgVOs8vQzitM&imgurl=http://blogs.hillandknowlton.com/expoexpress/files/2010/01/haiti-capital.jpg&w=474&h=316&ei=XUjVT7XJGoP69QTF-IjdAw&zoom=1
I've seen people get their picture in front of it, and they're all smiling and whatever, and it kind of ticks me off to be honest.  Are you really going to stand in front of evidence of such a disaster and smile and make it your profile pic?  I mean, really.  We're all so uncaring.  It's so much easier to relate to people who have the same kinds of problems that we have.  Blah.  Anyway, it's not really time for that kind of rant right now.
Today was SUNDAY FUNDAY!  It was really great.  We ate some good food, swam, and played.  I'm exhausted in that lovely way that only comes after being in the pool for hours.  =]

I had another lovely friend ask me some questions, so here I am to answer them.

What is the most common word/phrase the kids know how to say in English?
"What is your name?" is probably up there.  Sadly, "give me one dollar," is also very popular.  I don't blame them though.  I would probably also ask every American for one dollar if I were in their shoes?  The rest is often random, and I don't ever know what the kids are going to know.

What do you use most often in Creole?
How are you?  Koman ou ye?  What is your name?  Koman rele?  How old are you?  Ki laj ou?  And of course bon jou and bon swa for greetings!

What are you most looking forward to during the rest of your time in Haiti?
I'm definitely just looking forward to knowing the kids better.  It's rough though.  Because at the end of this summer, I will know all of them and they will all know me.  I will love all of them, and they will love me.  They will just be starting to trust me, and then - I will abandon them.  Being a short-termer sucks.  I look forward to the day that I settle down somewhere, whether that's America or Haiti or Pakistan or whatever.

What have you enjoyed most so far?
Hmm, that's a hard one!  This whole summer has been just full of so many whirlygigs.  There have been a lot of things weighing on me, so I haven't been quite as carefree as I usually am.  Most of the things that I really enjoy are bittersweet anyway.  You know?  Like when a kid in the orphanage falls asleep with his head in your lap.  We made a movie here at the guesthouse, and that was really fun.  I also really, really like church. I'm sorry that this answer is so incoherent.  I guess I don't really know what one thing I have enjoyed the most.

What's something you worried about when you went to Haiti, but ended up not being a big deal?
I wasn't really worried about much.  I don't know.  Most of the things that I were concerned about really are about as big of a deal as I thought they might be.  The food thing isn't is hard as I thought it would be, so that's good.  Everyone makes fun of me for being a picky eater, but I do still find enough to eat at meals.  =]

Are these questions OK?
Yes!  Any question is a good question!  I appreciate your effort.  The more often you try, the better your questions will be!  I definitely like less absolute questions a lot.  I appreciate long-answer, open-ended questions, as evidenced by my answers to Anna Beth's questions earlier this week.  I really do love any question though, so keep it coming!

Okay, it's going to be another crazy week!  As soon as you get used to one thing, everything changes!  Well, it's an adventure, anyhow.  I get pretty bored if things are the same for too long.  Tree of Life tomorrow.  Love love love my kids!  =]