Creole!

My Haitian Creole first words...

Bonjou!
Mwen rele Chelsea.
Komon ou ye?
Mwen rete États-Unis. 
Mwen vle dlo. 
C'est fini! <- This is French! 

These are really all the words I can say in Creole. I am slowly learning the language and the Haitian's are certainly trying to help me speak more and even are helping me with my pronunciation. The students really are the best people to talk to, but most of the time they just want to speak in English to you and ask questions. But I always was to talk in French or Creole for more practice! 

One of the students I was talking to earlier this week wanted me to buy him a saxophone! I told him it was way to expensive and that I was broke! (I tried to tell him this in broken French!) It was very fun talking to him! It was great to challenge myself with language for a solid hour! Being in a foreign country, it is so apparent how important language is. Even when I was in Germany, I felt this same way. It was incredibly irritating not to be able to speak to people fluently. Makes me want to learn every language! It takes a incredible amount of effort to learn and new language and requires constant effort! You often have to challenge yourself in a sometimes uncomfortable environment. One of the things Haitian love to ask, is if you are married or if you live with your parents. This same boy asked if I was married or had a boyfriend and of course I responded with "Yes, I have a boyfriend." Then he proceeded to ask "Do you love him?" and I responded with a very enthusiastic "Yes!" But then he asked something that I never anticipated him to ask, which was "Why do you love him?" This is what I am referring to as uncomfortable situations! I first had to think about it in English and then try and translate it into French so he would better understand me. I basically told him that I loved my boyfriend because he is in the Military (This is only a portion of the truth, Phil! ) He thought Phil was in the Military for Philadelphia! I told him he was in the Military for the ENTIRE US! I think he was a little intimidated by this! It was very sweet for him to ask about my love life. They are always very curious about that, and can't believe that I am not married at 22! 

On Wednesday morning, we had a project to distribute water filter's at HAC. The families who were eligible have students at the school. They had to go through a training session, answer questions and THEN they are issued a water filter, which almost looks like a clay pot. The engineering behind it was very interesting. Some of the people looked very irritated and annoyed that they had to go through all of this, and I completely understand! The organization, Surge, is sponsoring and providing the water filters. They have very impatient about the filters being distributed. In the United States, there seems to be a very, almost glamorous, idea of helping people in developing countries. The thing for organizations to take into account is that things do not move at the same pace as they do in the United States. It's much harder to do things here at a"Right Now!" sort of pace. There are so many other factors that we don't take into account. For example, electricity, clean running water, even internet access, proper drainage system when it rains.... Even a tropical storm can caused roads to flood and the entire country to shut down! My entire class did not show up on Wednesday because of the storm! 

 On Wednesday night, Tropical Storm Chantal hit Croix-des-Bouquets. Although, it was not nearly as bad as I had anticipated! It was just windy, rainy and COLD! Probably around 80 degrees! I know I am becoming a baby when it comes to heat! No AC is making me really enjoy the heat! 

Today was a pretty lazy day. We woke up in the morning not believing people were going to show up for the water filter distribution because of the storm last night. You can understand how important clean water is for them when they still show up after an intense storm! Unfortunately, our only trainer was not at the school on time and was not answering his phone. We had to take as much information as possible and tell them to come back tomorrow for the training and the water filter. It was awful because we want to give them the filters, but without the proper training, they will not know how to clean them so they can be reused for many years. It really showed me what it takes to plan in a developing country. You need to plan for ANYTHING! Sometimes it is difficult to even comprehend what may or might happen! 

Haiti is quickly becoming a home for me and showing me a different way of life and how to sustain life by the bare necessities. It is very eye opening and I am so appreciative of everything I am seeing, hearing, witnessing, and experiencing! It is wonderful! 

And of course, I can't write a blog without mentioning baby.... 

That is my suitcase by the way! She knows where to sit and not get kicked out or off! I found her on my backpack earlier this evening. She is very sweet! I speak English and French to her so I am sure she thinks I am crazy! 

Tonight, we are going out to a fun 'American' bar! The few Americans that are in Haiti go to this club in Port-au-Prince at a very nice hotel. There is a band playing there tonight (or rather early this morning) so it should be very fun!