Over the course of our blogging the last few months, we have tried to be careful in the way we have portrayed Haiti and how we describe it. The Thede's have said that it's hard when people come in and immediately begin
criticizing things that to us may appear very substandard to what we are used to. Even if it is innocent and we are just reacting to the differences and difficulties we see, we are learning to think before we blurt out what we think about this and that. It is hard trying to be culturally sensitive like this! We see so much that we want to react to and describe, and tell about because of the "wow" factor. The first day we arrived, seeing the homes and living conditions of the Haitians was very hard. Life here is more rugged and people live in conditions that we would probably not be able to handle. The more time we've spent here, the more we have learned that they are just people too, living with much less and often without comfort, but they have a way of life and norms just as we do. It's interesting how we have gotten more used to seeing their way of life, even the poverty. It is hard to know what to do, when there is often nothing we can do.That being said, I am going to try to describe our trip through Cap Haitain to the Dominican Republic on Tuesday as best I can! Chris has been to O'Cap (as the Haitians call it) a few more times than I have; it is the city we flew into when we first arrived. We had to take this little journey to get our visitor's visas renewed...by leaving the country and returning, we are good to be here another 3 months. We began the bumpy journey at 6:30 am, and drove about 3 hours (I think) to get to the border. There we took care of our business and headed back towar
d Cap Haitian. We never actually crossed into the DR...I was a bit disappointed! Anyway, I am a city girl so there is a certain element about the busyness of the city that I love! Cap Haitian is different than the Chicago suburbs, however. The streets are so crowded, I am always amazed we have never hit anything with the truck. People are everywhere...making their living by selling produce, fish, shoes, clothes which often come second-hand from the US, soap, hot food, you name it! Most buildings are made from concrete, and there is concrete rubble all around. The streets are paved in some spots, but mostly rocky and bumpy. It is not frowned upon to throw trash on the street, in fact, there are large piles of trash which accumul
ate and then eventually get picked up by large trucks and men with shovels. These pictures show a cool church we saw, and the outside of the marketplace. We ate a lunch of beans, rice, plantains, yams, and sauce bought from a street vendor in an ally (the picture of me with sunglasses shows it in the background) and we were glad for the experience of eating Haitian food from a place a Haitian would really go! They give you a TON of food...it was pretty good, but we felt 10 pounds heavier afterward. We then went into a grocery store, in which Cory bought some ham for Thanksgiving!, and Chris and I encountered a usual bunch of snickering school kids...you kind of have to get used to being laughed at, or you will just feel bummed a lot! So we tried to buy a slushy, but it wasn't quite ready, and while trying to talk to the clerk in Creole, we somehow caused a hearty round of laughs from the little group, and some mocking from the clerk. Chris did a great job of joining in the laughter and making it no big deal, but his wife had a little harder time this particular day! But I was able to laugh by the time we left. We then walked through the streets for a little while, buying a few packs of cookies and various items, and feeling much more comfortable than the first time we were there three months ago. It is a challenge to buy things always. Not only do we not have the Creole numbers downpat, some vendors you bargain with, and some you don't. Some are friendly, and some are just not in the mood for what it takes to sell something to a Blan- or white person! The smells and sounds of the market are hard to describe, but I know we will remember what it's like for a long time! By the time we left, I was so tired! And we hadn't done much more than sit in the car and do a little shopping.
This has turned into a long one I know...but there is much to tell! Tomorrow we will have officially been here for three months. WOW! This picture is one of Chris chilling with our second English class listening to some music before class began. We were very excited to find out last week that we will have visitors over Christmas! My parents were able to make reservations to come on the 22nd of December, which is awesome because when they tried to book tickets earlier last month, everything was full! But God opened doors and they are able to come now. It is so good to know we will get to see family soon. We hope you had a great week!
criticizing things that to us may appear very substandard to what we are used to. Even if it is innocent and we are just reacting to the differences and difficulties we see, we are learning to think before we blurt out what we think about this and that. It is hard trying to be culturally sensitive like this! We see so much that we want to react to and describe, and tell about because of the "wow" factor. The first day we arrived, seeing the homes and living conditions of the Haitians was very hard. Life here is more rugged and people live in conditions that we would probably not be able to handle. The more time we've spent here, the more we have learned that they are just people too, living with much less and often without comfort, but they have a way of life and norms just as we do. It's interesting how we have gotten more used to seeing their way of life, even the poverty. It is hard to know what to do, when there is often nothing we can do.That being said, I am going to try to describe our trip through Cap Haitain to the Dominican Republic on Tuesday as best I can! Chris has been to O'Cap (as the Haitians call it) a few more times than I have; it is the city we flew into when we first arrived. We had to take this little journey to get our visitor's visas renewed...by leaving the country and returning, we are good to be here another 3 months. We began the bumpy journey at 6:30 am, and drove about 3 hours (I think) to get to the border. There we took care of our business and headed back towar
d Cap Haitian. We never actually crossed into the DR...I was a bit disappointed! Anyway, I am a city girl so there is a certain element about the busyness of the city that I love! Cap Haitian is different than the Chicago suburbs, however. The streets are so crowded, I am always amazed we have never hit anything with the truck. People are everywhere...making their living by selling produce, fish, shoes, clothes which often come second-hand from the US, soap, hot food, you name it! Most buildings are made from concrete, and there is concrete rubble all around. The streets are paved in some spots, but mostly rocky and bumpy. It is not frowned upon to throw trash on the street, in fact, there are large piles of trash which accumul
ate and then eventually get picked up by large trucks and men with shovels. These pictures show a cool church we saw, and the outside of the marketplace. We ate a lunch of beans, rice, plantains, yams, and sauce bought from a street vendor in an ally (the picture of me with sunglasses shows it in the background) and we were glad for the experience of eating Haitian food from a place a Haitian would really go! They give you a TON of food...it was pretty good, but we felt 10 pounds heavier afterward. We then went into a grocery store, in which Cory bought some ham for Thanksgiving!, and Chris and I encountered a usual bunch of snickering school kids...you kind of have to get used to being laughed at, or you will just feel bummed a lot! So we tried to buy a slushy, but it wasn't quite ready, and while trying to talk to the clerk in Creole, we somehow caused a hearty round of laughs from the little group, and some mocking from the clerk. Chris did a great job of joining in the laughter and making it no big deal, but his wife had a little harder time this particular day! But I was able to laugh by the time we left. We then walked through the streets for a little while, buying a few packs of cookies and various items, and feeling much more comfortable than the first time we were there three months ago. It is a challenge to buy things always. Not only do we not have the Creole numbers downpat, some vendors you bargain with, and some you don't. Some are friendly, and some are just not in the mood for what it takes to sell something to a Blan- or white person! The smells and sounds of the market are hard to describe, but I know we will remember what it's like for a long time! By the time we left, I was so tired! And we hadn't done much more than sit in the car and do a little shopping.
This has turned into a long one I know...but there is much to tell! Tomorrow we will have officially been here for three months. WOW! This picture is one of Chris chilling with our second English class listening to some music before class began. We were very excited to find out last week that we will have visitors over Christmas! My parents were able to make reservations to come on the 22nd of December, which is awesome because when they tried to book tickets earlier last month, everything was full! But God opened doors and they are able to come now. It is so good to know we will get to see family soon. We hope you had a great week!
Nicely done and I think that any of your Haitian friends could read this without problem. Thanks for being sensitive.
ReplyDeleteChris and Kath,
ReplyDeleteGreat review of how our cultural attitudes cloud our impression of others lifestyles. It took me several years to convince my staff that a dirty face or toes did not constitute abuse but rather just a different idea of priority. The house does not reveal the heart.
Love ya kids,
God is clearly teaching you much.