Haitian Ways and Haitian Nights

When I knew that I was moving to Haiti, I did some research to learn about the people, the culture and the environment. One of the things that stood out was the fact that most Haitians like to be greeted. If you greet them, they consider you a friend, if you ignore them, they will not speak to you later, and will consider you a stranger. I could see how that played out when I first arrived. The fact that I am white (a "Blanc") makes it impossible to not notice me. Whomever was in eyesight, was either greeting me or I was greeting them and each returning the greetings. This can become pretty overwhelming when you cross paths with at least 80 to 100 people on a half-hour walk. I remember thinking several times that I could not recall ever saying good morning to that many people in one day in all my life. Also, to do that twice a day, three times a week, is a lot of people, many of them having already been greeted earlier.

So, here I was again, being escorted to OFCB by Julius and Bernard (who came along for the walk) and pondering this custom. I was a little tired and was not really up to being so friendly. I kept on with the greetings,

alternating between, "Bonjou", "Noula, Noula"(which is an informal Krayol phrase meaning, hello, we are here) and "Good Morning". At one point I even considered counting to see how many times I actually said it. My thoughts were interrupted by Bernard who said, "Uh, Mees, I want to tell you that not everybodee can say Good Morning." I said, "Yes, I am aware of that but if they are younger, (such as a student), then I usually greet them in English." Benard said, "No, I am not talking about the English. I am saying that not everybodee can say it to you. Do you understand what I am talking?" I paused and thought and then said, "No, not really." He said, "I am saying that some people don't want to talk and you don't need to say anything to them because they will not say it back." I stopped in my tracks and just burst out laughing. I said, "Okay, that's fine with me. I feel the same way." I went on to explain what I read and then Bernard started laughing. He said, "Maybe somewhere else, but here, it is not important unless it is your friend or someone in your family. The rest you can let go." Thank you, Bernard, for enlightening me and allowing me the good laugh at myself.

One night last week Saint-Victor brought a DVD over for some of us to watch. It was not appropriate for the younger kids so we viewed it after they went to bed. The movie was made by a famous Haitian comedian and was supposed to be a romantic comedy. It was definitely very low budget and had a greenish-pinkish-purplish hue on the screen as well as the cover of the case. The subject matter was a little risque and the dialogue was cheesy but the actor himself was entertaining with his slapstick comedy, his outrageous wardrobe and his overdone expressions. Lucner tried to translate as much as he could when he was not laughing. I was a little bothered by the fact that we had a ten year old girl in the room but her mother was with her so I couldn't say much. I enjoyed the show because it was nice to be watching television for the first time in more than a month. (I was also glad to know that the electronics survived the bus ride and were still in good working condition). Even though the dialogue was in Krayol, the storyline was very predictable and it was easy to guess what was going to happen next. There were even some words that I actually understood which was exciting for me. It was nice to be entertained for a couple of hours. One thing I missed was having some popcorn.

Last night a few of us were sitting on the porch at the end of a very long day. I was trying to start a new book that I found in one of the donated boxes but there were too many interruptions and distractions. A couple of the older guys were listening to the radio (at the normal volume: LOUD) trying to get some current news on the happenings in Gonaives. (There were some political gang wars over the past weekend). Three of the boys were playing with a toy car and two girls were braiding their hair. I was listening to all of the commotion and fighting the many bugs that like to hang out around the porch lights. Some of them bite! Right about the time I could concentrate, the lights started flickering, which was an indication that the generator was running out of fuel. Julius made a quick dash for the generator and I went to get the big flashlight. I came back out to the porch just as the lights went out and picked up Jeemy-Ska to put in my lap. A few minutes later, we heard the generator start up and the lights came back on. Jeemy-Ska remarked in Krayol, "Wow, San Vilier (our other watchman) doesn't know what to do with the generator but Julius is good!" Then in English he said, "Good job, Julius!" He started clapping and looked at me with the biggest grin. Everyone started laughing and David explained to me what was said. I was so tickled by him. What a precious little guy!

Little Jeemy-Ska with his famous grin.

A couple of shots of me working in Actionnel's office. (Note to whom this applies: You can sit there and point out all my flaws or just be happy to see my face.) This helps to keep me humble. Ha!

Many thanks to those who visit my site. I'll be back on Friday. Much love to all!