Getting Out More Often

The children are so loud! I feel like I’m living in a house full of wild elephants!! I can’t think!

Sorry, that was just a random moment of frustration I thought I would share.

Anyway…….

Today in class I could not get my students to pay attention. I felt like I was talking to the walls. Many times I had to yell at them for doing other homework in the middle of English class. After about 15 minutes of aggravation and wanting to beat my head against the wall I came up with a plan.  They teach me Creole. I’ll teach them English. Every time they said the date in English, “Thursday January 19, 2012”. I would try to say it in Creole, “Juedi 19, Janvier 2012”. It’s difficult! Remember they have different words for the numbers too. We went back and forth like that for the remainder of the class. They kept laughing at me because I couldn’t pronounce anything right. I don’t care. I may have looked like an idiot but at least they learned something and I did too.

I’ve started taking a Creole class in town three days a week. I’m paying a Haitian teacher to tutor me for an hour each time. He’s seems pretty good and I’m sure he appreciates the extra money. Plus, it gets me out of the house for a little while. It drives me crazy being stuck in the same place day after day. For a profession that is supposed to be about traveling; I sure don’t go very many places. I guess it’s safer that way but after a while some things are worth the risk.

I plan on visiting Lucson this weekend. He lives about 45 minutes from me in a town called Grand Goave. The first time I came to Haiti I stayed with him. I wish I was able to visit him more but the gas money is expensive. Maybe when I can speak Creole better I can take a Tap Tap (Haitian Taxi) to visit him. They’re really cheap because they are really uncomfortable. It’s basically paying a man to ride in the back of his truck. Most of them have seats welded to the truck bed but they are normally so overcrowded you can’t find a seat to sit down. I guess you just hang on and pray you don’t fall off. When you want the guy to stop you just tap on the top of the truck, hints the name…Tap Tap. The day I can hop on the back of one of those and pile in with a crowd of Haitians I won’t be a tourist anymore. I’ll be 100% Haitian ;)