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Thursday, July 19, 2012

Haitian Energy

Bonjou!

The people here are all so lovely. Everyone greets each other with “bonjou” in the mornings, “bonswa” in the afternoons and evenings, and “bonuit” in the nights. Everyone is always ready to introduce themselves, and to humor themselves with our poor Creole. Ms. Matta introduced us to a man named Dallas yesterday. Dallas is an incredible artist, he has a beautiful voice, and he has taught himself how to speak English. At the end of our conversation, Dallas eagerly taught us the word for tree, “pye bwa,” then announced that we were already friends, and he would search us on facebook. Cade is another one of our friends. Periodically throughout the day Cade will run into Hannah and I and teach us some more Creole phrases. Besides being an enthusiastic teacher and friend, Cade is hilarious to be around. He’ll walk with a certain attitude or like a certain person, and mime being hungry or sleepy.
Whenever I’m around any of our new Haitian friends I always find myself smiling and laughing. During breakfast this morning this one boy taught me how to say “would you like some more” and “no thanks.” When I didn’t understand on the first try we were both laughing. It’s so much fun to learn Creole here because everyone is so willing to teach. It’s not like school where you have to learn on the first or second try. Here, we can ask as may questions as we want, and they will repeat the Creole as many times as we need until we understand the phrase.
Just the energy here in Haiti is amazing. In the evenings when I’m tired, the energy is enough to keep me awake. With no bad feelings, all the happiness from everyone seems to just seep into the air and spread from one person to another. I can’t believe that we’re halfway through out stay here- it seems like a lifetime ago that we said good-bye in the Portland airport and hopped on our plane to Haiti.

-Teiga-

1 comment:

  1. You are learning something that will now last your lifetime, Teiga-change begins with one person making connections to people from a different culture/country--together, you can make the world a better place...start thinking about what we can do with our new friends in Haiti....

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