Moonlit bucket showers and Prestige

One last moonlight bucket shower, oh, how blissful...and here I sit on the straw bale porch, sipping what is likely my last Prestige, with a refreshing breeze blowing over me. Not cool enough to change out of a halter top, but Jean Louis said it was 'really cold' tonight. I told him he'd turn into an ice cube instantly in Canada!

We had a really productive day today, JL & I- completing the finish plaster on the interior walls of Andy's Senp Kay.

Jean Louis, ever happy at work!

I painted another coat of the aliz paint onto the first wall that I plastered the other day, and it's looking fine.


It seems like I've been in Haiti forEVER this time- I suppose 5 weeks is a long time, but they've got volunteers here at Haiti Communitère who have been here for over a year. Folks who have been here every time I've come back...wow, hats off to them. Haiti is an exciting, vibrant and wonderful place to be, but it's also gritty, noisy, and plain old hard at times. Of course, I have the bug to keep returning, as the positives continue to outweigh the negatives, but there are real dangers here. In Cité Soleil yesterday, when the security alert was announced to us, the leader of an organisation was shot (likely died) and other  violence ensued as a result of it (burning houses, etc.). Of course, if one stays away from such places that have been prone to outbursts in the past, and if you actually respect security alerts, you're in no more danger here than in most large cities. I suppose the most dangerous thing you can do in Haiti is get into any vehicle- even if you trust your own driver, there are lots of other erratic drivers on the roads, goats to avoid, people to dodge, etc.

A little out of order, but here is a group of women who came to my straw bale talk yesterday- they are signed up for a month long construction training session here at Haiti Communitère.

OK, I thought that last Prestige was my last one, but Ton just brought me over another last one...which was great. It was good to talk about the changes here at HC over the past year, and the future direction. I admire Ton, Delphine, and the other 'lifers' who just seem to be able to stay here full time.

 For my part, I'm happy to have spent 5 weeks here, but can't really imagine being here for a longer stint, and I certainly can't imagine being here in the summer- the heat I've experienced on this trip, especially while we were in Deslandes, is more than enough for this delicate Canadian.