Dance, dance, dance!

Deslandes, Haiti

February 28

Breakfast is so relaxed around here- sometimes it’s ready at 8, other times 8:30…very casual, so hard to plan on really getting into any work, because you never know when it will be ready.

Last night there was an event at the outdoor community centre- they had a DJ who piped out a variety of konpa music and hip hop. I noticed that not as many people danced with hip hop. There was a group of kids from school there, and they really wanted me to dance with them, so I hopped onto the gravel dance floor and danced with them. Every time I started dancing, a group of teens and adults alike came in and encircled us, watching the blanc bust out her moves. One of the girls in particular took me under her wing, grabbed my hands and led me through some kompa moves. When she did the really sexy hip movements, everyone laughed at my attempts- myself included! People were so curious to see what I would do- they really check people out as they are dancing, and I don’t’ think there was a part of me that wasn’t examined by every single person in that circle!

What amazed me about this event was the fact that so many kids have amazing dance moves. I’ve experienced this in other cultures before- Cape Breton, Louisiana, where kids grow up with music, and traditional dancing is learned at a young age- just from experience, not necessarily from training. But to get back to these kids- a couple of girls were showing me how to dance (they were dancing as a couple), and I have noticed in dance clubs that men will at some point in a song tap their partner on her bum- again, in a rather sexual way. This girl did this bum tapping in a seductive way that almost could have made me blush, but didn’t quite. I laughed, they laughed, and we had a great time. I’m glad they didn’t seem to know the bend over bum spanking move that I saw at another dance club! One girl was standing there, though, and boy, could she do a bum shake- wow! This ol’ blanc has a long way to go in her hip shaking, but it was fun all the same.

I have noticed music being a really big part of life here in Haiti- whether people are singing, or listening to radios. Back at Grassroots, I remember one Haitian hanging up his laundry, dancing while he did it to whatever he was listening to on his mp3 player. Dance is definitely part of life for everyone here- if there is music playing, men, women and children alike will spontaneously bust into some moves.

Physical touch is interesting here, too. Sometimes someone will grab your hand if they want to you accompany them somewhere- and men will do that to men too. Last night I noticed a friend of St. Geste’s came by and he took St. Geste by the hand to take him over somewhere quieter to talk. It truly is a different culture- while I don’t see evidence of sexism, it seems that women do most of the cooking (although men know how to make the same dishes)- the traditional roles. When men are sitting in a circle talking, women don’t tend to join in- they sit in their own circles. And as I think I’ve mentioned in the past, Benitta doesn’t eat with us in the dining room after all the work she does preparing our meals- she eats out back. I asked Jean Baptiste about it, he gave me a rather vague and unsatisfactory answer, but I have to accept that this is how it is. So, when I can, I go back and chop things for her, squeeze grapefruit to make fresh juice, or do the dishes. I really do appreciate the time she spends preparing meals.

So, off I go to see if breakfast is ready- it feels odd, being served thus, but this is what they do when they have visitors. I’ll just have to suck it up!

8:30pm

I’m tucked into my room, and am listening to the two little girls in the room behind me giggle with their mom-it’s so nice to hear!

When we finished dinner, the men were talking politics in creole, in addition kompa music on the radio, and I was trying desperately to follow the conversation, but admit that I was distracted by some yelling and singing outdoors. I scooted out to go the washroom, and then heard the most beautiful singing- so I walked by starlight across the field, sat on the porch of the new school amid the construction debris with a couple of goats, and listened to the most magical singing. I think all of the music was religious, as there was a lot of ‘Amen’s’ after the songs, and applause. The first song was a call/response song, and then individuals took turns quietly singing. It was a really moving experience. I’m imagining they were going around the circle, as sometimes people would just talk, and then there would be an amen & applause at the end. A most magical way to end the night. And now, everyone is home in their rooms, and there is chatter back and forth. Ew, someone is smoking. Yuck!