Teacher, teacher!

Deslandes, Haiti

March 3, 2011

One month left to go- yikes! Well, if the next month goes as slowly as the current one did, I’ll be okay!

Today was a most wonderful day. Finally, we set up a schedule so I could go visit the different classes, to introduce myself and to explain why I’m here. We also wanted to explain the earth block construction to the students, in an effort to have them be proud of the school, and to stop scratching into the earth plaster with graffiti. I had already introduced myself to a bunch of the students, but wanted to officially greet all of them, and be greeted by them too. It should have happened when I first arrived, of course, but then again, this is Haiti (or, TIH, as it’s more commonly known!).

So, the classroom visits went well- today I only went to three, and then I spent the rest of the day in between computer work and working on site. The crew is really ramping up to finish, with the hope of finishing the rest of the big grunt work by the end of the day. I’m going to have a slide show (with beer, if I can figure out how to get any without a hole in the wall!) to show them all of the photos I’ve been taking of the project, and to debrief this project.

When I visited the various classes today, I told the students that I would like to learn more creole, and if they wanted to join me on the playground to talk to me, they were more than welcome- so at recess today, what started with a small group soon turned into this huge gathering of students who encircled me. They asked me a few questions, and then wanted me to sing Frere Jacques to them (the other day, they had sung ‘Frere Jaques’ in creole, so I launched into English & French versions for them)…so, we sang in three languages. They asked me questions in creole, and slowly we pieced together what they were asking. I am making an effort, and I figure the more times I open my mouth to try to speak in creole, the better chance I’ll have of making progress.

One of the classes I visited 

I worked until about 5:30 at the jobsite- we were pouring steps, and then we put washed riverstones into the wet pour- they’ll be nice. A couple of kids came up to me to ask if we could sing another song I had taught them (with actions- left over from my French immersion teaching days!), so we started singing, and before I knew it, I had become the pied piper- I looked behind, and realised there was a whole group of kids following me, singing the song and doing the moves that go with it. That was definitely a highlight for me- that, and the fact that Dine (one of the little girls who lives beside me), came and sat on my knee, and came in for a most delicious cuddle. Oh, but that filled my heart!

My delightful friend, Dine

I also hung out with Benitta and the kitchen crew, and learned how to prepare fried plantain- the plantain gets deep fried twice- first, the bananas are cut into halves, and they are deep fried. After a few minutes, they come out, and get squished in a ‘pese banane’, which are two small cutting wooden cutting boards- you put the plantain in between the two boards, and squish them. Then, these pieces are dipped into salted water, with some kind of soup flavouring cube in it- and they’re deep fried again, until they’re nice & crispy. All of this is done in a pot of hot oil over the charcoal braiser, bien sur!

Our routine at night, is for the girls & I to retire to my room where they want to watch a ‘film’ (I keep telling them they are just photos on the computer, they’re not a film, but to them, it’s a film!)…they never tire of seeing the same photos over and over again. I hope I’m not jading them or anything!

And now, almost time to turn out my light. I’ll try to read a few pages first.

The first stair, with embedded stones