Update With Not Much to Update.

I haven’t blogged in a long time and here’s why.

Nothing much is going on. Seriously. My friend and colleague Ben K said it very well here. Life and routines are very similar here. I teach, I grade papers, I work out, I hang with friends, I read books, I cook, normal life that I won’t bore you with.

It’s the last week of school before Christmas break. Today (Monday) is a full day of school and Tuesday-Thursday are half days. I fly out Thursday afternoon, spend the night in Miami, and then arrive in Dallas Friday afternoon. I’m excited to see my family and friends, eat good food, drive around, and feel cold. More to come during the break.

The Moto Taxi: Preferred Mode of Transportation

There are lots of ways to get around in Haiti. Some are different than what you might find in other capital cities. There are no subways, trains, or yellow taxis, but there are taptaps and moto taxis. You can’t really ride a bike around, but you can walk or drive a car. However, with all the options, my favorite mode of transportation has to be the moto taxi. What is a moto-taxi you ask? A moto taxi works like a normal taxi: a driver who takes you where you want to go. They don’t have scheduled routes, they go where you want them to and the further you go, the higher the fee. The only difference between a moto-taxi and a normal taxi is the fact that you are sitting on a questionably put together motorcycle and at the mercy of the driver.  Instead of the safety (and comfort) of a car with “walls” and a “ceiling” and maybe some airbags and a soft seat, you are straddling the back of a motorcycle, trying not to burn your legs on the tail pipe, wondering where to put your hands (I prefer the clutch-of-death on the back of the seat approach), and repeating to yourself “think thin, think thin” as you weave through impossibly narrow gaps between cars. 

I love it. 

I love it for many reasons:

1. They take you right where you want to go. Instead of taptaps that go on certain streets and routes only, the moto takes you straight ot your destination. No walking. 
2. Convenience: you can never depend on cars to go anywhere. The keys might be missing. They might all be broken. Flat tire. Expired registration. You can never predict if you’ll have a car or not, so the moto offers you a way to still be able to get out and do things. 
3. Traffic--Port-au-Prince is insanely overcrowded and doesn’t have the infrastructure to handle the amount of people and cars that are here so that equals traffic. Anytime other than before 8am on a weekend you can almost guarantee you will sit in terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad traffic...but not on a moto!  Motos zoom around, between, beside (and almost any other preposition you can name) cars without having to just sit and wait your day away. 
4. It’s hot. I don’t mean hot-hot, I mean temperature hot. Always always hot here. Imagine sitting in a car (with no A/C) for hours in traffic. No breeze, no wind, just the feeling of sweat dripping down your back as you wait and wait and wait to move another quarter of an inch towards your destination. Now, imagine you are moving fast, with the wind in your face, the cool breeze...that’s more like it.
5. The awesome-tough-badA factor. Most blan aren’t even allowed to walk down the street in the middle of the day. Many have never taken a taptap and most would never consider climbing on the back of a moto. I secretly enjoy the “wow” look I get when people ask “How did you get here?” and I casually respond “Moto."
6. All around the city at corners, busy intersections, or gas stations there are groups of about a half dozen or more guys sitting on motorcycles waiting for patrons, the same way taxis will line up outside a theater or train station waiting for people. Some people have a certain moto driver they always call, but we prefer the “walk to the moto-station and find someone” approach. 

So, if you are ever wandering around in Haiti and need to go somewhere, I recommend taking a moto. And, to help you with choosing a moto driver, below is my guide to choosing a moto driver:

1. Look for the oldest person there. Find someone who looks dependable and might have a wife and kids. They’re probably going to take less chances on the moto.
2. Avoid anyone who calls you “sista” or says you’re beautiful or asks you to marry them. That’s annoying.
3. Choose someone with a lot of zip-ties on their bike, but make sure you understand the purpose of the zip-ties. If the zip-ties are holding the brakes in place: no. If the zip-ties are decorating the bike like badges of honor: yes.
4. Always go with the guy with the extra helmet if you don’t have your own. You don’t want to have your head examined at a Haitian hospital.

Happy moto-ing!

Dominican Vacation

When most people visit the Dominican Republic, they fly from their home to Miami and then from Miami to Punta Cana or Puerto Plata. When you come from the other side of the island, you do things a little bit differently. 

November 1st and 2nd are recognized as "All Saints' Day" and "All Souls' Day" respectively. I'll be honest, I don't know what those days are really about, but I know we got two extra days off of school and a long weekend. Jill and I needed to get out of the city and rest a few days. Thanks to Groupon, this was possible (if you've never looked at Groupon's getaways, do it now! They're worth it and very easy to use). We found a great deal for a 3 night stay at an All-Inclusive resort in the Dominican Republic. We booked the Groupon and began to look at flights. There is a bus you can take, but with such a short amount of time, we chose to fly. We booked on an airline I had heard others use before, TortugAir. I could use this blog as a long and bitter diatribe written against Tortug, but I will try and exercise some self-restraint. Let's just say, for those of you who would live in Haiti and want to fly to the DR (or anywhere else they fly) and are considering using Tortug, don't. There, that's all.

We left on Thursday afternoon and flew from Port-au-Prince to Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. I knew the plane would be small, and I thought I had prepared myself for that, but I hadn't. I didn't know that I would be close enough to the pilot to tap him on his shoulder and ask him why certain buttons were flashing red and another screen kept flashing the word "ALERT." (In case you're wondering, I didn't tap the pilot on the shoulder at any point, though I was close enough. I was too busy checking the propellers outside the plane to make sure they were still turning!)

Sweet laminated boarding pass....

Teeny little plane.

What's up pilot?

We landed in Santo Domingo a terrifying mere 45 minutes after takeoff. The airport was nice, but located far outside of town (with this airline you don't fly into the main airport in Santo Domingo). We were ale to share a cab with a nice couple in front of us who were staying in a hotel near ours. The first night of our trip we stayed in the Zona Colonial area of Santo Domingo. This would be considered the historical district as well as the arts district I think. When we walked into our hotel we were greeted with a blast of cool air and a glass of champagne and knew we had made a good choice of hotels. The staff were warm and welcoming and the rooms were great. 

Old church/mission near our hotel in Santo Domingo.

Outdoor patio restaurant things. 

Our next stop though had to be food. We had passed a road a couple blocks from our hotel that was in front of an old church and had restaurant after restaurant lined up, each with an outdoor patio seating area. Our eyes stopped on one particular restaurant and, without discussion, knew we needed to eat there: The Hard Rock Cafe. 

Now, some people will judge us at this point..."you went to another country and ate at the Hard Rock Cafe?!" Absolutely. Try as our cafeteria might, they just can't make a cheeseburger that will compete with an American cheeseburger. We wanted something in English and something that tasted like home. Enter the pulled pork sandwich with french fries and a coke. Delish.

'merican food. 

Still decorated from Halloween the night before. 

Sooooo good. 

After dinner we wandered the neighborhood where an artisan fair was going on with all kinds of crafts from Colombia. When we had seen all we wanted to see we went back to the hotel, sat in the air conditioning, and watched TV. Simple pleasures.

The next morning we needed to catch a bus from Santo Domingo to Punta Cana. I knew the name of the bus-line and the address. We got a taxi from our hotel and were dropped off at a very sketchy building. But, at 6:45 the doors opened and we were inthe right spot. We paid $375 RD (about $10 US) and hopped aboard. The bus left at 7am and as we drove through the streets of Santo Domingo, something just seemed....different. It finally hit me: no walls. There were no walls around the houses, buildings, businesses, nothing! In Haiti, EVERYTHING has a wall around it. The streets are not a mixture of different porches or houses with different paint or different brick. It is all a jumbled mx of different kinds of walls. 

We drove through the countryside on this very nice bus for about 4 hours. No, we weren't exactly sure of where we were supposed to get off. Any Spanish I picked up in high school had been violently shoved out of my brain when I began learning Creole. When we reached the last stop and everyone was getting off, I figured we should to. We were dropped off at a gas station parking lot and immediately swarmed by taxi drivers. We found one, and fifteen minutes later arrived at our resort. 

The next few days involved very little physical activity (aside froma very diverse volleyball game played between Americans, Dominicans, Chileans, Russians, and a Canadian). We ate, sat on the beach, read, ate some more, read some more, and slept. It was great! 

View from our room (semi-blocked by the tree).  

Another shot from our balcony. 

The last day and night we were at the resort both Jill and I were feeling kinda crummy and not entirely looking forward to the trip back. However, the transportation to return to Santo Domingo worked out all right. We arrived in the capital with a few hours to kill so we took advantage of the several American food chains in the area: a bacon cheeseburger at Wendy's and an ice cream cone at Baskin Robbins. There was also a grocery store nearby so we bought a few items that were much cheaper than our local stores here in Haiti. 

On the way back to the airport we attempted to figure out the Metro and did so semi-successfully. We made it back to the airport, had one more fight with Tortug Air, another terrifying fight, and safe arrival in Port-au-Prince. 

Restful weekend and another country stamped on my passport. Win. 

Parent's Visit to Haiti

Whew, it’s been a long time since I’ve blogged. A lot has been going on: trip to the Dominican, school events, and my parents visiting me!

In the middle of October, my parents flew to Haiti and arrived on Thursday afternoon. I picked them up at the airport and drove us back to the school. What followed was a weekend of running around sight-seeing and trying to let them experience all that my life involves around here. 

On Thursday we walked around the school, watched a bit of a soccer game happening on campus, and then visited the grocery store. We ate a Haitian dinner made by a sweet friend of ours, Madame Josef. We had an early night to rest up for the weekend ahead of us.

Friday morning my parents joined me at our weekly Friday morning staff meeting. They were introduced around and were able to put faces to the names of the people I tell them about. After the meeting we headed out to TeacHaiti. My parents sponsor a little girl in 5^th grade and I know they enjoyed getting to see where she goes to school. We visited a few of the classrooms and got to check out the fabulous jewelry program they have going on there. We then went to another business/ministry called The Apparent Project. This ministry hires parents of children to make crafts, goods, etc so that parents can make money to keep their children instead of giving them up for adoption as some parents feel they must do. We did a little shopping here and got some fun souvenirs. 

View around TeacHaiti.

TeacHaiti classroom.

A student my grandparents sponsor in TeacHaiti. 

Little ones lining up!

Later that afternoon we headed back to campus for lunch. We rested up a bit before heading out again. We drove to Petionville to visit the grocery store, Giant, where we do some of our shopping. After touring through Giant we made our way to a nice hotel, Karibe. After getting caught in nasty traffic on the way there we rested in the cool air and calm environment of Karibe. We ate a nice, early dinner and then came back down the hill to the school. 

Views from around Karibe. 

On Saturday morning we visited a basketball clinic that was being held on our campus and relaxed around the apartment. Around mid-morning our friend John Ackerman picked us up to take us around town. What a blessing this was! John and his wife Jodie have been in Haiti almost 30 years and they know their way around town. John took us downtown to see the ruins of the Presidential Palace. We saw various monuments and the cathedral downtown. My parents were able to see a part of Haiti even I hadn’t seen before. 

Photos of the remains of the palace. 

We got back late afternoon and spent the rest of the day relaxing and packing.  They flew out early the next morning and had a long trip home. It was great for them to experience my life here and be able to put a picture to some places that I talk about! Thanks for coming, it was great!!

Weekend Respite

I feel like last year all we did was explore. Ok, there was some teaching involved in our lives, but looking back, we spent so many weekends just exploring. First we began to explore the neighorhood in which we live. We then branched out to the neighborhoods surrounding ours, and eventually we decided to explore the rest of the country. We haven’t seen it all, but last year we definitely hit the highlights. 

This year we haven’t done a whole lot of that. I’m not sure why exactly. Lack of motor vehicles is a big factor, but maybe we are just tired. A couple weekends ago though, we got out. The city was just too much for too long. Too much smog. Too much trash. Too much burning trash. Too much dirt and dust and heat. Too much noise. Too much! The school van was working and we wanted to get away. A good friend and fellow teacher offered to let us use her family’s cabin up in the mountains. She said it wasn’t much and, if we were planning on camping, it would be perfect. She definitely downplayed how nice the cabin was. It definitely wasn’t your fancy Colorado style cabins, but it was more than a shack in the woods. 

The cute cabin!

After driving up the mountains and out of the city (and calling our friend several times to clarify directions) we pulled into a cute drive and say a rustic green and white wooden cabin. The caretaker opened the windows for us, brought us some semi-dry wood (it had been raining all afternoon) and then left us to our weekend. We explored and marveled in the cool, damp air. There was greenery….everywhere! And it was cold!! I can’t express the sheer joy of feeling cold. It’s a beautiful feeling. We set up our hammocks in the trees behind the cabin and begin to work on a fire (ok, the boys worked on the fire. Jill and I cut vegetables). 

Fire attempt....Fail.

Tasty dinner even without a campfire. 

After several hours, we realized the wood was just too wet to get a fire going (we had an Eagle scout working on the fire, so we gave it a good try) and used the camp stove instead. After a delicious dinner we sat around talking, resting, and soaking in the cold mountain air. We fell asleep wearing layers of clothing to keep us warm and listened to the sweet sound of silence instead of the car horns and radios we are so used to drowning out in the city.

View from the cabin early in the morning.

The next morning we were able to get a pretty nice fire going. We had a breakfast of smores and eggs; good fuel for our afternoon hike.

Boy Scout.

S'more. (A box of Graham crackers was $10 USD. We went with the $2 sugar cookie things)

Our chefs!

As we hiked we marveled at the beauty of this country. Why doesn’t CNN show this? Yes there is destruction and unimaginable poverty, but every once in a while take a second and show what Haiti does have! Beautiful land all around. Green lush mountains  covered with a patchwork of terraced farms. The late morning fog rolling in was icing on the beautiful landscape. We walked around a bit and, eventually, returned to the house to rest before driving back down into the city.

The boys contemplating life's meaning.

What a restful, rejuvenating 24 hours to get away from the noise of the city and breathe the fresh, clean, cool air of the mountains.