Sunday 11 January 2009

I am feeling back to my normal self today, which is good. Today was my last full day in Gonaives. It was a nice relaxing day. I read, visited, went to the market, made some mac n cheese and last but not least, went with Nate to get his haircut. This was quite the entertaining thing for me. This is probably the first "blanc" to get his haircut by this guy. He asked Nate what kind of "do" he wanted by having him look at a poster of all black guys hairstyles. Nate tried to explain to him in what little Creole he knows of what he wanted with his hair. I am not sure the man got the idea. The barber did most of his work with scissors but trimmed up the back with a couple of different clippers....Nate opted to not go with the true razor cut for the neck....it's a dry shave here....the haircut turned out OK, although the back could use some evening out. The barber also trimmed up his receding hairline which is quite comical. I will post some photos of the event after I get a chance to download them. I am afraid if I try and upload them it will not work since the Internet can be a little finicky here.

Other than that I had a nice time visiting with some of the other foreign volunteers this afternoon. I started packing up a few of my things...kind of sad to leave. I feel like there is still so much work that needs to be done. I know HODR has cleared about 65 houses thus far, but there is still so much mud. HODR plans on being here until the end of February but that is still not enough time and even then, what happens when hurricane season comes back? Where will all the mud go. I have not seen many trucks on the streets moving the mud off them. Most streets are not really streets and you need a heavy duty vehicle to get through them. It is crazy....

I have somewhat mixed emotions about leaving. I enjoy the fact that I am helping to make a difference but at the same time I miss my hubby, my home, my dogs, my friends...I also don't quite feel like I fit in here. Most of the foreign volunteers are long-term volunteers. They are nice, but I feel a little like an outsider, kind of like I started a new school! The average age of most of the volunteers is probably in the low 20's. None of them seem to have jobs to go back to. I do and also am fortunate to have a hubby, house, dogs, etc. Don't get me wrong I would love to do this kind of work full-time, but I want to be able to have the other things as well. Kind of hard to travel away from those responsibilities for 3-5 months each time HODR has a project. I do admire the volunteers that are willing to dedicate themselves to this for extended periods of time and not know what will come next. I have been fortunate to have met them and do look forward to seeing them on another HODR project.

I will post again tomorrow night from Port Au Prince! I am looking forward to the fun shuttle ride back to PaP tomorrow.