April 24, 2010

Today (ok, yesterday since I am writing this entry on the 25^th, but not posting it until the 26^th as the internet went down….) was another busy day. I spent the majority of my morning working on my system conversion. At lunch time I finally got to get off the base....it was driving me nuts to be cooped up inside. My friend Andrew needed to exchange some money and I asked if I could tag along. Going off base did not feel at all the same as it did in Gonaives. In Gonaives, it felt chaotic (lots of people, tap-taps, mototaxis), there were always people trying to approach you and it was so dusty. It was not nearly as chaotic walking off base here. The locals don't harass you like they did in Gonaives. They don't ask you to buy things, or ask for money. They still say hi or hey you as you walk by. Sometimes I wonder if it's just not that my expectations are so different after having had already been in the country. Anyhow the trip to the "money exchanger" was good. They were actually just a bunch of guys sitting on the corner with a wad of cash that you could negotiate your rate with. The town truly does have 80-90% of is buildings damaged.

This town actually has the potential to be a beautiful town. A lot of the buildings are colorful...there even some old wooden buildings, that somehow survived the earthquake. For some odd reason those old wooden buildings faired better than most of the concrete ones.

We stopped at the vendor just outside the camp and picked up a Coke to enjoy. Nothing beats an ice cold coke (don't worry there was not ice in my coke) on a hot day....well maybe an ice cold beer, but it was the middle of the work day!

During the afternoon I decided to take a break and go play with the kids that live in the refuge camp. They come to the front of our compound for a few hours in the afternoon. During that time we have play time, art time and English class. I participated with two groups, play time and English. All I can say is boy do the kids have energy!!!! Most of the children really do want to learn. I spent quite a bit of time working on English with one young girl who spoke very little English. She spoke Creole (Haitian) and French. We got by and were still able to communicate and she would teach me in Creole whatever I taught her in English. It was a well needed break from my computer and I really enjoyed the time! It was a nice reminder of why I am here…to help!