A few hours ago when we were up on the mountain earlier this afternoon for the feeding we got stuck in an epic downpour + wind storm. I made sure to run around and yell “Siklone! Siklone!” which is Creole for hurricane, just so everyone would be aware. By the time I trudged home in the mud and street rivers I was soaked through. It was the first time I’ve actually been cold in Haiti. Now I’m curled up in a sweater and leggings with a cup of tea. It feels amazing; definitely optimal writing conditions.
School construction is rolling right along and Kyle the Builder, or KTB if you will, is hard at work on his computer day in and day out making complicated doodles of plans with his fancy architecture software. KTB actually let me help with some surveying of the land the other day. I got the hold the “dumb” end of the measuring tape and even write down some measurements! Anyway, KTB has decided that for the roof of the school they will use a material that we like to call The Sandwich. Its corrugated tin with a thin layer of insulation foam and then another sheet of corrugated tin. Very high tech; only used at the elite schools of Haiti. So we’ve had a pretty tough time finding it.
On Friday, we think we know someone who possesses the rare and precious Sandwich in Port au Prince. As luck would have it, Megan has just made a new friend who has a van and is nice enough to take our whole crew into town. So he, Megan and a large friend of ours pile into the front seat, next row is Michaelle and I, then Kyle and Bernard, followed by Arland who is sitting next to our contact for The Sandwich, and in the backseat is Hallie and Cullen who are our new brother and sister arrivals from Baton Rouge. Hallie goes to Tulane! Cullen goes to LSU… We all pile in and buckle down for the journey into the city.
I am very pleased to learn that the place we are going to find the sandwich is next to Epi D’or, this bakery that is supposedly amazing (and rumored to have pizza) that I’ve been wanting very much to go to. When we get into town and the Delmas neighborhood, we pass Epi D’or in all its glory. I can smell the fresh baked bread from inside the van, and oh my mouth waters. We turn right past it and go down this road into a residential area, which confuses everyone, but our Sandwich contact assures us that this is the way to The Sandwich depot, and directs us onto a street with really big/beautiful houses and right into a dead end. Hm. Well its been a long drive so we all just get out of the car. Our Sandwich contact walks off down the street and to the gate of one of the big/beautiful houses at which he knocks. Woah, The Sandwich must really be special to be hidden on this dead end street inside someone’s palace. Someone answers the gate and the contact slips inside flanked by KTB and me who is dying to see The Sandwich. Kyle walks over to the stack of tin sitting under a basketball goal on the drive in front of the house to inspect the material. He doesn’t look pleased as he peels off a layer of something stuck to the outside of the corrugated tin. Alas, this is not The Sandwich but simply cheaply insulated corrugated tin. Foiled again!
Soooo great, we drove 2 hours into PAP for this. Oh but wait, Epi D’or is right around the corner! Everyone piles back into the van and we make the short drive over. We go into Epi D’or and I feel like I’m stepping into Disneyland. Its like nothing I’ve seen in Haiti. Its big and air conditioned and filled with happy Haitians eating fast food, baked delights, ice cream, and other goodies. There’s large plastic animals that look horribly goofy standing there to greet you and even a water feature! WOW. Megan heads to the counter to order us a pizza and I take Michaelle to the bathroom. We go in the same stall and she asks me if its ok to flush the toilet paper. I see that the toilets are American Standard brand, which I see all over the States, and figure why the heck not. So we laugh watching the paper get sucked down really fast when we flush the powerful American Standard toilet. Next its on to wash our hands, which Michaelle forgets to do initally. But then she gets the chance to use her first automatic soap dispenser followed by an automatic hand dryer! At first she’s a little scared of the hand dryer but when she sees that it isn’t harming me and its actually quite fun to use, she steps up and has a good ol’ time. It was the most fun I’ve probably ever had in a public restroom.
We go back to the table and try the pizza. It is SO good. Or maybe its average and I haven’t had pizza in two months, but I think its pretty darn amazing. We give a piece to Arland, his first slice of pizza ever. We tried to get him one earlier in the week when we went to MacEpi (wow, that’s a whole ‘nother story) but they didn’t have any so we got him a cheeseburger instead. It was a big week for Arland, who decided that he likes cheeseburgers better than pizza. After pizza we walk over and get some ice cream. It is so cold and absolutely delightful. I can’t believe this Epi D’or place! But after awhile, I sit there and realize how big of a weirdo I am for getting THAT excited about pizza ice cream and a Disneyland-esque eatery. Its so out of place in Haiti. I feel like a dumb white person. We saw a bunch of other dumb white people in matching t-shirts there, go figure.
On the way home we get stuck in a massive traffic jam. For the first hour or so I curl up on one of the seats and fall asleep, ending up on Kyle’s lap. The next hour we play Mancala on KTB’s phone; I beat him pretty handily. Once the car starts moving again I feel sick looking at the screen and have to quit. Just about that time this car full of gangster looking guys pulls up next to the van and yells, “Yo, where the party at?” I laugh and reply that the party is right here. Then they start handing us their CD’s through the window, apparently they are the Project Boyz. (Do they even have projects in Haiti?) I talk to one of them who’s name is Shiney. I ask him if his name is Shiney because his watch is so blingin’. One of the Project Boyz then hands me a poster, and I hand it back and ask if they’ll autograph it for me. They say of course, but don’t have a pen so I rifle around for a pen as our cars are getting away from each other. But they pull back up alongside us and have managed to find a pen themselves and pass me a complete autographed Project Boyz poster. I’m so proud of my new piece of memorabilia! Megan and I have done such a great job of networking with Haiti’s hip-hop community over the last few months. Haha.
A bit later I look back and see Arland starting out the window, seeming to be in his own little Arland world as usual. (If I haven’t mentioned this before, Arland is one of our translators and makes up half of team “Katland.” Very near and dear to my heart.) I ask him, “Arland, what are you thinking about? You always seem to be thinking about something.” He says back, “I don’t know, Kat, I think about lots of things.” Then he pauses and says, “I was thinking about how you are leaving next week and I won’t get to see you anymore.” I was so struck by that, I think my heart hit the seat.
And that’s how I feel about leaving, heart on the ground. I know I’ll be leaving a huge hunk of my heart here. Don’t get me wrong, I’m so excited about grad school and moving to Austin and getting to learn a new town and school, but like I said in my last post, going back to America is going to be so weird. When we were out running the other day, Cullen asked me what do I miss a lot about home. And all I could really think of right then is my family and friends. Other than that, I’m happy with the way things are. Things are simple and beautiful here. I’ve gone through some very rough times, but I feel like that’s brought me closer to this place and these people. I’m upset because its going to be so hard to keep up with the people that I love here, most of them don’t have facebook or email accounts. I’ll have to work on that. Tomorrow we’re having a sort of going away party and inviting my good friends before another big group comes in on Monday. I am looking forward to it and so not at the same time.
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