Back Again

I got in to Deschapelles about 4 o’clock yesterday afternoon.  There was a pink and purple sky once again during my favorite time of day.  As soon as I got out of the Land Cruiser, I noticed familiar scents, a mix of heat, dust, wood smoke, and flora that I hadn’t remarked on before, but which immediately confirmed that I’m back in Haiti.

Last time I was here, Haiti time matched Eastern time, but this time it’s an hour earlier here than on the East Coast, even though Haiti is farther East.  That’s because Haiti doesn’t do Daylight Savings Time.  Can you imagine getting everyone in Haiti to change their clocks?  It would be ridiculous, in the grand scheme of things!

I had a flight glitch due to a fire at the Miami Airport, which caused several flight cancellations.  American Airlines kindly re-booked me on a flight the next day, which would have arrived in Miami several hours after my flight to Port-au-Prince had left, so I spent a long time on the phone working that out.  Instead of flying from Portland (where I was visiting my Mom) to Dallas/Fort Worth to Miami, where I would enjoy a good night’s sleep in a hotel before flying to Port-au-Prince, I flew from Portland to LAX , then took a red-eye to JFK, then on to PAP yesterday morning.

Thanks to a little sleep aid, I slept several hours on the LAX to JFK leg, snoozed for an hour or two at JFK, plus before and after the meal on the flight to PAP (interestingly, the flights to and from Haiti seem to be the only ones on AA that offer a free meal any more), and even in the car on the drive to Deschapelles.  It's pretty remarkable for me to be so relaxed!  But I was still with it, since I only took one pill.  (I Learned my lesson about taking two, as Bill can attest – he had to guide me for several hours after we landed in Boston last fall!)

I’m in a different house this time.  It is still generous in size and traditional in décor, with tile floors, dark wood bookcases, and ceiling fans.  It has colored lights draped for ambience at night.  I’ve got my own pop-up mosquito shelter, so I’m all self-contained for sleeping.  This also serves as protection from the house cat, Dino, who would probably be all over my bedding if I let him.  (I have antihistamines just in case.)

My house this time is close to where I stayed last time, but not within the gated area which also comprises Alumni House (where I had my meals before) and the pool.  I have a nice housemate, a physical therapist named Silla, from Switzerland (alas, she’s from the German part, so we don't speak French together, although her French, perhaps her fifth language, is better than mine).  She recently retired and decided to spend 3 months working here.  We have our own cook and security at our house.  The security, de rigueur in Haiti, is mostly for privacy, so that locals don’t come up to the houses selling things or asking for kados (gifts).  Silla told me that the night guard sits on the porch outside her window, and sometimes he gets cell phone calls in the wee hours and just chatters away!  She’s very tolerant, but I’m glad I’m in the back room!

Last night I heard live music out my window, and before long they played the song from the video I made, so I knew it was the Hanger band, “Prestige.”  They were doing a performance at the residential dorm for the prosthetics patients.  Silla and I went over to listen for a bit, and I met up with Yvener and Joel from the Clinic, Nick who runs the art and music program, and Oliancy, who runs the art program for children that I visited last time.  It was fun to be recognized and welcomed!