compliments of the house.

i'm pretty happy when we get complimentary sos pwa and rice with every meal we eat out (i mean, all 3 times).

and i don't know what i'd do without the complimentary alarm clock that helps us welcome the day. every day. consistently crowing between the hours of 03:00 and 06:00, without falter.

(yes, you read those numbers correctly. they were confirmed again this morning)

but i thought i'd seen it all, until we found complimentary halloween decorations adorning our walls last night.

i was brushing my teeth, thinking about flossing and celine dion's twins, when an explosion of tiny spiders drew my attention. i then preceded to play whack-a-mole armed with my flip flops, the reserve forces (read: stephen), and the resolve of an arcade-ticket-hungry 5th grader.  shortly after driving every tiny spider into the crevices of the wall, something else caught our eye.

the most generous of hallow's eve decor.

this guy. errr, lady.

okay, forgive me for not taking my own picture. (how could i have forgotten to document such a precious moment?) this isn't exactly what the scenario looked like, but the lady spider and her brood bore striking resemblances - minus half her size and half that many tiny spiders...

happy halloween from the land where giant spiders and their accessories are compliments of the house.

24 squared.

so, i hit the big 2-4 on the not so big 2-4 of this month.

seeing as i already had a family-wide pre-birthday-birthday-party before my haiti departure (thanks again, mom!), the only thing left to do was invite a few friends and waste away beachside.

we did what had to be done.

labadee. on the nicest portion of the beach. besides, of course, the gigantic compound owned by Royal Caribbean for the last several decades.

one of their megalithic ships was docked that day and tourists were spilling over and flooding into their private resort compound - think zipline, inflatable glaciers, and a roller coaster. yep. roller coaster. such stark disparity. 

jean claude, miguel, and stephen crab stalking

allow me to introduce you to Norm's Place. we heard about the legend that is Norm and his wife and their mysterious hideaway in Labadee. as legend holds, Norm sailed to Haiti about 30 years ago, fell in love with the place, and never left.  he then set about restoring some old French colonial ruins that were housing those manning a nearby fort. he uncovered an old indigo vat and restored a huge colonial lime kiln on the property. angelique, his lovely wife, showed us every inch of the place. 

sadly, norm died after 12 years fighting cancer only 7 months ago. what a magical legacy he left. among others, i'm sure.

the entrance. only accessible by tap tap boat.

cannonballs. the season's chicest garden accessory.

you probably wouldn't believe it, but 24's not feeling so bad. thanks norm, angelique, stephen, and friends and family both near and far. here's to hoping i get to drag you to Norm's Place some day and/or stumble upon more semi-secret mythic hideaways about this time next year.

news.

as the news disseminates from a few sources here to the rest of the world, i've noticed a few things that i would not have understood had i not been living here for a little while. i wanted to share them with you.

you've been hearing a lot about the artibonite region. though, the region has not been confirmed as the official source of the outbreak, the first cases were confirmed there, specifically, Saint-Marc. it is the pink region below, and as you can see pretty expansive. then the outbreak trickled into PAP in the yellow region and several cases have been reported in Cap Haitien and Limbe, both located in the orange. we are in the green region and we feel pretty removed from everything at the moment.

the artibonite river, below, as you can see by the elevation indication, lies in an expansive valley.  the area is home to the country's 'ricebasket'.  some reports attribute the outbreak to recent rains that caused the flooding of the riverbed and/or workers in the field. 

from here

people are taking this very seriously.  we heard talk of the outbreak even in the remote cove we were in this weekend, on every tap tap ride we've been on, and from our friends back here in ferrier who have been very clear to warn us themselves. i was reminded how so many people are experts in the study and understanding of death.

people are smart and doing what they can. the bacteria in itself isn't deadly. not getting re-hydrated with clean water or treated if necessary is. 

it's frustrating for us to be here working with an organization that's focused on employing Haitians to work towards the long-term goals of clean water access, employment, and economic sustainability and for so many news sources to latch onto the story and sensationalize it in favor of the traditional narrative the media paints of Haiti: that the average Haitian has little awareness albeit intelligence amidst their situation and that once again, where would we be without the godsend NGO's?

don't get me wrong, i have seen and heard and read about the incredible issues that NGO's are addressing here, but are we not asked by the media to forget and forsake the inherent, weathered, and incredible wisdom and capacity of the Haitian people themselves?

you can read for years about the roots of the current Haitian situation, but it seems important more so now than ever to maintain within perspective who knows what here.

i don't know anything about how to survive and thrive without clean running water, internet access, and a Target Super Center for more than a week. if anyone is an expert on the Haitian experience, perhaps it's the Haitian people themselves.

i'm not fixing anything, here.  in fact, i feel more helpless now than ever. 

the orange.

from here

The Orange

At lunchtime I bought a huge orange--

The size of it made us all laugh.

I peeled it and shared it with Robert and Dave--

They got quarters and I had a half.

And that orange, it made me so happy,

As ordinary things often do

Just lately. The shopping. A walk in the park.

This is peace and contentment. It's new.

The rest of the day was quite easy.

I did all the jobs on my list

And enjoyed them and had some time over.

I love you. I'm glad I exist.

Wendy Cope 

guess who we found?

worlds colliding - alliance translating for janet

lucky for us, the janet dorrell and 8 brave lucky travelling companions made their way to ferrier last week. it was just so nice to have some waco in our midst.  if you know anything about janet, you know how fun it is to hang out with her; one minute she's dancing to her own tune an the next she's buying ice cream from the back of a bicycle for everyone ( it was so tasty!).

one day, she organized a little gathering that quickly morphed into a thank-goodness-there's-no-fire-marshal-here-sized gathering. she invited Gadyen Dlo to talk about our water treatment systems (that's one of the techs, giving the spiel). then janet demonstrated how to make oral re-hydration solution at home and everyone made their own at home-birthing-kits (complete with 2 pieces of string, a razor, soap, and an antibacterial pad in an empty matchbox). reminded me that i know nothing about childbirth and that none of that sounds like an ounce of fun.

it was strange but wonderful to get to peak at haiti through the eyes of this group of first-timers. i tried to remember what that was like for me when i was here 2 years ago with Janet on her 'exposure trip'.  everything looks so different to me now. the hazy glow is still largely intact but on top of that i've realized that everything is much more complex than i ever imagined it could be. and i have so much more to learn.  but, i'm still a blan; that much hasn't changed.

farm tour second stop : SOIL

it's overwhelming to think about the number of NGOs in Haiti. it was estimated that there were 3,000 NGOs here before the earthquake, so you can imagine how many there might be today.  and it's a painfully confusing concept to wrap my understanding around.  i find myself in a state of perpetual astonishment that millions of people do not have access to clean water, education, healthcare, waste removal, etc.  i have yet to get used to that as an outsider, and i hope i don't.

so, last sunday on our way to a few meetings with technicians, we had the pleasure of having a slumber party at the HQ of a pretty unique NGO who's a mile-deep in the world of waste sanitation here.  we visited the SOIL casa in Cap Haitian.  they have a house downtown, from where they host visitors and college groups, house their staff for their Cap Haitian projects, and (are you ready for this...) have the most amazing rooftop garden! so, why not call it part of the 'farm tour'?

a little more about SOIL (taken from their website):


Currently, only 16% of rural Haitians and 50% of those in cities have access to adequate sanitation facilities, by far the lowest coverage in the Western Hemisphere. People are forced to find other ways to dispose of their wastes, often in the ocean, rivers, ravines, plastic bags, or abandoned houses. At the same time, agricultural output is low due to poor soil fertility, soil erosion and lack of fertilizers.


Ecological sanitation is a low-cost approach to sanitation where human wastes are collected, composted and recycled for use in agriculture and reforestation. It simultaneously addresses many of Haiti’s most pressing issues: improving public health, increasing household income and agricultural productivity, mitigating environmental degradation, and providing low-cost sanitation for rural communities.


In response to the global food crisis, ecological sanitation is a resource for reestablishing the local food production economy that has been decimated by years of subsidized imports. 

so they build toilets, compost the materials (can we say that?) into soil, and reintroduce it via local reforestation and agricultural projects.

here's a pretty informative piece about them covered by Nicholas Kristof recently. it's worth the watch, even if for just a snippet of city-livin' Haitian style.

farm tour first stop : sterlin farm

lots of travel + maddeningly slow internet connection = a discouraging combination for a blogger in haiti. so, i'll try to catch up on a few of the most recent happenings you've missed i have yet to share. here's the first: a farm tour! 

rows and rows of bananas/plantains

coconuts

real avacados! on a tree? uh, i knew that...

approximate size: your head

a few weeks ago we had the pleasure of visiting a local farm in ferrier. i was in swoon city. our friend, jean claude, offered to organize a tour for us when i mentioned that i was interested in farming (which in my limited kreyol amounted to something like 'i like farm'... ahahaha). 

i wasn't expecting the farm to be as high-yielding as it was. with acres of bananas, coconuts, cherries, avocados, limes, and every sort of orange (sweet, not sweet, dancing), the place was serious. they had a reservoir and were utilizing some sort of irrigation that i didn't catch the translation of. 

it was refreshing to see such fertility here in ferrier, where it seems to be deforested and sand-in-your-eyes dry in most other places in the town. an interesting link between agriculture and conservation. 

and the farm tours continue (i hope!).

finally.

it seems next to impossible to come within a mile of paying appropriate homage to the feelings of giddy and thrill i have at the thought of this release. that may sound a bit extreme. granted. but not unwarranted.

guster has not only owned my ipod (i am forever indebted, aimee) since i was 16, but the three, and then 4, boys (some reports claim they've reached their 40's, but who's counting?) might as well have chipped in for gas for as many times as they accompanied gentry, robin, and i in our cars in high school. they gave us merit for album-long sing-a-longs and they made our summers seem endless.  throw in getting to spend quality time with the boys after a show at stubb's in austin (o.m.g.) and you've got unbreakable bonds... and/or a fan base faithfully feeding their families. did i mention it's been four years since the last album?

and as if you needed another reason to love. they give it to you.

On Oct. 1, Guster embarks on month-long tour of clubs and theaters. The group travels in a biodiesel-fueled bus, caters its backstage meals with food procured from local farms, and urges      fans to carpool to concerts, using a service called Zimride that matches drivers with passengers. All this is an outgrowth of Mr. Gardner’s side job as a co-founder of Reverb, a company that helps music acts, including Red Hot Chili Peppers and Arcade Fire, counter the environmental impact of touring.                                                                                  - the wall street journal

i beseech you. enjoy the thrill for yourself. viva la guster.