Your Participation Requested

Dear friends and family,

The family of a fellow MCCer, Brian, has found itself in a bit of a quandary. Brian's dad once received a life-size papier-mache dog as a gift of gratitude from a man he assisted. (No, papier-mache dogs are not a normal gift here, and no one understands why this man thought it appropriate.) Though this dog has become a treasured part of Brian's family (namely due to the practical jokes they have played using the dog), they have yet to find a name for their beloved friend. This is where you come in.

Take a few moments to ponder: If you had a papier-mache dog, what would you name it?

Please submit your ideas by using the "comments" link at the bottom. You are welcome to submit as many names as you like, just be sure that they are names you would give to a papier-mache dog of your own.

Thanks for your help and participation.

-L

My (Haitian) Family

It has come to my attention that I occasionally throw out names of Bernadette's family, causing confusion in blogs, emails, chats, and conversations. Here's a quick run-down... (actual hand-drawn family-tree to come at a later time)

Bernadette Hyacinthe: Mother of family. Woman with whom I live.

Gabrielle Hyacinthe: Oldest child. Known as the dancer in the family.

• Mikey: Gabrielle's (16? 17? year old) son. Often spends weekends at Bernadette's. Splits his schooling between Haiti and the States, and thus is fluent in Kreyol, French, and English.

Bernady Hyacinthe: Oldest son. Comes over nearly every evening to eat dinner and watch Brazilian soaps before going home to eat (a second) dinner with his family. Also usually spends all day Saturday & Sunday at the house watching soccer.

• Gilberte: Bernady's wife. When she can get away, she also comes over to watch Brazilian soaps.
• Bernady & Gilberte have 5 children. I'm still trying to remember all their names, not to mention which of the random children who come to our house to watch TV are theirs.
  

Marytza Belmur: 3rd child, and the person I know least in the family. She did buy an incredible chocolate cake the other week for Giwo's (see below) birthday, so I think I like her.

• Jacques: Marytza's husband
  

Guylene Clerge: Woman who works for MCC. Apparently she, of all the children, is the most similar to Bernadette, and so to preserve her sanity -- as well as her mother's -- she doesn't come by the house often. Known as the religious one of the children.

• Sebastien: Guylene's son. Often lives at the house (apparently lived with Bernadette almost entirely before I arrived). He's 14. What more do I need to say.
  

Girauld (Giwo) Hyacinthe: An "everybody's-buddy" kind of guy. Comes to the house Sundays for lunch and seems to be the one designated to bring wine. Known as the partier of the family.

• Nathalie: Giwo's wife. Occasionally comes for lunch on Sundays. Something about the way she carries herself seems very American, though she's lived her whole life in Haiti.
• Giwo & Nathalie have an adorable 1-1/2 year old and another on the way.
  

Louis Philippe (Pipo) Hyacenthe: The youngest child. Has taken up the habit of coming by Saturday mornings to sit and discuss everything under the sun with me while I eat breakfast. (Please. Just let me have coffee before forcing me to explain my views on homosexuality in Kreyol.) Known as the good kid, but actually parties just as much as Giwo.

• Rachelle: Pipo's wife. Doesn't talk much. (Right now pregnant with their first child, but the baby is having serious complications, so keep her, the baby, and Pipo in your prayers!)
  

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Other notable names:

Gabriel Hyacinthe: The children's father. Separated from Bernadette but occasionally stops by to see the kids. (Why he visits them at Bernadette's is beyond me.)

Francis: Our house-keeper/water-transporter/guardian. Very quiet and patient.

Adeline: Our cook. She generally stays quiet, but you can tell she's a firey one!

-L

Almost Famous

I'm white. Pale white. Pasty pale white. So, as you can imagine, I stand out here in Haiti -- even in Port-au-Prince which is overrun with (often white) development workers, the UN, and missionaries. I do what I can to try to not draw attention to myself, but it makes little difference. Though I generally find the attention annoying at best, it does lead to a few humorous instances. For instance...

Brush #1 with fame:
Up at the top of my street is a gas station. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights hundreds of men (and a few brave women) gather 'round the ol' gas station, the crowd spilling out into the streets. Why? My best guess is it's the one place in the neighborhood that has reliable electricity. And because there is a live DJ. That's right, the gas station becomes a club.

A couple of weeks ago, a few of my fellow MCCers came over to my house to watch a movie. Kurt & I walked up to the convenient store inside the gas station to buy some snacks. As we pushed our way to the front of the crowd, the DJ stopped mid sentence and cried out (over the loud speaker, mind you) "BLAAAN!" (translation: white people) And he kept going: "Hey, there are white people here!" "Everyone, look at the white people!" "Hey, my white friends!" And so on. I smiled and waved at the DJ and pushed my way inside the store as fast as possible. Of course, he was kind enough to point us out to the entire crowd on our way out as well. I decided that chips during a movie are not worth the celebrity.

Brush #2 with fame:
Though I am a spectacle in the countryside, it's not quite so bad in Port. Like I mentioned, there are a good number of foreigners, so the attention is spread amongst us all. And foreigners don't stare at other foreigners. Or so I thought.

The other day, I was riding on the back of a tap-tap up to the MCC office. Traffic was particularly bad, to the point that most of the drivers put their cars in park and turned off the engines. As I was looking around at the other cars, I noticed an SUV for a well-known international organization not far behind us that had 4 or so "blan" inside. They were all staring at me. I figured maybe they had just noticed me and were commenting on the fact that not many foreigners take tap-taps. But each time I glanced at the passengers (throughout the next half-hour of traffic), same story: they were all staring at me.

So, it's not enough that rural Haitians stare at me, but now other "blan" do as well. Great.

Brush #3 with fame:
Not really a brush with fame (that is, even less so than the above stories), but I know you're all wondering how I spent Canadian Thanksgiving last month. Here you go: http://100milediet.org/2007-canadian-thanksgiving-in-haiti

-L