Kurt told me this morning that we've been having a hurricane the past couple days. I thought it was just raining a lot. Anyway, for those of you who might be concerned (grandma), I'm fine.
-L
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Outbreak
When North Americans travel abroad, it's generally understood that we will get sick. Perhaps the local cuisine includes a spice our bodies are not accustomed to. Perhaps the food bought from the street vendor wasn't as well cooked as it had appeared, despite being twice-fried in 3 inches of grease. Or, perhaps like Brad Pitt's character in the opening scene of Babel, we simply cannot resist the lure of an ice-cold soda. I came to Haiti mentally prepared to experience all sorts of digestive adventures. I did not, however, expect Pink Eye.
I had pink eye when I was young. I have a bizarre snapshot of a memory of it: it was mothers' day...we were at a large banquet with all women...I was wearing a pair of white gloves and my socks had ruffles...I repeatedly assured everyone who looked at me: it's okay, I'm not contagious anymore—words I'm sure mom had had me repeat till I'd memorized them. I remember my eyes itching horribly, but I also remember making my own sort of peace with the illness. After all, pink was my favorite color, and if you're going to come down with a disease, it might as well have as forgivable a name as "pink eye." Certainly, that made it much easier to endure than ailments I came down with later in life, say "green hair."
Somehow, I'd come to assume that pink eye belonged in the same realm with chicken-pox: you get it once when you're young, and then never again. Oh! How I was wrong.
It started Sunday morning with an itch that wouldn't leave my left eye. By the afternoon, it was getting worse. I kept assuring myself that I'd simply gotten a persistent speck of dirt in my eye, till I was standing on the balcony chatting with Bernady and his friend when one of them said: Hey look! It just spread to your other eye, too!
What just spread to my other eye???
They explained that it wasn't serious, it was something going around Port right now, parts of the family had had it last week, I just needed some eye drops...and no, I wouldn't die.
Monday morning after walking blindly to the bathroom to wash my face I went to the pharmacy, barely able to open my swollen eyes. The pharmacist gave me an antibiotic ointment, so I took off my sunglasses to be sure we had understood each other and that this ointment would, in fact, cure me. For the next 3 days I didn't leave the house. I slept. I did my Kreyol homework. I watched a Brazilian soccer match. I washed my face and applied ointment 3 times each day. I organized my dresser. I called fellow MCCers to ask if there was anything they needed me to sit around and think about. I read Greene's "The Comedians" and two issues of Harper's. I stared at the wall (what else do you do when you've just read that the world is going to hell in a hand-basket and you're cooped up inside with pink eye?). I played Solitaire.
Wednesday night, I decided that I probably wasn't contagious anymore. I mean, my eyes certainly looked much better...still a colorful mixture of bloodshot and jaundice, but worlds better from what they'd been Monday. Family members had started greeting me with a kiss on the cheek again. And when I asked them if they thought it was safe, the only objection that was given was that I looked a bit like a vampire. When I came into the office this morning, my coworkers were all good-humored about it. Some ran from me. Others shaded their eyes. And a few just sat and laughed.
Now, if I can just manage to avoid the flu that's going around...
-L
I had pink eye when I was young. I have a bizarre snapshot of a memory of it: it was mothers' day...we were at a large banquet with all women...I was wearing a pair of white gloves and my socks had ruffles...I repeatedly assured everyone who looked at me: it's okay, I'm not contagious anymore—words I'm sure mom had had me repeat till I'd memorized them. I remember my eyes itching horribly, but I also remember making my own sort of peace with the illness. After all, pink was my favorite color, and if you're going to come down with a disease, it might as well have as forgivable a name as "pink eye." Certainly, that made it much easier to endure than ailments I came down with later in life, say "green hair."
Somehow, I'd come to assume that pink eye belonged in the same realm with chicken-pox: you get it once when you're young, and then never again. Oh! How I was wrong.
It started Sunday morning with an itch that wouldn't leave my left eye. By the afternoon, it was getting worse. I kept assuring myself that I'd simply gotten a persistent speck of dirt in my eye, till I was standing on the balcony chatting with Bernady and his friend when one of them said: Hey look! It just spread to your other eye, too!
What just spread to my other eye???
They explained that it wasn't serious, it was something going around Port right now, parts of the family had had it last week, I just needed some eye drops...and no, I wouldn't die.
Monday morning after walking blindly to the bathroom to wash my face I went to the pharmacy, barely able to open my swollen eyes. The pharmacist gave me an antibiotic ointment, so I took off my sunglasses to be sure we had understood each other and that this ointment would, in fact, cure me. For the next 3 days I didn't leave the house. I slept. I did my Kreyol homework. I watched a Brazilian soccer match. I washed my face and applied ointment 3 times each day. I organized my dresser. I called fellow MCCers to ask if there was anything they needed me to sit around and think about. I read Greene's "The Comedians" and two issues of Harper's. I stared at the wall (what else do you do when you've just read that the world is going to hell in a hand-basket and you're cooped up inside with pink eye?). I played Solitaire.
Wednesday night, I decided that I probably wasn't contagious anymore. I mean, my eyes certainly looked much better...still a colorful mixture of bloodshot and jaundice, but worlds better from what they'd been Monday. Family members had started greeting me with a kiss on the cheek again. And when I asked them if they thought it was safe, the only objection that was given was that I looked a bit like a vampire. When I came into the office this morning, my coworkers were all good-humored about it. Some ran from me. Others shaded their eyes. And a few just sat and laughed.
Now, if I can just manage to avoid the flu that's going around...
-L
Friday, October 5, 2007
There You Have It
Oh wow. I just discovered that it's really scary the first time you see one of your translations go out in an email to important people.
-L
-L
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Off to Work
I finally started work! (Is it odd that I'm so excited about working?) Last Monday, the 24th, Charity (the MCC Haiti Country Rep) picked me up from the apartment and we headed down to RNDDH. After a few formal introductions & a quick refresher-tour, Charity wished me luck & took off. It felt like the first day of kindergarten. Not that I remember my first day of kindergarten, but I'm sure it was similar.
Then, we had our Monday staff meeting.
Every Monday, all 10 or so of us gather in the conference room for the weekly staff meeting. RNDDH's structure is highly collaborative, so the Monday meetings provide the opportunity for progress updates, collaboration, brainstorming...and debates. Haitians (yep, I'm giving in to generalizations) love people and love talking, and the "highest" form of talking is debate. You can get into a debate with anyone anywhere in this country. And in an office full of people with varying amounts of training in law, watch out! The wonderful thing is people get so caught up in the debate that you think they're about to start a fist fight, but then everyone is friends again when the debate is over. The not-so-wonderful thing is that it's really hard to follow debates when you're learning the language. The other not-so-wonderful thing is that when people debate every topic brought up in a staff meeting, the meeting literally goes all day. Oh, and I'm supposed to take the minutes next week.
The office provides lunch for us, which is great. Long about 1:30 we all gather 'round the dining room table to feast. Pierre, the director of RNDDH, provides the entertainment by selecting one or two people each day to tease. The first time he picked on me, I tried to pretend I didn't understand what he was saying. Unfortunately for me he also speaks French & English, so my lack of Kreyol was no hindrance. It's quite fun, though, particularly since he spreads around the teasing.
As for work, things have been slow for me so far. I'm in charge of laying-out the newsletter, so I've been trying to teach myself Microsoft Publisher. Oh now I miss the days of InDesign. Not to mention using a Mac. (Can you be homesick over a computer system?) I translated a short 3-page piece yesterday (French to English). It took me longer than it should have, but I figure that's ok for my first time. Today I believe that I agreed to work on the website, so I'll soon be teaching myself the basics of website management. At some point I should have the opportunity to accompany my coworkers when they do prison visits, but I have to get my clearance first.
Sorry, I know this is again just a big dumping of information, but hopefully it gives you an idea of how I'll be spending my days.
-L
Then, we had our Monday staff meeting.
Every Monday, all 10 or so of us gather in the conference room for the weekly staff meeting. RNDDH's structure is highly collaborative, so the Monday meetings provide the opportunity for progress updates, collaboration, brainstorming...and debates. Haitians (yep, I'm giving in to generalizations) love people and love talking, and the "highest" form of talking is debate. You can get into a debate with anyone anywhere in this country. And in an office full of people with varying amounts of training in law, watch out! The wonderful thing is people get so caught up in the debate that you think they're about to start a fist fight, but then everyone is friends again when the debate is over. The not-so-wonderful thing is that it's really hard to follow debates when you're learning the language. The other not-so-wonderful thing is that when people debate every topic brought up in a staff meeting, the meeting literally goes all day. Oh, and I'm supposed to take the minutes next week.
The office provides lunch for us, which is great. Long about 1:30 we all gather 'round the dining room table to feast. Pierre, the director of RNDDH, provides the entertainment by selecting one or two people each day to tease. The first time he picked on me, I tried to pretend I didn't understand what he was saying. Unfortunately for me he also speaks French & English, so my lack of Kreyol was no hindrance. It's quite fun, though, particularly since he spreads around the teasing.
As for work, things have been slow for me so far. I'm in charge of laying-out the newsletter, so I've been trying to teach myself Microsoft Publisher. Oh now I miss the days of InDesign. Not to mention using a Mac. (Can you be homesick over a computer system?) I translated a short 3-page piece yesterday (French to English). It took me longer than it should have, but I figure that's ok for my first time. Today I believe that I agreed to work on the website, so I'll soon be teaching myself the basics of website management. At some point I should have the opportunity to accompany my coworkers when they do prison visits, but I have to get my clearance first.
Sorry, I know this is again just a big dumping of information, but hopefully it gives you an idea of how I'll be spending my days.
-L
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