52 Things I Learned in Haiti

As previously mentioned, I spent about two weeks in Thomassique, Haiti, teaching English to school children. I learned a lot of things in those two weeks. I honestly believe that the Haitian people I came in contact with taught me more than I could ever teach them. Here are the 52 Things I Learned in Haiti. Some of them should have been obvious. A bunch of them are kind of humorous. All of them have a story attached to them. If you want to know the story behind some of the snippets of my trip, let me know.

1. Any lane is a passing lane.
2. Bras are optional.
3. Ketchup shows up where you least expect it.
4. Driving is terrifying.
5. Music crosses language barriers.
6. So does teasing.
7. Laughter is infectious.
8. Songs are great teaching tools.
9. The first step is the hardest.
10. Soup can be eaten from a plate.
11. How to pluck a chicken.
12. Rap music makes even less sense in Haiti.
13. Always accept sugar in a drink if it's offered. It's offered for a reason.
14. English idioms get lost in the translation.
15. I can't draw a parallelogram.
16. Spelling the word "eighth" is hard.
17. Kids make connections most adults have forgotten how to.
18. Big dreams are universal.
19. Dance is its own language.
20. Games can be played together regardless of age, sex, language, class and race.
21. There is fun to be had if you look for it.
22. Water is life.
23. "God wants what the women want." - Haitian proverb
24. Birthdays are causes for celebration.
25. "Take that away from her before she hurts herself" is unmistakable, even if you don't speak a word of Creole.
26. How to juggle a sleeping baby and serve food at the same time.
27. Mosquito netting is a blessing.
28. Sometimes they just won't smile.
29. How to put a child to sleep in 30 seconds flat.
30. How to write a biblical acrostic.
31. Crying while cutting onions is unacceptable in Haiti.
32. How to be okay with staying in the kitchen while the men work.
33. "Every Haitian loves Madonna." -David
34. How to play Haitian Big Booty.
35. Saturday is cleaning day.
36. Carrying rocks is way better in a group.
37. Those roots make you itch.
38. You can go through a whole day without ever knowing what time it is.
39. There is a wrong way to eat a cooked banana (ie: with peanut butter).
40. Peanut butter makes nasty things more bearable.
41. Green bananas are not sweet. At all.
42. Haitian pop culture doesn't think too highly of women.
43. Car horns are purely locational devices, not mechanisms for exhibiting road rage.
44. Your head is like Blue Tooth for carrying- Hands free! (This also looks ridiculous out of context.)
45. Cell phones are just as popular in Haiti as in the US. Possibly more popular than water. Maslow would have been seriously confused.
46. There actually is a use for 5 gallon buckets.
47. If you build it, they will come.
48. Donald Duck is a Christian.
49. Grandmas and their houses are the same in every culture.
50. 60 year-old women like VBS songs just as much as 6 year-olds.
51. Matt's head is pretty high, but not high enough for Haitian soccer.
52. How to ride a motorcycle.

Haiti

I haven't written in a while because I got caught up in the end-of-year hubbub of finals and projects and stressing out and moving out and heading to Chicago. But that's all over now. Woo! Sophomore year down.

Unfortunately, it will be two more weeks until you are graced with my web-presence again. I promise it's for a good reason. I'm going down to Haiti to work with some pretty sweet awesome people and help out a school. It should be pretty swell. I'm excited about it.

I am sure that when I return I will have a lot to say.