I have just come back from spending 5 days in a Haitian convent for my Creole immersion. All volunteers do this, to see a different part of Haiti, to experience a different lifestyle, and mostly, to be totally surrounded by Creole. We speak and hear nothing but Creole and by the end of two weeks, we should be able to understand and speak with more fluency and confidence. There are a few immersion sites that volunteers are sent to every year based on the volunteer and their interests. For example, volunteers that are interested in medicine are sent to the clinic in Pondi and stay with Madanm Marcel who is a nurse.
On Monday, I was sent to Riveyè Marcel, which is about a 45 minute moto ride along the river into the next valley in the Kalabat Zone. I was sent there because one of the sisters who lives there does some environmental work and I'm interested in learning more about the environment and agriculture in Haiti. I was a little nervous about leaving Gros Morne, but I knew that I really needed to work on my listening and comprehension skills and that going somewhere where no English would be spoken was a good way to do this. So, at 8:15am I got on the back of a motorcycle with a stranger, (my mother taught me well!?), and left Gros Morne for the unknown. Johnny, my driver, knew the sisters and was supposed to be a great driver. He was too, considering all the rocks that we drove over and the 25 times we crossed the river. The drive itself was beautiful. We drove along the valley with cliffs and mountains on either side. I would have taken some pictures, but I was too busy holding on, (so much so that my arms were sore the next day). After what seemed like forever, I (finally) made it to the convent. It was a little unclear what I was supposed to do when I got there, so I ended up walking around with Johnny and his little son and visiting the market, the soccer field and meeting some of the teachers. Johnny spoke some English, so when I didn’t understand the Creole, he could give me the word in English. I tried some kind of coconut treat that came in a plastic bag with coconut milk, sugar and some kind of spice. It was a little unsettling when I was first handed this random bag and told to eat, but it was actually quite delightful.
It was extremely overwhelming to only be hearing Creole and to literally be the only white person. In Gros Morne, we got to share the stares, but in Riveyè Marcel, they were all on me. I walked by myself along the river for a little ways in the afternoon and found a rock to sit on, listen to some music, (the most English I had heard all day), and just take in the surroundings. Riveyè Marcel is beautiful. The surrounding mountains are lovely and there is a lot more vegetation around. Next to the house I was staying in, there is a wooded area with all kinds of fruit trees, (mango, papaya, orange), and a lot of other plants that I don’t know. In Gros Morne, we have trees around our house, but in and around town is not nearly as vegetated as Riveyè Marcel.
While at Riveyè Marcel, I didn’t really have a set schedule of activities I was doing everyday. I spent almost every afternoon hanging out with my new best friend Yves, (he’s twelve), reading in my little Creole reader, working on lessons in my textbook and walking around just talking and learning new vocab. In the mornings I did a variety of things. I got a tour of the dispensè, (clinic), that is behind the convent, sat in on a meeting for the women’s group that Sr. Victoire runs, went on a kind of nature walk with Sr. Victoire and followed her conversation with some of the local girls, climbed a mountain with Johnny to see if the sister’s laptop could pick up the Internet signal with their USB receiver, attended a meeting for the parents of children who attend the school, climbed the same mountain to help Sr. Augustane send an email and went for a walk with the women’s group to see some examples of good gardens.
This was the first time I had ever done this kind of thing. I will totally admit that, emotionally, it was hard. It was super easy to feel totally alone and like a stranger. I have never been so aware of my skin color and how different it made me. My confidence in my abilities to speak and comprehend Creole fluctuated constantly and I had never found so much comfort in my Pride and Prejudice podcast. I questioned what the heck I was doing, why I was doing it and whether or not this was what I really wanted to do. But, by Thursday and Friday, I could tell that I was understanding more and starting to get into the routine of life in the convent. I was extremely happy to come back to Gros Morne on Saturday morning, not only to see everyone here, to speak some English and get many of my questions answered, but to also get a real shower and wash my clothes. It was awesome to have these two days to just relax, and I am looking forward to going back to Riveyè Marcel to learn even more.
The title above translates to "little by little, the bird builds its nest" and is an old Haitian proverb. Although it is not as humorous as some of my previous titles, it seemed fitting because I am slowing working on building my nest in Haiti. I am learning more about the language, the people and culture, and becoming more comfortable with my surroundings. This week, because of the experiences that I had in Riveyè Marcel, I was able to add another essential "twig" to my figurative nest here.
Because there are so many pictures, I'm going to break them up and there will just be some posts that have pictures with some captions. I will take more pictures this week too, so expect updated photos later on too!
Cheers!
