A Quest for Haiti: Reflections on a Year in Haiti: Our House, is a Very, Very, Very, Fine House.

When the sisters first arrived in Haiti, they decided that Gros Morne was where they wanted to stay. Since then, they have expended to have sisters in Port-au-Prince and Jean Rebel. The current house in Gros Morne was built a few years after they arrived. It’s huge and beautiful and we’re incredibly lucky to be living like we are. We’re up on a hill, surrounded by trees that were planted when the house was built and that are now very large. Everything is made out of concrete. Because the sisters have such a constant flow of year-long volunteers, camp volunteers, sisters and other visitors, there are tons of beds. I’ll post some pictures of my room below. I’m sharing with Beth, which should be fun. The room is super nice - pretty much like a college dorm room, so nothing that I’m not used to. Our room is right off of our back porch and has a beautiful view. We also are right next to the office, which has the internet, so we have optimal Wi-fi in our room. In fact the internet is better here than it was in the house in the Bronx! Who would have thought that?

Every day, we are responsible for making our own breakfast and lunch. A few days a week, a woman comes in and cooks our dinner. For the other days, we are on a rotating schedule. Dinners vary. For the few days I’ve been here, we’ve had goat stew, fried goat and patats (sweet-ish potatoes), hot dogs and potato salad, spaghetti and eggplant and taco salad. Everything has been really good and if not, there will always be peanut butter. (Check out the picture below, and you’ll understand). Everything left on the plates is either composted or left to be licked by the 3 dogs before being hand-washed.

One of the most common questions I’ve received, is how do I go to the bathroom. In terms of the toilet, we have regular porcelain thrones. If it’s yellow, we let it mellow and most toilet paper is burned instead of flushed. But other than that, it’s pretty much the same. The local people, however, do not have this luxury. There are a few latrines (built up holes in the ground) and I believe there is a composting toilet at the school, but everything else is much more rudimentary. We have four showers here that are fed with rainwater that is collected on the roof. There isn’t really hot water, but the cold has felt good the past few days after sweating all day. We conserve water by getting wet, turning the water off, soaping, shampooing, etc. and then turning the water back on. So far, I've showered with some lizards and a large moth. It was a little disconcerting at first, but it was nice to have a small audience for my singing!