I almost didn't make it back to Port au Prince yesterday. Why? Because it was Beach Day.
There had been talk around the Leogane base that there was going to be a trip to the beach soon. Being from Toronto I was non-committal in my enthusiasm for the outing so between my social aloofness and less than firm grasp of the nuances of Kreole - I expect a few key points of information were lost on me.
The sun rises at a little after 5am here so the sounds of showering and Frederaline's cell phone (Chipmunk's singing some unidentifiable Destiny's Child song) sounding in the dark had me confused before my eyes were open. As I'm usually first in the shower and Frederaline - our awesome housekeeper who is the sternest Kreole instructor - usually doesn't show up until 6:30, I decided to roll out of bed, slide my flip flops on and investigate.
The dormitory - as far as I could tell - was in full evacuation mode. There did not appear to be a crisis or imminent danger as the evacuees were dressed to the nines, wore bright, expectant smiles on their faces and why were there so many children around? "Nous prel aller nager! (We are going swimming!)" The staff had in fact been serious about making good on the water cooler chat regarding this trip. Enjoy! Bon journe! And into the shower I stepped to begin my day looking forward to being productive and solo in the office.
My plan started to unravel about halfway into my shower as the stream of water thinned then dribbled to a halt. I toweled off and shuffled into my room to throw on some modesty and inform my dorm mates that something was up with the water supply. This news was not surprising to the office manager Daphne as she was the one who turned it off - along with the power (leaving my morning coffee half brewed) and in five minutes the office would be locked for the weekend; my computer, all drawings and materials to be delivered to various sites that day included. Geez. Glad I woke up.
At 5:15 I scrambled to pack up our office and load the Land Cruiser while sipping coffee, eating cereal, packing my personal effects and trying to Skype Laura before the rest of the staff vacated the premises. The Haitian contingent - motivated by the prospect of a paid day at the beach - was putting me to shame in terms of logistics as twenty people stood by their vehicles waiting for me to pack and scramble my way to the exit. A two-year old with a sweet head of short braids and multicoloured bobble berets took pity on me and did "good sharing" by offering me one of her two soggy cheese crackers to eat. I accepted and gingerly wolfed down the offering as we sped out of the compound - the staff made for the sea while Samuel and I headed off for a day of 4x4 rodeo from site to site before commuting back to Port au Prince 8hrs later - without a stitch of office work to our credit.
There had been talk around the Leogane base that there was going to be a trip to the beach soon. Being from Toronto I was non-committal in my enthusiasm for the outing so between my social aloofness and less than firm grasp of the nuances of Kreole - I expect a few key points of information were lost on me.
The sun rises at a little after 5am here so the sounds of showering and Frederaline's cell phone (Chipmunk's singing some unidentifiable Destiny's Child song) sounding in the dark had me confused before my eyes were open. As I'm usually first in the shower and Frederaline - our awesome housekeeper who is the sternest Kreole instructor - usually doesn't show up until 6:30, I decided to roll out of bed, slide my flip flops on and investigate.
The dormitory - as far as I could tell - was in full evacuation mode. There did not appear to be a crisis or imminent danger as the evacuees were dressed to the nines, wore bright, expectant smiles on their faces and why were there so many children around? "Nous prel aller nager! (We are going swimming!)" The staff had in fact been serious about making good on the water cooler chat regarding this trip. Enjoy! Bon journe! And into the shower I stepped to begin my day looking forward to being productive and solo in the office.
My plan started to unravel about halfway into my shower as the stream of water thinned then dribbled to a halt. I toweled off and shuffled into my room to throw on some modesty and inform my dorm mates that something was up with the water supply. This news was not surprising to the office manager Daphne as she was the one who turned it off - along with the power (leaving my morning coffee half brewed) and in five minutes the office would be locked for the weekend; my computer, all drawings and materials to be delivered to various sites that day included. Geez. Glad I woke up.
At 5:15 I scrambled to pack up our office and load the Land Cruiser while sipping coffee, eating cereal, packing my personal effects and trying to Skype Laura before the rest of the staff vacated the premises. The Haitian contingent - motivated by the prospect of a paid day at the beach - was putting me to shame in terms of logistics as twenty people stood by their vehicles waiting for me to pack and scramble my way to the exit. A two-year old with a sweet head of short braids and multicoloured bobble berets took pity on me and did "good sharing" by offering me one of her two soggy cheese crackers to eat. I accepted and gingerly wolfed down the offering as we sped out of the compound - the staff made for the sea while Samuel and I headed off for a day of 4x4 rodeo from site to site before commuting back to Port au Prince 8hrs later - without a stitch of office work to our credit.
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| Another Road Side Attraction |
1 comment:
I love that you remember bobbles! We miss ya!
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