First Days of School & Exploring Haiti

August 10-13, 2014

Bonjou! We are diligently working on our Creole. :) Getting better slowly, but surely. :) We at least can make the guards smile a little now with the little we say to them. haha.

This week we have had new teacher orientation Monday and Tuesday and then orientation for all on Wednesday and Thursday.  Friday is a Holiday in Haiti - some Saint's day, I do believe. Anyways, our driver, Samuel, has picked us up at about 8:15 am everyday and we make the 15-20 minute trek across town to Union School.  I've come to the realization in this short time, that no ride to work will EVER be boring.  I enjoy sitting in the back of the van, with the windows open of course, soaking in the culture, people, and idiosyncricies of Haiti. 

Here are some more pictures from our rides to and from school this week that I snapped from the van:

Houses

Not exactly sure

Traffic - although this is nothing. :) 

Giant, the grocery store we shop at. 

I try to capture the busyness of Haiti, however this still does no justice to how BUSY this country truly is. 

Someone selling clothes on the street.  You basically can buy ANYTHING you can think of on the side of the road. 

The mountains WILL NEVER get old!

People everywhere, always. 

One of the funniest things I saw this week was a man riding on a moto (they call motorcycles moto's here) holding onto a chicken by the neck, while both hands were on the handle bars. LOL.  He went by too quick to snap a photo.  It was shocking!  The other import teachers here told us that we will see THE craziest things on motos.  Some of them have seen mattresses and big furniture. :) haha. 

Union School

Like most of Haiti, the view from our school is never, ever going to get old.  The school is laid out like a California or Florida school you would see on T.V. - the "hallways" and staircases are outside.  I say "hallways" because it is just an area outside to walk to another building of the school. 

Here are pictures from our school:

This is the view I need to walk by to get from my classroom to Brian's. :) ahhhhhmazing!

Absolutely amazing. 

Had to take a panoramic pic. :)

If you Google "Haiti", these houses actually come up in some of the pics. It is actually a very poor part of town.  I heard from someone that it is super dangerous that people keep building and building these houses.  Also, I heard that it cost the country a boat load of money to paint these houses for the "image", yet the people living there have no money.  I can't remember my source on that information, but that is what I heard. :) Could be true, could not be. Nevertheless, it's a sweet view. 

Definitely loving our time here!

Outdoor basketball hoops!

Love this!

Beautiful huh?  The ONLY bad thing about our school - NO Air Conditioning.  The Library and Offices have AC, but the classrooms don't.  I have not sweat so much in my entire life.  I luckily have two fans in my room, but not sure how much they are going to help.  And the heat wears you out, for sure.  I have almost fallen asleep on the ride home a couple times now! :) However... the last two days we have came home to this...

One of the other import teacher residence is right across the street from our place and all import teachers are allowed to use this facility.  A Union School family owns the property, but rents it to the school. Absolutely beautiful.  It honestly feels like a vacation everyday coming to this after work.   

Speaking of the other import teachers... we have gotten to know a lot of them this week.  BG and I are really excited because everyone is very down to Earth and helpful.  Tim was kind of our guide from the beginning.  He is a HILARIOUS, dry humored guy from Pennsylvania.  We call him, "O'Mally" because he looks like George O'Mally from Grey's Anatomy.  I'm trying to get a selfie with him to post so you can all see! :) haha. 

And shoutout to two of our other FAVES - Amy and her boyfriend, Bernadin.  Amy is from Arkansas and is in her second year at Union.  Her boyfriend, Bernadin, is Haitian and works in the technology department at Union.  Let me tell you, it's been a real treat having a local to hang out with the past week.  And not only that, he is awesome! Both him and Amy are definitely becoming great friends ours!  We love that they are both adventurous!  

Speaking of being adventurous - Amy suggested a Resto (short for restaurant) that is her favorite here.  Local restaurants are called, "restos", and boy was it local! :) We went with a bunch of the import teachers and Bernadin.  Walking in, it seemed a little sketchy - dark, small, dirty, loud Haitian music, etc.  However, the atmosphere was AUTHENTIC.  

There was a big grill with people grilling food right where we were sitting.  Some workers put together a couple tables since we had a big group, and we were basically taking up the whole restaurant.  We all had a Prestige, their local beer here - which is awesome by the way.  And then you just tell them you want a meal and they basically make you whatever they are cooking that day.  Groit, pronounced Gree-o, is probably their most popular food in Haiti.  It is cubed pork, with a spicier sauce.  That is what I figured they would be serving, but it ended up to be chicken, served with fried plantains and picklese (a very spicy, vinegar based coleslaw).  It was delish!!!!!

This meal, including the beer cost 250 gourdes - which is about $5.50. :)
BG and I actually shared it.  

All of us enjoying our dinner and beers at the local resto.
Amy & Bernedin on the left, Phara in the middle here, obviously there's BG and I.  And in the back you can see Angela  covering Tim's head and Sotiera & Justin in the way back (a couple from Canada). 

Thanks again Amy & B for sharing your buried treasure in Haiti! :) We will be visiting again! 

Another adventure I explored this week was the market!  After one day at the grocery store, Phara asked the driver to stop at a market so she could get some mangos.  I definitely wanted in - as I heard the mangos here are amazing! And going with Phara would be easier because she can speak Creole.  She was actually born in Haiti, but moved to the states when she was young.

Here's the scoop with the markets - they will try to charge us more because we are white and they think we have a lot of money.  I thought by going with Phara, we would get them for local prices, since she is Haitian, however she quickly informed me that they know she is not "one of them".  She said that they will try to charge her the same price that they do for white people.  Locals can get an avocado or mango on the street for about 15 - 20 gourdes, which is about 35-45 cents.  Tim had told me that if we can get them for 25 gourdes (55 cents), that would be good.  We are always going to pay more than a local.  Anyways, so when Phara and I went to get mangos, she asked the lady how much for a dozen and they said something ridiculous which was equivalent to about $12-$14 for the dozen, which is way over priced.  Phara just walked away. :)  It was fun to watch her bargain.  In the end, we ended up getting a dozen for about 300 gourdes, which is like $6.60. And let me tell you... these mangos are monstrous and absolutely Heaven in your mouth.  

I took a picture of it next to my head so you can see how HUGE it is...had to show it to scale.

The goods - 6 mangos and 2 avocados. These suckers are big. :) 

Incase you were wondering, to scale, how big the avacados were.... 

Nothing like some homemade guacamole from some whopping' Haitian avocados.
2 avocados
1/2 an onion chopped up
3 cloves of garlic chopped
lemon juice (1 lemon squeezed)
salt & pepper

Thanks for the recipe,  Justin! (the teacher from Canada here is quite the cook)

As you can see, it's been quite the week.  We are learning more and more about the unique culture, learning some words in Creole, figuring out the gourdes to dollars currency and basically learning the ropes of Haiti.  We are definitely beginning to fall in love with this place and the people! :) 

Tomorrow, we are actually venturing off with Amy and Berniden up in the mountains for a long weekend vacay.  We are going to a place called Rustik, which is in Furcy, Haiti. (an hour ride from our house).  It is a place you can stay over night, horseback ride, hike, swim by the waterfalls, etc.  Google "Rustik in Furcy" and you will see how awesome this place looks.  It is like a big treehouse/clubhouse place that has a hotel, restaurant, bar, etc. We are going to get away for the weekend and relax.  Quickly, here are some pics of the place that I found online: 

Can't wait to check this place out! :) Apparently it is cold here.  We will see what "cold" is in Haiti. :)  

Well that is all for now!  I'm going to do my best to blog regularly, because there is so much to share; plus, I want to remember all of this.  We are definitely soaking it all in.  

BG and I are not only excited about the adventures and beauty of Haiti, but are excited for the friendships we are about to endure through being here!  

More to come!


One must come out of one's house to begin learning.
                            -Haitian Proverb