Days 366 – 372
02/07 – 02/13
Thursday 02/07 – After an evening flight from Sacramento to L.A. and the “red eye” from
L.A. to Miami, I caught the 10:00 A.M. flight to Port-au-Prince and arrived at
Toussaint Louveture International Airport at noon. The weather is a nice sultry
82*. A nice change from the 50’s we’ve been having in Sacramento. However, I
know it’s going to be getting warmer every day.
Coming
back to the Guest House each time is like returning to family. Everyone seems
to be happy to see me and I hear “Bon jour, Meester Beel” every time I turn
around. I’m a little sleep deprived, but I get back up to the office and am
greeted by, Tom, Sarah 2 and Mario. Then I start the process of getting back
into my work.
Most of the projects seem to be progressing
reasonably well. The exceptions are the Guest House Annex which just seems to
be going at a snail’s pace and the EMH Housing Project which has had all kinds
of contractor problems since its’ inception. I keep hoping some of the problems
would go away when I was gone, but no such luck. They’re still here when I get
back.
Friday 02/08 – I
tried to stay up late last night to get my internal clock readjusted to the new
time zone, but couldn’t make it past 9:30. I guess 36 hours without sleep is my
new limit. I must be getting old. I got up at 6:30 A.M – a little groggy, even
after 9 hours of sleep. Even though the sun was coming up my internal clock said
it was 3:30 A.M. I’ll stay up later tonight and get everything readjusted.
The
work day started with a meeting with Engineers Laplanche and Derly, Lauren
James (UMCOR) and Tom and me. Lauren has to prepare the funding request for the
next 6 months to UMCOR who pays Laplanche and Derly through the EMH Resource and
Development office. So - we needed to discuss current workloads and
responsibilities to determine what their compensation for the next 6 months
should be. We also discussed how the Site Engineers were being compensated out
of the VIM project funds. I’ve been advocating for a year that they should be
paid a flat fee based on the project size and not on a percentage of the cost.
There is no incentive for them to control costs. The more money spent – the more
they make. Everyone seems to understand and nods their head, but since it is a
change from the customary way of paying Haitian engineers, no one wants to make
the decision. I’ll keep bringing it up.
The
afternoon went by quickly while reviewing project reports. I initiated a weekly
report process for all the site engineers to follow on all of their sites. Most
are doing it although not always in a timely manner. It takes me a while to go
through them since they’re all in Creole.
Saturday 02/09 – I managed to stay up until midnight last night and slept in until 8:00
this morning. So although still a little groggy, I’m better than yesterday and
I think I’ve readjusted my clock. January, February and March are very busy
team months (cooler weather) and we have 2 or 3 teams coming or going at the
Guest House almost every day. Although not part of my official duties, I try to
help out the staff where needed in getting teams to where they need to go. I
also enjoy talking with the people. They all enjoy their Haiti experience.
I
met with Engineer Rousse this afternoon and tried to crank up the work on the
Guest House Annex. I got the usual nods and smiles and assurances that things
would improve, but I’m not going to hold my breath. It’s a difficult position
when you are here to advise and not to run the jobs.
Sunday 02/10 – We have a 3 day window of opportunity
with no teams and it coincides with KARNAVAL. The Haitian National Carnival is
being held in Cap Haitian this year. Cap Haitian is the 2nd largest
city in Haiti and situated on the far north side of the island. So – Mario,
Sarah 2, Lauren James and I piled into the D-Max with Spana and headed out on
the 6 to 8 hour drive to Cap Haitian. I have not been that far north before so
I’m excited to see some new countryside and of course KANAVAL!
Since
apparently most people traveled to Cap Haitian on Saturday, we made it to Cap
Haitian in just under 6 hours and got to the Methodist Guest House by
mid-afternoon. The Guest House turned out to be right on the ocean and at the
very end of the parade route. We got settled into our rooms, washed of the road
dust and set off down the parade route in search of a place to eat and
hopefully a stand to watch the parade from. We ended up at a restaurant that
Lauren knew from her many trips to La Cap and had a pretty good meal. Then we
set off on our quest for a stand. The parade route – about a mile long - is
lined on both sides be wooden framed, plywood covered stands that are built
about 8’ above street level. Businesses and corporations then lease the stands
for their guests or sell you the privilege of using the stand. The prices
seemed to average about $100 US for the 3 days of Carnival. Some included food
and drinks. We finally decided on a stand about mid-way along the route leased
by World of Wireless (WOW) a Haitian internet provider. We ended up paying $75
US apiece which included 3 drink tickets per night.
As
the sun goes down, the parade starts up. The first section of the parade is
made up of local groups – Boy Scouts (called Scoots in Haiti), dance groups in colorful
costumes, bicycle groups, etc. Then there is about a 2hour pause (I’m not sure
why) until the main parade starts – about 9:00 P.M. Each section of the parade
is led by a huge float with a popular Haitian band performing on the roof. The
float itself is like a rolling boombox with a megawatt sound system and house
sized speakers – LOUD! The band is followed by a corporate or government
sponsored float – most very colorful - and sometimes by a marching group of
some kind. The floats are surrounded by thousands of people walking and dancing
down the street. These segments are spaced about 20 minutes apart. In between
segments there is still plenty of music coming from the stands and dancing in
the street. The last segment of the parade rolled by at 4:00 A.M.
Monday 02/11 – Needless
to say, we slept in this morning. Breakfast became a very late brunch. We
explored along the parade route and then came back to a café near the Guest
House and sat on their patio overlooking the beach and the end of the parade
route. We spent the afternoon people watching and enjoying a cold beverage or
two.
After
dinner we headed back up the street to the WOW stand to watch the parade.
Except for a few different bands on the rolling boom boxes, the parade was
pretty much the same as last night. Although a lot of the Haitian girls are
wearing some very short shorts and tank tops, there is not as much skin exposed
as pictures I’ve seen of New Orleans or Rio. There is no flashing for beads.
The sought after commodity is tee shirts. Most of the businesses have tee
shirts advertising their companies. Because Haitian men really like American
women, Sarah with her smile became the champion of champions for collecting tee
shirts. She kept us all well supplied. We thought we would head back to the
Guest House early, but the festivities are so infectious that we stay all night
– again.
Tuesday 02/12 – We got up a little earlier this morning and had breakfast at a hotel up
the hill from the Guest House. Then Mario, Sarah, Spana and I headed out in the
D-max to do some sightseeing. Lauren elected to go to the beach with some
friends. Our primary destination was the Citadel. The Citadel Henry was built
after the revolution by the self-appointed king, Henry Christophe to protect
against possible future attacks by the French. It took 14 years to build and
was completed in 1820. It is the biggest fortress in the Caribbean and because
of several reconstruction projects over the years is one of the best preserved early
19th Century military engineering projects in the world. It also
contains the largest collection of 18th century artillery in the
world.
Because
it sits on top of a mountain, it’s a long steep walk to get to Citadel.
However, they do offer the option of riding a horse. Since we were a little
pressed for time and since it sounded like fun, we elected to ride the horses.
It was Mario and Spana’s first time on a horse. I’m glad to say that everyone
made it up (and down) in one piece.
The
views from the fortress are breathtaking – as well as the fortress itself.
Since words can’t adequately describe it, I’ve included a few pictures.
At
the bottom of the Citadel mountain is another historical landmark – the Palace
San Souci. The Palace complex was also built by Henry Christophe and fulfilled
his need to have most of the government complex built around his residence. It
was completed in 1813 and mostly destroyed in the earthquake of 1842. It has
never been restored. We did a quick tour around the grounds and left to visit
Spana’s mother.
Spana’s
mother lives in a rural area about 40 miles south of Cap Haitian. The last 5
miles is over some typically rough dirt roads. But we arrived without incident
and met his wonderfully spry and friendly mother and a sister that he hadn’t
seen in 7 years – and her 3 children. Spana gave us a tour around the family
homestead and showed us where he ultimately would like to build his house. It’s
a beautiful piece of property and I hope someday his dream will come true.
We
got back to la Cap in time for a late dinner and got to the stand just as the
parade was about to start. We were all tired from our days activities, but
before we knew it, it was 4:00 AM and we were walking back to the Guest House.
Wednesday 02/13 – As you might guess, we slept in a little this morning. But as soon as we
were up and out of the cold shower, we bid goodbye to the Guest House staff. A
quick stop at a little bakery for some coffee and croissants and we were on our
way home. With everyone returning from Karnaval today, the traffic along the 2
lane Highway 2 was a little intense and the return trip took a little over 7
hours. However we did arrive back in time for dinner. But then it was another
cold shower and hit the sack. What a great Haitian Karnaval experience.
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