Hait

Hait

Sunday, April 21, 2013


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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