One week in

Well, I'm here. I officially moved to Haiti on Friday, June 27th! I've been here for just over a week now, and what changes already! When I arrived, I assumed that I would be living at a school that I've worked with on my previous trips to Haiti. I stayed there for a week, but unfortunately, that did not work out as I had hoped, for myriad reasons, so I set off to find a place of my own.

A good friend introduced me to an American social worker who has just moved to Haiti as well and has a large house with rooms to rent. We hit it off quickly, and I moved in on Saturday. What an adventure! One of my buddies took me bed shopping on Saturday. I was concerned that I would have a hard time finding a mattress at a good price, but as it turns out, pretty much every street in Petionville and Delmas is lined with people selling refurbished mattresses. My friend bargained on my behalf, and I wound up with a perfectly adequate double-sized mattress and box for less than US100. Score! Throw in some plastic file crates and a shoe rack that functions just fine as a place to store my clothes and I'm settled in. 

My own room!

The electricity here is funny. EDH is the state-run power, and is only on at random times during the day. It's not hard to tell when EDH is on; the neighbor boys come running into the house yelling ay-day-ash!, ay-day-ash! (the Kreyol pronunciation) to let us know. Everyone gets excited about EDH. We do have an inverter and a generator here at the house, though, so we won't be without power. The water is another story. Sometimes it works, sometimes notsomuch. Luckily it is working tonight, so I was able to take quick little cold shower for the first time since I've moved in. Fear not, friends, I did shower at a friend's house yesterday. 

So, I'm settling in and will start my Kreyol lessons through a friend tomorrow, I hope. This weekend wore me out and I caught up on sleep and sanity today. 'Twas nice. 

Bon nwi,

Rachel