They [...]]]> Stéphane left for Haiti this morning with Max. I just received word a few hours ago that they have arrived at hour house safely and all’s well considering. A think layer of dust on everything, but what’s new. And if that’s the biggest complaint then I’d say things at home are in tip top shape.

They have gone to check out the integrity of their office building, what opportunities are available, and what to make of all of It.What next, eh?

Please think good thoughts for them and Joelle and Sonson who are also over in Haiti right now. Jo told me there’s not been an aftershock since the 27th but everyone remains on high alert.

Anyway, I am well. We are well.

Totally Awesome Noemy

And Stéphane’s goddaughter/niece Noemy continues to keep me smiling and laughing.  So that’s refreshing.

So’s a good run.

Anyway. We’re on day ten here in Santo Domingo. It feels [...]]]> Apologies for the delay in posts. I have been trying to figure out how to get up sme videos Stéphane took driving home immediately after the earthquake but have yet to be successful. If anyone knows anything on uploading .3GP video files lemme know.

Anyway. We’re on day ten here in Santo Domingo. It feels like a month since the ground shattered in Haiti. I have read there may be another year of “aftershocks” (can you really call them aftershocks if they go on for a year?!). I can’t even imagine that, three nights of sleep interrupted by mini earthquakes was enough to start to make me go crazy – I can’t fathom a year.

Stéphane heard of a classmate having perished. His grade school I passed by about three hours before the earthquake is rubble now. A client of his’ best friend was underneath the (in)famous Caribbean Market texting for days, they never found him. And yet this is becoming sort of run of the mill. Despite that I can say Stéphane finally heard from all of his staff, tout moun (everyone) alive and well save for a broken leg. Though one has lost his home and his mother.

We watched the CNN telethon concert the other night. It’s weird to be watching such a thing and yet be a part of it too. It unsettling seeing places that were once the metropolitan of Port-au-Prince having become a tent city. Fabienne’s co-worker whom everyone knew to be a bit clairvoyant had been saying three days prior to the earthquake that she felt the country was sad, that Haiti was crying.

I can’t think of a country worse prepared and less deserving of such an atrocity.  It’s heart breaking. Top it off with the sense of personal loss, the loss of my life in PaP beginning to take and most of what comes to mind is: Life Is Not Fair & Well, Shit.

So now what huh? We’re on forced vacation. For now there are a lot of options to weigh; where to live, what to do for money, return to Haiti? Start fresh? It’s enough to keep the mind high-speed, so although it’s sort of killing Stéphane and I to be so sedentary, it’s not as though the mind is idle. In fact it’s quite the opposite.

But I must say, we are fortunate to have the “burden” of pondering all this. Lucky to have even some small means to do anything with.

Things that make me happy and smile in the meantime:

phonecalls to friends

Stéphane’s niece/goddaughter Noemy hamming for the camera

Presidente

Runs in the park

Family, here and home

Wii Tennis

A bed, steady ground and the love in my life

I was on my seventh day of a ten-day training period for a new job. I was to work for a communications company that distributes the largest cell phone carrier in Haiti: Digicel. The [...]]]> To set up the following journal excerpts for you from January 13th and 14th some background information:

I was on my seventh day of a ten-day training period for a new job. I was to work for a communications company that distributes the largest cell phone carrier in Haiti: Digicel. The company is called Alo. The previous week and Monday I spent in two of PaP’s busiest stores, one right downtown where much of the damage of the earthquake has been concentrated. I had just returned home, alone, about 25 minutes before the earthquake hit. I had spent the day driving with Mik – Head of Rechaj (prepaid minute cards) to see many vendors. I met many people that day that I am scared for – it may have been the last time we met too. Who knows.

13 January ‘10

Thank you God, thank you universe that I am okay and my family here is safe. It is 7:30 am; I woke up to helicopters after an eerily silent night once a few hours ago, then again, as always, when Stéphane awoke. He’s just told me he and Max discovered the gas line cracked and so it was a damn good thing I recalled to turn off the propane tanks.

There are millions of thoughts going through my head, as the ground still shakes and trembles over 12 hours after…

11:24a – We went next door to Michel and Fabiennes (Stéphane’s uncle and cousin, whom we share a compound with) to have coffee and breakfast. Stéphane heard of a friend whose home collapsed on him – most presimably gone. Went to Tecina (development down the road) to check on Sonson and Joelle who never returned last night and found a neighbor whose internet is working. Sent word home, Steph put up an appropriate status message on fb. The Kuhns (Sonson’s family) et al spent the night outside for fear of more tremors. There was a fire in another neighbors home they had to go put out early this morning. Sonson and his brother went to a friends business whose first floor collapsed on many people to go try and dig out some survivors, he’s still gone.

Shortly after we got back to Michel’s, Fabienne’s husband (Pascal) arrived from the beach , thank God ! He looked so shaken, so intent on finding his wife. She had just left to go try and email him at Tecina. I am so happy for their reunion.

The guys left in search of food, water, over near Delmass 33 (nearby Jonto). Roselyn and I finished cleaning up the glass and inventoried the food pantry, watched the news… We must conserve energy though because who knows when EDH (electric co.) will be turned on again. Cars or trucks with loudspeakers have gone by asking for doctors and medical assistance…

… Poor Haiti. As if it weren’t enough, Chain Masse, the palace, is all ruined. The city’s most beautiful and proud area I’d say. And to think of everywhere I had been yesterday with Mik. I saw more of Port-au-Prince than ever, the real city. I was in Belaire. I was in Turgeau, Petion-ville, almost everywhere. I was viewing everything as if it were for the last time. I wished I had brought my camera to work yesterday. How ironic it all is. The absurdity now of Lisa’s friend who had been here last weekend building a school. Perhaps he’s still here, perhaps he had just left. I hope Mik who so kindly took a few extra minutes to drop me off to Jo and Sonson was somewhere safe when this all went down thirty minutes later. I hope Alo at Turgeau and Place Boyer are ok and my new colleagues escaped, although I know the road home is the most difficult aspect.

The wall of our compound

Demolished slums looking out from Boudon

14 January ‘10

6:25a - Tuesday, The Day, has so many ifs. And, looking back, leading up to the quake seems so surreal. I was at Hotel Montana (this hotel has since entirely collapsed, one of the worst affected areas), feeling so swell to be at such a lovely place for lunch. Mik and I sat near the waterfall pond and I admired the spectacular view of Port-au-Prince, wished for my camera. Thought, this place is beautiful in a way, despite its dirtiness and the dust. As I shadowed Mik’s job I thought, ‘you know, I can do this, I can be in business here, I am definitely capable.’ I was full of the grabbing life by the balls feeling. I was already saying affirmations of commitment to my new job and the prospect of working toward what Stéphane and I talked about for hours the night before. We had spent the previous evening mapping out how we would allocate our coming salaries and save – when we might buy a car, travel, get our own place.

At the end of my day with Mik, Didier (my boss), whom Stéphane has since spoken to- both are fine, called to see how I was doing. Mik reported that he was truly impressed despite having shown me some rough areas and the real, real Port-au-Prince. He suggested I be dropped off at home since we were in Tabarre (our neighborhood) anyway. This is how I came to find myself at home for the quake…

I got myself in the doorway of my bedroom as soon as I realized what was happening. Fist I thought maybe the generator next door blew, then I thought for a split second it was bulldozers but then it seemed too strong. When it was finished and I gathered my breath enough to get out of the house, I walked out and for the first time ever, I could see my neighbors faces. You see, part of our barbed wired, compound wall had fallen down.

“Tout moun, ca va?” (everyone ok?) I asked,

“Wi, et ou?? Tout moun?” (Yes, you? Everyone?)

“Wi, se mwen seul” (Yes, it’s just me)

I ran and called for Michel’s maid, Marie. She and the handyman/security-guy, Fançois were alright. I told her to go shut off the gas, then we waited. After trying Stéphane (who was waiting to be picked up with Max and Roselyn by Sonson and Joelle from work) a dozen times unsuccessfully, I got a call through to Max, they were okay, they were coming home to me. Fabienne was home in what seemed like twenty minutes, I think it really was like five. She was trying desperately to get in touch with Pascal, who was standing by the ocean minutes before on the phone with her. He manages a resort and had been having an awful time at work. You see, for the previous two days there had been incredible amounts of garbage washing up on shore…

]]> http://www.hanainhaiti.com/?feed=rss2&p=164 7 http://www.hanainhaiti.com/?p=153 http://www.hanainhaiti.com/?p=153#comments Sun, 17 Jan 2010 18:44:05 +0000 H http://www.hanainhaiti.com/?p=153 First of all, I would like to very happily say, and with certainty now, that all of Stéphane’s family and most of his family’s friends are alive and accounted for. All unharmed miraculously. We were worried for a few days about some loved ones but on the 14th one cell phone service, unfortunately the least [...]]]> First of all, I would like to very happily say, and with certainty now, that all of Stéphane’s family and most of his family’s friends are alive and accounted for. All unharmed miraculously. We were worried for a few days about some loved ones but on the 14th one cell phone service, unfortunately the least popular in Haiti, began working some. Internet become somewhat accessible and communication commenced.

We made it to the Dominican Republic on Friday afternoon. Sonson and his brother drove their grandmother (who was supposed to return to Munich on Wednesday after her annual four week stay in Haiti), Max, Roselyn, Stéphane, and I to the border. We were met by a friend of Stéphane’s sister at the border who loaded up his minivan with the few suitcases of stuff we were able to come with.

The drive itself was fine and we reached Pascale (Stéphane’s sister) and her husband’s home without any ordeal. It was quite sad though for the Thomases to be leaving their country under these circumstances, unaware of when they may be able to return. Sad also for me, but different.

We left since we were really only able to secure enough food for a week, gas for even less, which we needed to go anywhere, of course, but even more importantly to power our generator which we needed to charge the inverter that we were running on about 22 hours out of the day, and to power our water pump. It seemed like the safest idea; who knows if looting would have reached us? Certainly a possibility. The exterior wall of our compound had been damaged in two places, one area very close to the main road. Additionally there was and remains a question of sanitation, which under normal circumstances is bad at best. We have heard they will start to sanitize the city via airplane. Our well water was beginning to pump out with copious amounts of dirt in it, making the possibility of purifying it if needed even more difficult. For all these reasons we made the decision to come here and we are trying very, very hard to get more friends and family out as quickly as possible. We also fear the border to the DR will be closed in the future.

In the meantime we are welcoming family, friends, here on their way to the airport (there are no commercial flights leaving Port-au-Prince), some who are coming, like us, to figure out what’s next. Some men are bringing their wives and children then going back with supplies to see what they can salvage, who they can ferry back here or to search for the missing, to aid in the cleanup of their home. Some are going back to their businesses that dozens of families are supported by, looking to to be there for them, to show them not all is lost in Haiti.

So it’s a sad time, but a time to be together. And because everyone is okay, we smile, but it’s still very difficult coming to grips with all of this. I myself feel terribly displaced, as you may or may not know, I had just returned home from my seventh day of work when the earthquake hit. More on the details in the next post (excerpts from the journal), but needless to say, I was literally just starting to get truly comfortable.

But alas, here I am.

I wanted to add to my previous post about what you can do. As I explained we are doing a lot to bring our friends and family over here to safety. This comes at a great cost to Pascale and her husband Jean-Claude, money has been entirely inaccessible in Haiti since the quake, every bank was destroyed. And without surprise I tell you there’s no FDIC. Anyway, if you feel like you can donate a bit to our personal aid and rescue efforts it would be ever so appreciated. If you know my family you can give money to them and they will make sure it gets to me, if not, please feel free to use paypal

If you’re looking for an organization to donate to, one that’s deployed rescue missions to those who are in grave medical conditions or who are providing to those who are not nearly as fortunate as us, who are stuck in one of the worst disasters the western hemisphere has seen then we strongly recommend donating to Unicef.

Also if you search “FOOD AND MEDICAL SUPPLIES NEEDED ASAP” on facebook events those of you in NYC who would like to donate actual goods to be sent to Haiti can find information on that.

And may I say a thank you, a general one, to those who have already donated or found other ways to help. I know one Dave EMT who is attempting to travel to Port-au-Prince and donate his time and skills.

THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH. Mesi Anpil Zanmi Mwen !!! (thank you tons my friends)

Last but not least, I would like to say thank you to all of you who have kept us in their thoughts, have written encouraging emails, wall posts, called my family in New York and prayed for us. We are truly lucky and blessed to be so healthy and okay.

Much more soon: photos, videos,  journal entries

LOVE.

Yesterday I went for a jog after the sun started its descent and the heat was dissipating. It was lovely, a nice little break and it felt good to use my legs for traversing; as I believe I have described, we do far more driving than walking. Stupidly, after benignly twisting my ankle on a [...]]]>

Yesterday I went for a jog after the sun started its descent and the heat was dissipating. It was lovely, a nice little break and it felt good to use my legs for traversing; as I believe I have described, we do far more driving than walking. Stupidly, after benignly twisting my ankle on a patch of gravel and continuing my jog anyway I twisted it again, the second time pretty badly. It isn’t very swollen but it doesn’t feel great and I have been limping a bit.

Stéphane told me that when he was a boy and would twist his ankle in futbol they had a man that worked at their house who would heat sour oranges ( indigenous and prolific here) in a fire, slice them open, pour on some salt and rub and massage it into his ails. He recalled it was actually sort of painful, the vigorous massage, but the day after it was as if he had no injury at all.

One of the woman at Jonto just got finihed massaging some (stove) fired sour orange onto my ankle. The massage was nice, the smell was pleasant and initially the side to side movements that hurt this morning don’t seem to hurt now… We will see how I progress as the day goes on.

A quick Wikipedia search on the sour orange reports that it is currently being used in diet supplements as a substitute for banned ephedrine. There was no information on how this might help with relieving musle and tendon inflammations, although Wiki says that when ingested sour orange can constrict blood vessels.

Regardless, it is an interesting and new treatment for me. If anyone has any info, please shoot me an explanation of why this (hopefully!) works so well.

OYAY : D

Sometimes we have some guava preserves – Goyave – on a cracker or cassava bread for dessert or a sweet snack. The taste is unlike any I have had before, so sweet,  the fruit sort of melts in your mouth and when the syrup runs you can’t help but make a quick [...]]]>

Haitian Liquid Gold

Sometimes we have some guava preserves – Goyave – on a cracker or cassava bread for dessert or a sweet snack. The taste is unlike any I have had before, so sweet,  the fruit sort of melts in your mouth and when the syrup runs you can’t help but make a quick stab at your hand with your tongue. It’s that yummy.

But ya know, I am not always a sweets person and sometimes I decline for the extra calories. I thought it was interesting when Stéphane was so bummed about the last tablespoon devloping a little mold and thus having to be tossed. This is all until I found out that this is a limited time, seasonal delicacy !! It’s even hard to find at the store when it is in season.

Those guys at Pidy are obviously doing several things right. Turns out when you have a truly delicious and unicorn-status jelly you can have your own unicorn-status plot of land.  I recently found out they own the almost-secret-must-know-where-to-turn/unmarked/only-with-4-wheel-drive beach,  Anse a Pirogue, that I visited last month with Stéphane’s cousins and some friends. We were back this past weekend for another very fun day of sun, drinks, and of course freshly grilled meats and eats. This includes conch and fish plucked by the peeps in that boat behind us.  Add lambi (conch) to the delicacies list, twas my first taste and I must say I was quite taken.

Unfortunately I forgot my camera, but also-new-to-PaP Claire Wilkins was prepared, even with a water proof case! and took some great shots.

Special thanks to Olivier and Geneviève Thomas for the wheeeeels : D

& ON THE TOPIC OF THANKS

- Gotta shout out my otherbrother, Jake, for taking the aesthetics of this blog to the next stage. Love the new look.

- I [...]]]> Well I hope all my loves in the states had a great holiday, being thankful for the harvest, and whatever else y’all been blessed with this year.

& ON THE TOPIC OF THANKS

- Gotta shout out my otherbrother, Jake, for taking the aesthetics of this blog to the next stage. Love the new look.

- I am beyond grateful and thankful for all the love I have in my life.

- Thank you to the Thomas’ and Mr. Kuhn Sonson for attending the Thanksgiving feast I insisted on making. It was so nice to share this tradition with you guys : )

The Feast !

SO, more about one of my favorite parts, The Food. Chicken was used instead of turkey because chickens are fresh here, and a turkey would have been frozen, shipped from the US, and well, Stéphane and I agreed chicken > turkey as far as taste. EXCEPT if it’s a fried turkey, which has been a tradition at the Oskows, where I am usually celebrating, for years. I prepared a birdy with thyme butter, the other with bacon drippings – both stuffed with apples and some onion. Stuffing was apple, celery and smoked ham then caramelized shallot and sage mashed potatoes, some autumn succotash, a carrot and cranberry salad with ginger dressing and lastly, bacon-crusted cornbread. Most of the inspiration and recipes came from my favorite magazine, Bon Appetit.

Call me lame, but I don’t really like Pumpkin pie, at all. And I generally like ALL foods. But this worked in my favor as I am not really sure where I’d procure fresh pumpkin for a pie. I made my second key lime pie since I have arrived (Mom’s recipe). It was better than the first, and pretty damn delicious I must say. Sadly, I forgot to take a photo before it was devoured, HA! But I am sure I will make another soon. In fact, Stéphane bet me a key lime pie, and I lost so, I suppose it’s a definite.

Graham crackers haven’t appeared yet so I have been using a Haitian equivalent – Bonbon Tempo – or Tempo (brand) cookies. I found a mix of the coconut and malta flavors works best, you have to reduce the butter a little to make a graham cracker-esque crust. The first pie I made I used limes from our yard but I don’t think we’ll get enough from the tree again for a while. NOTE – All limes, sitwon, in Haiti, are what Americans consider the “key lime” – little, perfectly round guys.

Happy Thanksgiving

From left: Max THomas, Roselyn Thomas, me, Sonson Kuhn, Stéphane, Joelle Thomas

Add a bottle of wine or two and we were set. Stuffed to the gills by 6:30 pm : D

I am waiting for Stéphane to get back with more gas – we ran out this morning !! – so I can [...]]]> I am oddly thankful to be missing so much right now. I hope my family and friends have a wonderful, happy, and delicious holiday today – I will be thinking of you all.

I am waiting for Stéphane to get back with more gas – we ran out this morning !! – so I can get started on our own Thanksgiving feast. Check back for results and photos of the work ; )

LOVE