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 Stéphane checking out the view of Saut D'eau Sunday we went on an excursion to the center of Haiti. The destination was one of the most famous natural wonders the country has to offer, a water fall, Saut D’eau. Saut – meaning fall and d’eau – of water. The waterfall is famed for its healing powers – the surrounding town is the home of one of Haiti’s most revered saints, Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Additionally, we saw evidence of voodoo rituals having taken place there.
 Apparently this still water runs (deep) into Saut D'eau... not sure how true that is. Once again we had local friends help us scale the powerful, gushing water and slippery, smooth rocks to get right underneath the source. Unfortunately I was not able to bring my camera right up to where we bathed underneath the falling water, but it was a breathtaking sight to stand about two feet from the point of impact and look up.
The water is refreshingly cool, not too much so, and very, very strong. Hold-on-to-something-strong. So strong that my ears were sore for about an hour after. I also felt squeaky-clean for the rest of the day. Word !!
 Saut D'eau If you get here ever, I highly recommend taking the hour and a half drive, bring sneakers to traverse the water fall in. & Warning, you most certainly need an SUV, as is the case with many trips outside the city.
Special thank you to Joelle and Sonson for driving, stopping often and good company
Along the way, we had many beautiful views and scenic stops, also a picnic to close the day. Lots of fun, very cleansing too. : )
 The body of water in the center separates Haiti and the Dominican Republic 
 Some cool light ray action
Helloooooo Everyone!
So, a personal feat. I drove, only about 200 yards, last week, to get some beers at a shop with Stéphane nearby our place. I know, snore, but honestly, driving here is a bit crazy. There are potholes EVERYWHERE and the general rules for driving are: don’t hit anyone and don’t get hit. It is a lot of dodging and quick maneuvering. I also, am scared to damage poor, low-to-the-ground Precious so for now it’s short rides for me. But I just wanted to share that with y’all.
Some footage of the drive into Port-au-Prince coming from the beach (thanks for reminding me I had this on YouTube, Leesh!).
I will try and get more videos up soon, bandwidth-permitting.
PEACE OUT
UPDATE! 28 November – I drove all the way to the office on Delmas 33 , Max gave me a 7.5 out of 10 for performance.
Thank you Gothamist for keeping me up-to-date on my beloved home state. Perusing today I see that The Great Empire of NY is issuing new license plates… again! The last time was only in 2001; what gives?
It does not take a genius to read this as the NYS’ way to diminish make a tiny dent in a HUGE budget deficit – the new plates will rake in over $120 million apparently but DMV is disguising this reason with some BS ones.
Max quite pointedly explained that “the states, governments, they learn this stuff from the third world. This is nothing new to us.” Haiti has had five different styles of plates in the last twenty years !!! For quite obviously the same reason that NYS is now…
But I have to point out, I really miss the old, white plates with Lady Liberty. I saw one in Astoria about six months ago and it sent my heart into a nostalgic flutter.
Below are some shots of Haitian license plates – courtesy of www.worldlicenseplates.com – the last is ours, on Precious.
 '89 - '92  '93 - '97  '98 - '02  '03 - '05 (?)  Current
 Front gate of 2 Clercine 17   A palm tree in the yard. Photos of our home were by special request from my girl Lisa ; ) But I’ll keep ‘em coming as we do some repairs and cosmetic adjustments !
 Junior, our bug scarfing friend 
 Machin la - Our precious
Creole, or as it is natively spelled, Kreyol, is one of the two official languages of Haiti (the other being French). In actuality, it is estimated that only about 15% of Haiti’s population speak French fluently. So for most purposes, one living in Haiti needs a good understanding of Kreyol. French is the designated language for official documents of state, etc.
I have been searching for a tutor in Kreyol, surprisingly, or not, there does not seem to be any school here and the one tutor I found was overcharging. So for now, I will begin my studies in two ways. Fortunately for me, Stéphane’s generation was one of the first in Haiti to be taught a proper, standardized, written form of Kreyol in school. Before then there hadn’t been “rules” for spelling. So, we’ve ordered some materials and very soon I will be under the tutelage of one Professor S. Thomas.
Additionally, and this is very lucky, on a Google search for “learn creole, haiti” I came across a website called Haiti Hub which was beginning discussion groups/classes on Skype last week! FOR FREE  Friday night I participated with one other student and our teacher, Carlo, they are both on the Pacific side of the U.S. – gotta love technology. It was helpful and fun – we spent an hour learning some of the very basics, a few I knew already just from osmosis but I will share some below with you!
Koman ou ye? – How are you?
Mwen Byen. – I am well.
Pa pi mal (gras a dieu). – Not too bad (thank the lord).
Koman ou rele? – What is your name
Mwen rele Hana. – My name is Hana.
M’ap aprann kreyol.
I am learning creole.
*Creole is a phonetic language, this means that words are pronounced exactly as they are spelled. Forget all the French pronunciation rules you may think apply. Also – there are no Hs standing alone, thus my name is pronounced as Ana.
Lastly, Stéphane found this great online dictionary for English–>Creole and Creole–>English, in case you’re curious.
 Prestige: The Haitian King Of Beers  The plantain field we drove through Ahhh. Fresh off a beach excursion this weekend and feeling pretty good. Yesterday was All Saint’s Day so we were off. Sunday was a gorgeous day at the beach. To get there we drove for an hour down one road, made a left, drove through some plantain farms, along someones large plot of land complete with gorgeous private beach house (gated off of course) to a small parking area. Upon our arrival many “friends” (local boys) came to carry our bounty down to the beach and when it was time to pack up, back. Of course one tips.
Once there, I can honestly say I was met with one of the top 5 most beautiful ocean views I have ever scene.
More pictures from my stay, nearby Anse a Pirogue, two summers ago. Incuding various other shots from Haiti.
Bonjou & thanks for visiting my blog : )
 View of Port-au-Prince from the plane I will be sharing my adventures, misadventures, learnings, tastes, kreyol vocabulary, thoughts and photos here as I begin my life in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
For those who do not know, I live with Stéphane, my boyfriend, and his father, Jean-Max. We have a maid, her name is Yaya. This is something I have never experience before, but more on maid service in Haiti later.
So far, so very good, one week in. However, the most major drawback is the incredible amount of mosquito bites I have acquired. I am not exaggerating in the least when I say it looks like someone lost minesweeper on my legs. The count is somewhere around 70 I believe (too sad to count now). BUT! I have been told by many that I am particularly scrumptious to the moustik (mosquitoes) because I am fresh blood. So let us hope that as I absorb the smells of PaP and begin to sweat out a more Haitian diet I will be rid of these pesky bastards. (DEET is helpful but amazingly not as much as one hopes from something with a so many warnings on the bottle)
On to happier and more enjoyable findings. A list of some deliciousnesses I enjoy:
Avocados – perfectly ripe, almost daily
Spiced peanut butter – called Manba, barely spicy, fresh
Haitian ketchup, “La Famosa” – fresher and as Stéphane put it, maybe not the best in the world but better than Heinz
Kafe (espresso) - with just a little sugar, preferred brand REBO
Griyo - fried pork
Fritay Party - fried food party! more on this and griyo later
I am hesitant to write too much on what I have come to find so far as I am sure that my knowledge on all subjects will be constantly updated. So to start, some facts: Port-au-Prince is a city of roughly 3 million, it is the capital of Haiti, the country’s international airport where I arrived, Toussaint Louverture, is located here. The roosters wake up at roughly 5:30 every morning, there are many of them by our house. It has rained almost every day in the evening since I arrived which I am told is a little unusual for this time of year. The average daytime temperature is 80s, little muggy, partly sunny – sunny. The roads are in pretty bad shape and there are few lights. Driving is an entirely different game. The good news is because the roads are so bad no one drives all that fast, but it’s an odd conglomeration of just watch out for yourself and being mindful of the whims of the other drivers and buses.
Although it is a concrete jungle there are plenty of trees and plants that are foreign to me as city-living plants. We have a banana tree, almond tree, and bamboo in our garden. The neighbors have an avocado tree that thankfully drops some goodies in our yard occasionally ; )
UPDATE: Monday, Stéphane actually showed me more stock at our place – a cherry tree, mango tree, and lime tree (we actually picked a lime and used it in a bloody mary, yumm).
I will provide tons of photo documentation of many of the aforementioned findings in the coming weeks. But for now I leave you with a typical 5pm view from the back of Stéphane and Max’s printing company, Jonto S.A.
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