Week 12

“Bouche nen ou pou bue dlo santi.”

-Pinch you nose to drink the stinky water.

“Make concessions.”

As the end to my time here draws nearer and nearer I feel the time I have left slipping through my fingers and the idea that I am going to be leaving everyone in just three weeks feels less than real. Time flies because of how busy I keep!

Last Sunday I went downtown to Place Boyer (a big park in down town Port au Prince) to an art and food exhibition with Dana and Francs, to check out our friend Wesley's work. Wesley is one of our UCLA scholarship students and I have known him for a long time. It was a real treat to see how his artistic abilities have progressed over the years. Though he studies translating and hopes to work one day in tourism, he is incredibly talented and sells his crafts to help support his family. I got to meet his mother, brother, and girlfriend and it was so awesome to get to meet all these people that are such a big part of his life.

As always, the week included a lot of class and time spent at the orphanage. I also worked on some flyers for the vocational school's graduation ceremony, advertising all of the classes and programs offered in hopes of recruiting new students. I have added two 2 hour classes on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings to accommodate an older crowd that want to come and learn but cannot come in the morning. Several of the CESAH teachers come as well, wanting to learn and improve English skills. Some of them bring their kids, and we just set them down in a corner with a box of crayons and paper and they're set to go! It has been really fun and challenging to add these new classes and discover the difference between how these two age groups learn.

Over the weekend I got to attend Francs' cousin's wedding, my first wedding at the auditorium as an actual guest! It was super wild to see how their marriage ceremonies differ from ours. First and foremost being: other women can wear white! When I saw the first woman with a white dress I gasped, but then I saw at least 5 others in white. Dana laughed when I asked her about it, "Most brides don't care. But I'm definitely not letting anyone else wear white to my wedding." The ceremony included a 10 minute musical performance by the brides good friend( who was an interesting choice for entertainment), musical theater as bridesmaids danced down the aisle, and so many other things that seemed so strange and different to me! And then of course came the best part: the food. The auditorium business caters weddings and events as well and I have always loved the food they put together. I'm definitely going to miss Nancy's fried accra when I am back.