While they were on the street shopping, Dorothy and I went to the Digicel store to find a new cell phone for her. While we were in the store I was trying to read the signs in French, figure out prices in Goudes, and understand what people were saying. Suddenly, I felt very overwhelmed, and I've been trying to unwind all day. I think it is a combination of everything that I saw yesterday and being somewhere that I don't know the language or culture. It has been over a week since I got here and I'm realizing just how much there is to learn about life in Haiti. When I'm inside the safe walls of Dorothy's house, I feel like I'm adjusting and learning the language well, but as soon as we get out into the city, I realize how much more there is to learn. I start to look at the big picture, and get scared and overwhelmed. I realize that If I want to stay sane, I just can't do that. I have to take baby steps and just go day by day. But, for someone who likes to be independent, that is difficult. It made me feel slightly better when Dorothy laughed and told me she is still trying to learn the language, culture, and roads in Haiti and she has been here over 6 years.
When I was here in 2008, I didn't feel any pressure to learn everything about the country and language because I knew I would only be here for a week. Now, because this is something that I may do long term, I feel like I have to learn EVERYTHING. Luckily, I'm not homesick and I'm still having a great time. I just need to realize that I can't learn everything right away, and that's okay.
To take my mind off of things and unwind, I painted with the kids on the porch. They loved it. I'm not sure if some of them ever painted before. I had to laugh because the boys shared one set of watercolors and the girls shared another. When they were all finished, the girls' paint was still neat and clean and the boys colors were all mixed together in a greenish brown mess, ha!
Mich was pretty pitiful today. His face is all swollen on one side. We thought maybe his 12 year molars were coming in, but we looked in his mouth and it looks like a tooth needs to be pulled. I could tell he didn't feel good because he barely spoke all day, and he didn't want to play. Around dinner time, he came in my room and curled up on my bed. Mama Dorothy gave him some medicine for the pain and called the dentist. Unfortunately, there are no American dentists that we know of and the Haitian doctors don't always do the best job. The medicine made him tired and he fell asleep on my bed.
I've been trying to speak in what little Creole I know, as often as I can. I get so excited when I can talk a little bit with the kids and we actually understand each other. Dorothy said that Creole isn't really much of a language. It is basically French for the lazy person. The more educated people here speak French. It is the official language here, but since I took Spanish in high school, that doesn't help me much! It is a little difficult to learn Creole because there are few resources to help you learn. I'm glad that I have a Creole-English dictionary because it helps to have a visual of the words that I am learning.
I appreciate all of your prayers so much, friends!
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