Extreme Luthierism- Haiti Day 2

Haiti- Day 2 “Language Barrier? What language barrier!?” I wake up early this morning feeling pretty bad. I am not sick or anything, I am just feeling so out of place. Two big trips, back to back, I think, was a mistake. Ecuador took so much out of me.....all in a wonderful, great way, but it left me feeling emotionally and physically depleted. Of course, I blame Njål and all my new Tango friends for the physical part!! :) Anyway, I should know better than to come to a place like this so drained. When I woke up this morning, I just lay on that hard floor, with unbelievably loud noise coming in the open windows and thought, "Seriously, Anna....what the hell have you done". I just feel so low.   BUT......I am not so down that I have forgotten two things.....one, this is a life-time opportunity.   And two, I can be of real service here.   Oh, and a third thing....I asked for this.     So.....I will work on my attitude and I will come around. I suspect by early afternoon, I will be my old cheery self again. :)   For now, we are walking to the market down the street to change our US dollars into Gourds. We leave our house and immediately walk by a tent city. It is a bit overwhelming. There are people selling all kinds of things on the streets, and the atmosphere is somewhat chaotic! Traffic consists of tap-taps, cars, motorcycles and the occasional UN truck with machine guns on the back, all vying for the 2 free feet of space on the road. Steve, one of the violin teachers here is wonderful....he gently pulls me back each time I step out into the road. It will be a miracle if I don't get run over!!     The market was small, but interesting and had just about anything you could want...from rum to frozen Friday's Potato Skins. My favorite part, however, was standing in front of the cleaning products with Rob and the others, studying the Ajax, furniture polish and muriatic acid. We are trying to figure out what we can use to clean instruments and bows, and I have to laugh when Robert turns to me and says, 'This really is extreme luthier-ism!"    I, for one, can see why this wouldn't be for some luthiers!! But for me, this is great! I do love the whole, 'fly by the seat of your pants' thing. However, I do suspect that by the end of the week, I will be putting face plates on bows, using plastic milk cartons. My bow teachers may just die..... :) :)   Oh well, off to fix some bows!!     So, it turns out that I was right........It is now almost six and I feel somewhat better. I spent the day teaching two men, Tchoupy and Reginald, how to rehair bows. Without any interpreter after lunch, it got really difficult!! When I originally sent off the email to volunteer for this, I said that I do not speak the language, but that that wouldn’t be a problem. My dad said to me, “don’t you mean that you HOPE that won’t be a problem?“. To which I replied confidently, “No, that will not be a problem”. Well, he might have had a point!! You try explaining the angles of a bow tip mortise using nothing but sign language and my questionable drawing skills!!     And to top it all off, every time I try to say 'Oui' I say 'Si'. I have a lot of gifts and talents, but languages is not one of them. And actually, a lot of people here don't really understand my French so well. Could be because I haven't spoken it in 20 years! But they all speak Kreyol which is now officially the hardest language I have ever attempted. It sounds like a cross between French and Swahili, which should make it fairly do-able for me, but the accent is really giving me a hard time. I will keep working on it!! After dinner.....which for the record, they set out at 3:30, even though we do not eat til 7:30........in 98 degree heat....... Needless to say, I am not touching the meat here!! :)   Anyway...after dinner, almost the whole group went for a drink several blocks away at a kind of upscale place. It is strange, you walk by tent cities and it appears that there is abject poverty everywhere. Then, out of no where, there will be a really nice place. Everyone tells me that Petionville, which is where we are working, was the nicest suburb in Port au Prince. As a result, there are these anomalies tucked away....a wonderful hotel with a swimming pool, a beautiful restaurant, a little market. All I know is that if my mother and father could see me walking through the dark streets of Haiti at 9:00 at night, dodging motorbikes and rubble, they would NOT be happy. But I am one of 14 people so I feel pretty ok about it. :)     Once again, for the umpteenth time in the last few weeks, I find myself sitting at a table with a big group of people laughing and talking over each other in different languages. I am sitting next to Bernard, a violinist my age from Paris and we are exchanging stories about traveling. He is wonderful, wonderful and offers to go with me to the market to buy some souvenirs. Between him and Steve, my traffic guardian, I feel like I am starting to have some friends here.    My first full day in Haiti is finished and I am interested to see what the rest of it holds. For now, as I brush the millionth mosquito away, I just really hope I get home without malaria!! :) :) Bonswa, Anna

Comments

[fun run]

Haiti's disaster was really a mind blowing one. The people there are really poor and it is good to know that a lot of people especially in the United States have helped the victims.