D'oh!

I'm trying to put a video up on here, but the computer's giving me grief, so I'm just going to wait on that one.

But anyhow, it's Christmas in January for me. I got a box of goodies from the fam today. I asked my mom for two shirts. I got four, of course. Plus beef jerky and chocolate (which arrived a little melty, but still so good).

My friend Heather asked a question in an e-mail a couple weeks ago - do you have many opportunities to meet 'regular' hatians?

It's one of those simple questions with a complicated answer. The Haitians I work with in the office everyday are not really part of the elite, but they're certainly not poor. They're part of the middle class, which is tiny in Haiti - who knows, maybe even smaller than the upper class. The thing is, poor people can't really leave, and most of the wealthy elite must stay because Haiti is the source of their wealth, though they usually send their kids abroad to study. The middle class is that group of people that both wants to and is able to move away. But plenty do stay, like the folks I work with. Pretty fun group. I'll give a video office tour some other time.

Beyond that, it's tough. I like talking to the woman I buy grapefruit from or the barbecue master I buy chicken from on occasion. But for getting to know people my age, so far I've been restricted to meeting friends of friends. And they're great, but they're all coming from that same small sector as the people I work with. The poorest population of Port-au-Prince is kind of off-limits. One of the first things that happened in my in-country orientation was looking at a big map of the city. My supervisor pointed out a swath of land, the four inches closest to the water for the whole length of the waterfront - a huge area - and said, "this is the no-go zone."

It's true that kidnappings have been pretty bad, and it's a good idea to be careful. But there's something about the phrase "no-go zone" that's inherently frustrating. It would be hard enough to establish any kind of real friendship with someone living in the "no-go zone" for any number of difficult social reasons. But add to it the fact that these people live somewhere white people almost never, ever go without automatic weapons. I'm hopeful for change in this category. In three years' time, there's a good chance the UN will be out of here, and I feel like that will be a good thing.