Sienna at the beach

Hello!! I'm so sorry I missed so many days. The beach had no internet, then when we came home the internet was busted. I meant to catch up this afternoon but instead spent a frustrating two hours completing an alcohol edu thing for school. Anyway...(just so you know this keyboard has no enter key. So one big wall of text for you guys. Enjoy) I left off at the beach. The night before we left Shelley mentioned that she would love to leave around seven, but realistically we probably couldn't get out the door until eight, just know that fifteen people and their stuff and food would have to be packed up first. The three youngest and most impatient children on the trip were sitting in the back of the pickup asking "when are we leaving?" way before the adults had finished packing, unpacking, and repacking the four coolers full of food several times. I could include many details of our long battle to get out the door, but just know that all fifteen of us, our backpacks containing 3 days' clothes, and enough food for all of us for three days all drove to Zanglais in one medium sized pickup truck. The bed of the truck had a layer of all the backpacks, then we sat on top. Nine of us, anyway. Did I mention this was a five hour drive? Every few minutes water, bread, and fried plaintains were passed back through a window. It was nice for about 90 minutes...after that I tried to pretend I didn't exist.

But man oh man was it worth the permanent damage to our tailbones. We stayed in a house at the top of a hill overlooking the shore. It was probably 20 degrees cooler than Port au Prince and gorgeous...trees and grass (grass in Haiti!) When we first walked down to the beach I was surprised to hear a BLEH-H-H-H coming from some disgruntled goats who didn't like having to share their beach with us. The sand there is darker than most beaches, but fine and soft and free of shells and rocks. I spent most of my time in Zanglais at the beach (gee, really?) On our second morning there we saw several boys pulling in a fishing net. It took them forever, I mean hours. They were reeling in more and more and more rope for the entire morning. Gradually more people came to help them pull in an endless amount of rope. It wasn't until the afternoon that they finally pulled their net in, which had 300-400 sizable fish in it, including a swordfish!

The boys' (and I mean the Tlucek boys: Dom who is eight, Ben and Joe who are ten, and a friend Jeff who is fourteen. Oh and their 12 year old sister Katie) favorite activity is bogey boarding on the waves. I was their chaperone for most of the time because the adults wanted some quiet time. So I jumped over waves, or sometimes they jumped over me.

So the beach wasn't EVENTFUL, really, but it was marvelous. I forgot to tell you how my face was black with dirt and sweat and sunscreen and bugspray after the car ride and I was STILL burned to a crisp, but I photographed it and will let the world know later.

Friday, the day after we went to the beach, I got to go to St. Vincent's at last. It was bittersweet because it was only a one day visit, and usually I get to spend several days there. But I was very grateful to be able to visit at all. Pere Sadoni (the director, and my mom and I's friend) told me that it was the last day of a camp for the deaf kids that some Americans had organized. Marvelous! I was very excited to talk to them about how it went, which activites they had planned, how they organized the program, but my lack of knowledge of sign language caught up with me again: the Americans were deaf. They read lips pretty well but I didn't pursue a lengthy conversation. I spent most of the day playing the violin for anyone who cared to listen. My friend Mackenson, who plays guitar, had an essential elements book one with a lot of easy treble clef stuff in it, so we played several songs together for a few hours; it was great. I talked to Clauricianne for an hour or so, a much needed practice session for my creole. Frenel told me that he has la grippe, something I feel like I recall him saying last time also...

Pere Sadoni took me out to lunch at the Plaza hotel, a place I've never been before, but my mom and her medical team are planning to stay there in November. It was truly luxurious: indoors, so many fans it felt like air conditioning, real paper menus instead of handwritten posterboard scrawl, and soda. With ice. To die for.

When I returned to the school in the afternoon, after a few more hours of music and catching up with Clauricianne and Mackenson, the Americans had a party for the deaf kids. It was quite a feast: every kid and parent or guest got a full meal with rice and beans, chicken, potato salad, lasagna, and noodles, and a drink of choice, and a generous slice of cake. The volunteers who had run the camp said a few words; the one American who wasn't deaf told the deaf American, in English, what he wanted her to say. She signed it to the group, then Pere Sadoni translated her sign into Creole for the non deaf guests. So english to sign to creole. It was very St. Vincent's. I was sad to leave but so grateful that I had been able to visit my friends at the school, even if just for one day.

Finally caught up to today, Saturday! Slept in again, this time until eight (I really am getting atrociously lazy). The Tluceks have a new building that they want to get ready so that some of the Haitian children that are living in their house can live in the new childrens' home instead, get some good structure, and hopefully give the Tluceks a little more peace (ha, ha). So today we cleaned. We went through bins, boxes, and duffel bags. We sorted, folded, and threw out a ton of stuff. Shelley hires a staff to help her clean and organize the house, except much of the time that staff apparently crams things into boxes and hides them in a corner to get them out of the way, hoping Shelley won't notice. That's how the Tluceks got their growing corners filled with mystery items: bags and bags of huge bolts of fabric, missing drills, rosters from camp, music books, coloring books, science books, beads, did I mention TONS of fabric?? I also went through hundreds of bathing suits today and carefully arranged them according to gender and size before cramming them back into a bin again. I also offered to make curtains for the new childrens' home, with assistance...let's hope that goes well tomorrow.

In the midst of writing this note I had to stop and kneel by the two little girls sleeping on the floor of my room and try to coax them to sleep with some hymns, which did NOT work so I uprooted myself and the borrowed computer into the foyer in the hopes that the darker lighting would get them to sleep. Of course at this point I still haven't taken my shower, so I'll have to either turn the light on in there and risk waking them up or search for my clothes and soap in the dark, which is what I'll likely do...

Last fun tidbit of the evening. I cut up mangoes for dinner tonight...MAN is that a sticky, messy job. Mango up to my elbows. The front of my shirt is still COVERED in the stringy yellow stuff. I tried to take a picture but it looked like a myspace angle shot, so just use your imagination.

When I am doing something here in Haiti I imagine ways to get various friends involved. I just want to include everyone so they can enjoy it as much as I do. I think, I could think up some prograo do with this, and get this person to help...Or, wouldn't she be good at this? This person would love playing with the baby, Onaldia. This person could pick up Creole really well. This person could cook for the whole house. May sound strange, but I miss you guys and think of you constantly!! Careful, I may try to drag you down here with me next time.

P.S. during closing prayer after dinner the baby started banging a pot on the floor, lol

sent in by Sienna Nelson

day 2 in Haiti- Sienna

Editor's note: Sienna posted this on Facebook and I am just now getting it to the blog. Apologies. This post was from Monday night, I believe, Aug 8.

I slept in today. Until 7:30 that is. Everyone else woke up at four so I was a little behind. I made my first pitcher of powdered milk and then did dishes for two hours or so (it's amazing how long it takes with so many people). I also scrambled eggs for three of the boys. Let's just say cooking on a propane gas stove in Haiti gives meaning to the phraose slaving over a hot stove. I tried to keep my sweat from dripping into the food, although the boys did mention the eggs were a little salty, so...
The most eventful part of today was grocery shopping, which may sound trivial, but Tlucek/Haitian style makes you feel like you've just done a triathlon. We went shopping in Petionville, which is about ten miles from the house. So, a two hour drive in 5:00 traffic (yes, they have it here too). We warmed up by going to a gas station, then trekked further up the mountain to a store called Giant Supermarket. May not have been giant by our standards but it was certainly high end, looked as clean and organized as any Kroger. I learned a bit about the cost of living in Haiti: double, triple what it is in the states. Everything is imported and it's outrageously expensive. A jar of mayonnaise? Eleven dollars. (Interruption - everyone is currently frantically running around trying to deal with a bird that has gotten stuck under one of the boys' beds, ha) But ELEVEN DOLLARS? I was shocked. I couldn't believe living in Haiti could cost more than living in the US. I asked Shelley about it and she said they spend about $30 a night just keeping the generator running...and that's just at night, for fans I guess. But power, water, food, everything cost a ton. The Tluceks live entirely off donations...yikes. Being a missionary is tough.
I also learned a bit about the history of some of the teenage boys staying with the Tluceks. They all moved in after the earthquake. One boy, who is fifteen now, was injured in the earthquake, and after a week of no treatment his fracture got infected. He spent nine months in a hospital in the US and had no less than 11 surgeries. He's fifteen. I never would have known because he looks perfectly healthy. I asked him how to cut a mango today actually and he looked at me like I was joking. Perhaps it was deserved.
Oops, power is flickering.
ANYWAY. We didn't just go to the Giant Supermarket, which had products written in French, English, Spanish, and Arabic, but no Creole...we also went to two other grocery stores and a bakery. No big deal, right? Well you try it. BIG DEAL. Especially since the mountain roads are sort of terrible and my head was consistently banging against the side of the truck. That was more amusing than anything, though, and I was glad to see Petionville again. Oh, they also have a guard with a full sized rifle outside every grocery store.
Tomorrow we are going to Zanglais, the beach! I had a semi difficult time packing just two days of clothes in my little backpack, since 15 of us are going and we don't need my giant suitcase taking up all that room. Hot dogs and mangoes for dinner tonight...I might have some follow up mangoes before I go to bed. Love those things.
In case you guys are wondering when the productivity will begin, when we get back from the beach we're going to start moving into the children's home...I think the Tluceks have a new building they need to set up. So I won't just be lounging...mostly not anyway. Orevwa pou kounye a! (byebye for nooooow)Sent from my iPhone sent in by Sienna Nelson

Sienna Day 2 in Haiti

Despite much anxiety the flight(s) yesterday were completely smooth. My bag was right there at the baggage claim, and Shelley, the lady whose family I'm staying with, was right outside the airport exit to pick me up.
The Tlucek house is a little crazy. There are Shelley and Byron, the couple who run the house, and their six children. There are also two sisters, a one year old and five year old, who arrived just yesterday too. Then there are four other boys...one five year old and three teenagers. Plus the group of thirteen people that has been here for a week already, and two teenage girls who work and live in the house also. Plus at least two local friends who are visiting. Oh and I forgot two other volunteers who have been here all summer, and another girl who just arrived on Tuesday...yeah... last night we had 38 people for dinner! and apparently the week before I came it was 48. Keep in mind this house is about the size of mine.

I just missed English camp, a six week program where they had 250 kids here every day! The people here are exhausted. I wanted to find a way to be helpful so when I woke up this morning I washed dishes for what seemed like four hours. I did all the dishes from dinner the night before, and then we had lunch and I did those dishes too. But every time I walk in the kitchen the sink is still piled high!We went to a metal works village today, which is not actually a village but a gated area with about 20 shops full of handmade metal pieces. I was glad to hear we were going somewhere because I was eager to get out and see the city but I didn't think I would be too impressed by the things I saw or want to buy anything, because I'd seen a lot of this stuff before in the cathedral giftshop and street vendors' wares. But I was amazed. The first room I walked into, all four walls were completely covered in metal arkwork: trees, lizards, mermaids, suns, animals, everything. Some were purely decorative but some had hooks for hanging stuff, or mirrors, which I fell in love with. I walked into every shop looking at the different mirrors: circular, rectangular, heart shaped, with birds on the border or palm trees or sun rays. Small mirrors, HUGE mirrors (which I loved but no way I could fit in a suitcase), everything imaginable. I was really annoyed that I had only brought twenty bucks with me. But I got a wonderful chance to practice my Creole and another important Haitian skill: bargaining. I never had to make an offer; I just squinted and said Map panse, I'm thinking. The average asking price I got was about 25. I told all the shopowners I might come back later in the week. I didn't get a mirror, but on the way out I did spot a big sun with swirls for rays that I got for fifteen bucks, which the veteran hagglers congratulated me on.Tomorrow morning the group of thirteen is leaving, so it will be a little quieter around here (but not too much). The day after tomorrow we are going to the beach for three days, which I didn't even know about! I'm so excited, the only Haitian beach I've been to was fabulous. So I'm not industriously building houses or checking blood pressure...I'll just say that I'm learning more about the country. By going to the beach.

Ach I know I'm writing too much but there is so much to say! Funny story...last night I wanted to take my shower so I went into the room I'm sharing with another girl named Grace to get my clothes and soap, etc. But I walked in to find the two sisters passed out on the floor. This is the one and five year old, and because it was there first night sleeping in the Tlucek house, I had been warned not to wake them up. So I couldn't turn the light on, but it was pitch black in my room, plus the combination of fans, cords, bunk beds, and suitcases made walking really difficult. Once I finally got to the shower, the bathroom was tiny. Absolutely miniscule. The whole bathroom was not wide enough for my wingspan, and the shower itself was maybe half the size - maybe - of your average bathroom stall. And you have to climb over the toilet to get into the shower. It was a little difficult.I could tell more stories about navigating my bedroom in the dark without stepping on children but since I've already written a novella I will stop here...or not because I have to talk about how much I miss my friends and family. It didn't hit me until I got here that I'm leaving them for real.

 sent in by Sienna Nelson on Sunday, August 7, 2011 at 9:01pm

Sienna in Haiti

Thanks to all of you for your prayers for Sienna.  I talked with her on the phone this evening.  She is safely settled at the orphanage and happily practicing her Kreyol.  She told me that she and her American host family  are taking a handful of Haitian children to THE BEACH later this week.  A friend of mine commented, "I thought she was going down there to alleviate pain and suffering...."

I am so jealous.  The Haitian beaches are, of course, beautiful just like any other Caribbean beach you have ever been on.  What a wonderful way for Sienna to experience the joys and wonders of Haiti, not just the devastation.  As missioners we sometimes get tunnel vision and think everyone in Haiti is destitute or starving and needs our help.  Of course, there are treasures there that the usual missioner never gets to see.  Pere Sadoni, the priest in charge of St VIncent's School, has been telling me all along that if you only see Port au Prince, you dont know Haiti.

My dream is to one day travel in Haiti outside the big capital city.  Maybe Sienna and I will get to do that together. 

sent in by Susan Nelson