Day 4: "Gourdes, souple"

I've been working on my Haitian Creole, but so far the only thing I've perfected is "I don't speak Creole" - "mwen pa pale kreyòl". I guess that's pretty important though!

Day 3 (Friday) was a bit better in clinic. Got to work with a beautiful little 2 year old boy - I can't even explain how sweet and loving all of these children are!! One little girl, who was probably about 6, came up to me on her crutches - she had a below knee amputation after the earthquake. She sat right on my lap and began talking to me in Creole, trying to explain and gesture that she had just been fit for a prosthetic leg. I managed to tell her that I don't speak Creole, and she starting talking SO slowly to try to get me to understand. Even without us speaking the same language, we managed to play catch & hide and go seek. 

Friday night was the last night in the guest house for 2 people from MIT who were here delivering wheelchairs that they had designed. We decided to go out for a drink, and ended up at a hotel called Montana. It was further up the mountain than where we're staying, so we had an awesome view of the valley below. Also saw some crazy heat lightening and got to listen to local music and watch people dance. I will definitely be revisiting that place!

patio bar at hotel montana

Today we decided to go to the supermarket after breakfast to get a few supplies for the week. It's a fairly Americanized market, but with lots of local Haitian touches (including armed guards at all the doors). I grabbed a few snacks, then realized that I only had US dollars. After a lot of hand gestures and terrible attempts at French & Creole by me, the cashier understood that I wanted Haitian gourdes back for change.  

140 gourde, or $3.32 USD

1 US dollar is the equivalent of about 40 gourde. I spent the rest of the day reading by the pool and trying to learn more Creole, including "how much" and "I'm sorry I don't understand". Maybe I'll get the hang of it by November...

xo