Category Archives: Things I Don’t Understand

Hard

It has been difficult here for the past few days.  There have been a lot of people asking for food.  They are coming to the hospital compound because we are giving out food, just not to everyone.  They are coming … Continue reading

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Conflict

Irish volunteers come together to build a new community in Haiti260 Irish volunteers are pouring their sweat and money into building homes for hundreds of impoverished Haitian families.   Stories like this always cause conflicting emotions for me.  On the … Continue reading

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Observations

I know I’ve written about confidentiallity but can’t for the life of me remember if I’ve ever written about privacy and gossip before. Maybe I’ve just thought about writing about it. There’s an aspect of the culture that is intriguing, … Continue reading

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Confidentiality

There’s a huge cultural difference between us privacy-obsessed North Americans and Haitians. And you are especially aware of it if you work in healthcare. When I worked in a hospital in the US I had to sign agreements of confidentiality … Continue reading

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Ti Kochon

Ti kochon te mande manman li “Poukisa nou gen bouch long?”Manman li te reponn “Le ou grandi, ou pral konprann”.I’m still trying to figure this one out. It’s not really a proverb, but a Haitian saying that translates as: The … Continue reading

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Se Konsa

I kind of like getting up at 5 am here. It’s not light yet, and things are just starting to stir on the hospital compound. Mostly I hear people going to the washing area to bathe or use the latrines. … Continue reading

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Breakfast of Champions

This is how my anonymous friend, we’ll call him “J.P.”, maintains his fabulously svelte physique.

Posted in Fun and Games, Haiti Food, Life and Death, Living in Haiti, People, Silly Fluff, Things I Don't Understand | Leave a comment

Things I Don’t Understand, Part 1

This may become on ongoing series of posts, because sometimes Haiti is just a little strange to me. I was walking out of the hospital compound yesterday when I saw two young men I knew standing under a tree, looking … Continue reading

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Etiquette

I walked out to the fork in the road in Gaspar this morning while the air was cool. Many people were headed to market with their goods and animals, so the road was busier than usual for that time of … Continue reading

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Sitting in Traffic

Something happened in PaP last week that hasn’t left me. I feel that I should have responded differently. When I think of how it looked, I feel sick. I hesitate to write about it in case I’m misunderstood. We were … Continue reading

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