Monica and I have been getting more and more daring. Tuesday we left the convent on our own! It isn’t as though it’s all that dangerous out there but we just don’t know how to communicate.
We started off at the little Haitian boutique shop that sells haitian goods from all over the country. It's an awesome little store and I go there to get cards for the states when we have visitors. After the store we walked up a street we'd never been down before. The key to this adventure is having the silly american grin and saying hello to EVERYONE. Yes I do mean everyone. Cars, cats, dogs, goats, and most importantly the Haitians who have some how figured out that we are crazy...
We always pick up a few Kineps on our walk (like a grape but with a skin). We eat a few and give the rest away as a bribe for people to get close to us. It isn't very hard because the streets are narrow and I'm fairly fast...
Today we managed to run into a few kids who live down the street. This made my day/week soo much better. For some reason kids don’t scare me. It might be their tiny stature... I mean it's like David and Goliath and these kids don't have a sling. However they do have a curiosity that sparks some crazy trigger in me and I instantaneously become fun. One of these kids wanted to race. Needless to say I started running up the hill and he just stood there watching… An expression crossed his face like… “WHAT HE WANTS TO PLAY?” So we ran, not far, not fast but it was a new connection for me and this kid. Hopefully the next time he sees a blan he is just as courageous as he was this time.
This moment will always mean something to me and I hope to him. It was a lesson in communication. When I can't use my voice I can always rely on my feet to get my message across.
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