Positivity --> more positivity!

I've been trying to be really positive recently after a period of some darkness and supreme self-pity/hating of Haiti. It has been made much easier by staying in the clinic/house compound and not being bothered by the hell-ish streets, and also has come out of meditating regularly. Making time for some yoga and exercises (looking for excuses to walk upstairs to the clinic, etc) has also been great. Anyway, I notice the more I foster positivity within myself, no matter what happens, I am happier and I am actually given more reasons to be happy because happy positive things just float my way!

Yesterday was a glorious day. A couchsurfer contacted me who I'd met at Carnival and never thought I'd see again, figuring he was just traveling around. He had so much fun apparently, that he decided to stay in Haiti for a couple months (he lives outside of Jacmel in a much nicer part...). He had bought a motor bike and picked me up to head out of Jacmel for the afternoon--YAY!! I felt instantly better upon leaving the chaotic dirty streets for country-side pastures, banana trees, and small towns with people hanging out causally in front of their buildings. The farther away we got, the better it was.

By far my favorite moment was bouncing through a rocky muddy road on some woman's farm on the moto bike and ending at a small beach. We passed all kinds of adorable fluffy baby goats along the way, which pushed me to the edge of giggly mania with each sight of one. Near the beach there were cows hanging out and some people lazily passing the hot afternoon, but other than that, just us and another Couchsurfer who had showed us the way to this amazing place. The three of us did some snorkeling, which was a beautiful surprise--bright blue fish, shocking coral reefs and oddly shaped sea creatures. I was like a kid, and so happy! They said I looked like a fish out there, swimming around for who knows how long. I didn't even realize I was tired or sun burnt until I got out...nor did I feel afraid of the ocean as I normally kind of do, being a midwestern girl and all :) Ahhh it was so great! Then we had dinner at a little nameless "restaurant" outside of someone's home for $3 (very cheap for Haiti; their prices are normally comparable to American, which of course is crazy considering the minimum wage for a non-factory worker is something like $4/DAY).

Ah yes, so I am happy again :) I've realized that the trick for me is #1 pretending to be happy even if I'm not because, the joy catches up shortly #2 visualizing and intending positive outcomes, and watching in amazement as they inevitably manifest #3 just getting out into nature and/or connecting with like-minded people if possible

#3 Reminded me of one of my amazing discoveries during my 9 days without leaving the house/clinic compound which completely inspired and astonished me....We have this incredible vine that grows loofah on it (the sponges you can use to clean your dishes). Not only is the end product lovely--you crack the sponges out of their little casings and there are seeds inside of them which make a sort of soap when wet to clean with!--but the entire plant. I examined how the vines grow up the rocks---reaching out blindly, curling around twigs, inserting themselves and sticking (really sticking) itself into rock crevices, and creeping up the rock wall. It's amazing! When I need inspiration now...I think of that crazy intelligent plant.

OK, these pictures were taken at night (yes, I became that excited about the plant upon writing this); hopefully you can see it's wonderment...check out how it reaches out and attaches itself to whatever it can find...

You know what I really appreciate about Haiti?

Well, when I was 16 I spent a month in Germany with my German class and was delighted to find that they find chocolate and bread to be a suitable breakfast...not until now have I found another culture that agrees with this principle... chocolate + bread (made from cassava) = amazing!! especially when the chocolate is dairy free and made with fresh grated coconut and the cassava bread has Haitian peanut butter (with spices!) spread on it.....mmmmmmmmmmm!

A bad story with a good ending...

The other day, Melinda saw a girl in the market whom she’d recognized from our street. Aside from being filthy, she had bruising over her eye and a large gash on her face. Melinda asked her who did that to her and prodded her about her living situation. It turned out that she was “given” to a family because her family couldn't afford to take care of her. That family basically turned her into their slave. She did not go to school, was not fed well, and was beaten twice a day for not getting her work done quickly enough. Her mom had tried to come visit her on several occasions and the family hid the child away and wouldn’t let her see her. Melinda told the girl that she cared about her and if she wanted to get out that she could help her. They parted ways and Melinda freaked out for a day and a half thinking about her, wondering why she didn’t just get her to come with her right then and there. Thankfully, Ninotte found her in the market the next day and urged her to come back to our house. We fed her and talked to her about her care and her life, assuring her that she deserved better. Then Gwen, a friend of Melinda’s who has taken in 8 Haitian children, came to pick her up. They went to the police station to make a report against the girl’s former “owners” and then the girl went to live at Gwen's, where she will have a loving family, will be able to see her mom whenever they want (or return home if possible), will be fed well, and will play instead of work. Yay!!

Unfortunately human trafficking is a reality here as well as in the US and around the world...I'm glad we could at least help free one person from it...

In other news, tomorrow is Election Day, and I can’t wait to see what happens! Ex President Aristide is back and most people are really happy to have his presence.

Happy St. Patrick's Day...I couldn't feel farther from it here

Funny T-shirts I’ve seen or Reasons to smile in Haiti:

“Kiss me I’m Irish” on a huge Dominican man...this was actually a month ago, before St Patrick's

A tight white muscle tank with silver writing saying “bootyliscious” on a big bellied Haitian dude

“Too much rock for one hand” depicting the devil horns hand, worn by one of the clinic workers

My personal favorite: “Glam. Titty and Hip”

“Not mom, I’m busy.” On a skinny Haitian dude

Other things that I find slightly absurd and amusing: The amazing prevalence (and acceptance or glorification in regards to some) of:

• nipples being seen through shirts (no bra, thin material)
• clearly visible underwear through a nice dress/skirt (like they dress up to look nice and then specifically wear over the top colors or lumpy undies)
• long LONG toenails (possibly fake, because they seem impossibly long)
• muffin tops
• visibly unfitting bras--you can see the woman's breast below, to the sides, and coming out of her bra, and other examples of way way too tight-fitting clothes
• and my personal favorite: nipples/breasts popping out of shirts, and I'm not talking about breastfeeding women, whom I completely support in whipping them out. It is a fact that because of ill-fitting clothing or interesting choices in attire, women's boobs are fairly often popping out of their clothes here: a common occurrance in our midwifery apprenticeship class, sometimes for the aforementioned reasons or sometimes just because the girl thinks it's funny (which of course, it is...).