Peace Corps Haiti

Tonight we are in St. Marc at the hotel Gou-T. I am failry tired tonight because I didn’t get much sleep last night. I had diarrhea today and we wlked around St. Marc for a long time. I am writing basically because I wan to record something that one of the tech trainers said on our way to Montrois. Sebastian was talking about what he thought of Haiti and I was interested to understand his pride. He said, “Haiti is small, but we are important and Haiti is poor but we are good.”

Third day and second night in the town of Montrois. We are staying in Le Xaragua which is considered luxurious by Haitian standards. It is luxurious because it has running water, toilets electricity, phone, a tv and a pool.
We have been through 2 days of orientation and I think all of us are thoroughly scared of contracting an infectious disease. We can’t drink the water out of the taps and we’re not supposed to walk on the bare floor for fear of hook worm. There is a list of about 0 disease we could contract and it seems like every one of them are supposed to give you diarrhea. We are going to get our shots tomorrow – I should be getting about six.
I don’t miss home or my friends and family yet. I am most concerned with my health and being able to communicate with my family when I meet them on Sunday.

Bonjou tout moun,

I am writing you form Port-au-Prince, Haiti under unfortunate circumstances. I have had diarrhea for about 2 weeks now and I have also had a fever and I have not been eating. So needles to say, I needed some medical attention. I was brought here to P-au-P yesterday to get some tests done. Luckily, I was able to commandeer a computer here in Peace Corps headquarters. This is a very rare thing and I have no idea how often I will be able to get to a computer. Once I become a volunteer I think I will be able to get to a computer once every few months. So what’s up the the Diarrhea? I don’t know. They don’t know either but I have sent samples to D.C. and a lab here. Hopefully, we will find out soon so I can return to my site. Almost everyone has recovered from their first round of the brown wrath. The few people who got Denge Fever have also recovered. Denge is really going around this year because the rainy season was very long this year so there are a lot of mosquitoes. So do I miss the U.S.? Yeas and no. I have been missing her a lot lately because I have been very sick so all I want is to be comfortable. No such luck here in Haiti. Haiti is a beautiful place though. I am enjoying learning about the culture and improving my language skills. Not being able to communicate well is the most frustrating thing right now. I have written another letter to all of you and I have no idea when you will receive it. I also sent a few people postcards. Don’t feel bad if you didn’t get a postcard though. As Haiti is not a big coutry for tourism I am hard pressed to find any postcards. I am lucky to be here in P-au-P. Last night I had cable tv. I got to watch Monday night football and I watched some Sportcenter this morning. All of the guys back in my training site are going to be very jealous. That will probably be all the sports I will watch for quite a while though. Hopefully, I will not have to come back here for a medical again. Besides not feeling well, riding for 3 hours in an suv, no road rules, and Pierre driving, the trip here isn’t exactly enjoyable. Next week I am visiting a volunteer site. I met the volunteer whom I will be visiting at the hotel last night. I will get to see the only remaining forest in Haiti next week. He also said that it is relatively cool there — 65-75 degrees. I’m looking forward to that. Well I think I have said enough for now. I miss you al. Take care. Na tande pita. Maso

First day of the adventure. Flew out of South Bend this morning to Chicago and on to Miami. Arrived in Miami at about 11:30 and had lunch. The rest of the day was spent in meetings for staging. I like most of the people in my training group so far. We leave for Port au Prince tomorrow at 11:30. I am battling a sinus infection and I hope I feel better tomorrow.