Does this beard make me look fat?

I'm not sure this "castaway" look was such a good idea after all. The theory of not shaving everyday is great in principal, however... I am at the itching beyond belief phase, and I think it makes me look fat - or maybe I am fat. (I know I need a haircut.)

Of course this could be because I am eating 5 meals a day, and not the "5 small meals" recommended by so many diet programs.

We begin the day at 6:30am with breakfast - usually I have some fresh fruit - not so bad - followed by plain crepes with a bit a local honey - again not too terrible. From here, however, we go rapidly downhill.

Our class starts at 8:00am. Given we are working in the poorest country of the Western Hemisphere, and learning cannot happen when people are hungry, we provide our participants with Petit Dejeuner (small breakfast) at around 9:30am. Well Petit Dejeuner is not always so Petit. It is a traditional breakfast of some nature.

While I have no problem passing up the scrambled eggs with dried herring, on the mornings when "espagature" (a Frenchified Creole word ) is served I cannot resist. Who would ever have thought a simple sauce of onions, garlic, tabasco and - here's the best part - ketchup could be so delicious! Add to that slices of fried hot dog and Kel Sipris! (Quelle Surprise!) Manifik! (Manifique!) So hard to resist I seldom can and the slide from a healthy breakfast has begun in full force.

Lunch at 12:00pm brings another dilemna. To eat or not to eat...not as simple as it sounds. Again it is a traditional meal rice and beans with Creole Chicken or Creole Beef or Creole Shrimp - this description tells you the protein and that it is served with a red "Creole" sauce - beyond this it is anyone's guess. The problem for me is not my hunger, but the expectation exists for me to eat with my students. For me to show we are equal and demonstrate a solidarity. So I eat - again - just two hours later.

The fourth meal is not so dramatic, but nonetheless the calories exist and must be counted. (The "I eat therefore I am" school of thought.) Tea time - the afternoon snack - the CAKE course! Luckily - the preparation has been less than stellar most often -but nonetheless I feel I need to confirm my suspicion about every other day, and, I must admit, even when it is as dry as dust, I still finish it - along with a coca-cola - and a smile!

Living on an island in the Caribbean - even one as poor as Haiti - does have its advantages. In particular fresh seafood! As Steve does not care for fish, we seldom have it at home. So when the opportunity to not only eat "the fresh catch" but to see it being caught arises, I'm in! Dinner is a simple but delicious grilled fish or lobster - with drawn butter and french fries naturally.

Now- you would think the day would be done as far as caloric intake - but, my friend, you would be mistaken. How could you possibly expect me to be sitting by this beautiful beach at days end and not have a cocktail - or two - or perhaps three. In my defense, and in deference to my waist and with respect to the high quality of the local rum - I have given up mixers. Rum on the rocks, sil vou ple! (Si vous plait!) Empty calories are empty calories after-all.

I suppose my diet can wait, opportunities like this don't come along often enough...so "Tan pi!" (Tant Pis!)

Voudou and the Disney Princess

WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THIS WORLD WE LIVE IN? While I am not a fan of the all capital emphatic statement, I do feel if there is a time for when it is justified - NOW IS THE TIME!

After two successful days of training in Cap Haitien, I boarded the "multinational" twin prop back to Port au Prince. Even though I would only be in the capital for one day, I was looking forward to seeing a young craft fair being organized by a former student in our training program. The show was held at the Sugar Cane Museum closeby the airport, and I must admit, I was expecting far less than I found. The show was well organized and much larger than imagined. About 200 craft vendors were showing in a lovely open air facility. Booths were well presented, aisles were wide and overall everything was fairly impressive.

While the show was targeting the ex-patriot and the Haitian bourgeoisie markets, there was also a nice group of international buyers in attendance - many of whom I had just visited with in Guatemala last week!

For days, I had been looking forward to the temptation of Voudou images. The skeletons of "Baron." The vicious dragons slayed by St Jaques. The kaliedescope of color in Erzulie Freda's heart. And I was not disappointed. My colleagues had been given specific instructions to keep reminding me "You do not need another Voudou flag...move on." And even though a flag picturing the Haitian hero Desaline marrying a mermaid was begging me to buy it, I remained strong, and confident. Voudou was alive and thriving and I did not need another flag. But then it happened.

The problem arose with one particular product. Most of the vendors had fairly traditional Haitian wares - cut and hammered iron, papier mache, and my beloved Voudou bead work. As I made my way to one of my favorite artisans my resolve was starting to fade. I was imagining a new flag over our dining table - perhaps one depicting a conjoined mutant triplet mermaid with three bare chested torsos and one magnificent beaded tail or maybe a set of alien looking twins - revered and feared here as a magical incarnation. But imagine my surprise when I turned the corner to Valris's booth and there she was, she was perfectly rendered. The beadwork and sequins beyond compare. She sat among the Veve symbols, the glistening sequined lime snakes, the exhalted black Madonnas - the princess of Disney's Alladin - Jasmine! Of course she had been morphed into a Voudou mermaid - but there was no Voudou capable of eliminating the saccharine sweetness engrained in her very being.

What have we come to when even Voudou - one of the last true bastions of misunderstanding and fear and loathing is subject to the pressures and influences and imagery of American iconography? And even more disappointing...my immediate and unconditional devotion and enchantment. I don't know how hard I should be on myself - I didn't buy her, but I wish I had. Perhaps though it isn't such a far stretch - she is after all a princess of "The Magic Kingdom."

Cap Haitien

Well, while I am usually quite an adventurous traveler, I really didn't know if I should be impressed or petrified on the final leg of my journey to Cap Haitien. I have taken the twin prop over the mountains in this Creole speaking former French colony before, but never on a Czech plane with Portuguese signs and a Spanish speaking Honduran flight crew. It was either very worldly or slightly insane to even have boarded. Perhaps I will sort out my feelings on this during the 5 repeat trips over the next few weeks.

Cap Haitien is beautiful. The beaches and the water truly show why Haiti was known for so many years as "The Pearl of the Caribbean." Our hotel hearkens to another era and sets the stage for our days of beach living. The public areas are all open air structures with timber frames and thatched roofing. The entire area is softly lit with pendant lamps adorned with translucent shades created from local shells. (Sounds awful but is really quite stunning - it disturbs me a little to say that.)

As I sit writing this a cool sea breeze is blowing. I had the grilled spiny lobster for dinner - one of the largest I have ever seen - and I am now relaxing with a glass of rum and listening to the thunder roll across the night sky. Not a bad reward at the end of a three day journey.

PS - I might try this rustic beard thing out for a few castaway weeks - thoughts?

Port au Prince Safe and Sound

I'm not sure if age is the determining factor or just too many miles on planes over those same accumulated years, but I am at the point where "red-eye" flights are no longer part of my life. For this reason - and limited flight schedules, it takes two days for me to reach Port-au-Prince from Los Angeles and it will be another be another full day before I arrive in Cap Haitian.

The trip to Miami was relatively uneventful this time out. After our "emergency medical landing" in Dallas on my last Miami flight - an unfortunate consequence of a well known rocker taking too many pills and washing them down with alcohol. "Uneventful" was more than welcome. Fall is in the air though, there was definitely more turbulence as the cold pockets are developing across the country.

Now after a two hour flight to PAP this morning I am happily enjoying a sandwich by the pool at the Hotel Montana - one of Haiti's jewels. The Montana reminds me PAP and Haiti were once the playground for elite - from Europe's royal families to Rock and Roll superstars like Mick and Bianca Jagger. Haiti was THE place to be seen, and The Montana was one of a handful of hotels which catered to them in the 60's and 70's and is the only one which is still in relatively good condition.

The lobbies and public spaces are filled with beautiful French art deco furniture. The walls and rooms are adorned with local art - from traditional Haitian paintings - depicting the African wildlife left behind on the Middle Passage - to the hammered oil drum sculptures which have become emblematic of Haiti's creativity of design and resourcefulness of material.

On the approach to the airport, you can still see the magical blue waters and endless remote beaches found throughout the Caribbean. The mainland though is a patchwork of squatter settlements and cane fields and has been ravaged by deforestation and the ensuing erosion. The ride from the airport takes more time than it should as the city's infrastructure is all but non-existent. While I enjoy PAP for it's vibrant people and it's persistence, it will be nice to be out in the field for most of this trip.

October 2009 Off to Haiti

Monday, October 12, 2009 -

This week - tomorrow - I am off to Haiti, once again. I will be there for three weeks working with Aid to Artisans (ATA) on a training program for vendors in Labadee - the only Haitian Port of Call for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. The vendors there will be the first to welcome the world's largest crusie ship in just a few weeks. In the 8 hour port call, almost 6000 people will come ashore!

I have learned quite a bit from this training program, and working with my colleagues at ATA, about the fundamentals of Adult Learning. While many of the principals we are working I have used instinctually, it has been great to have a better understanding of why we have to address adults differently in learning environments.

I'll be staying in a lovely beachfront hotel - the Cormier La Plage - and am looking forward breakfast on the beach every morning and the finest Barbancourt - Haitian rum - as the sun sets!

(This photo is from a friend of mine - Howard Peller - who is working with basket makers in the same area of Haiti.)