The Haitian Float

 As demonstrated by Logan at a pool in Cap Haitien today…

We have noticed that many Haitians at the beach enjoy floating face down in the ocean to relax in the water. Meanwhile, foreigners like me start to panic because this is also the universal ‘drowned and unconscious’ look.

So little J was already doing a bit better last weekend when I went to visit him, which was great to see.  He’s in great hands and should make a good recovery in a few months.  On Sunday morning, I went to the big Catholic church in Milot for the first time, as a cultural experience – it’s intersting to see everyone in town fill the churches in their finest clothing, and I love the singing.

Last weekend, a big group of vets came to Milot – including Haitians, Americans, and some of my people (Canadians, the best veterinarians in the world) – to run a great spay and neuter clinic for all the dogs and cats in town for the first time.  What a fun change to have some non-human doctors around!  We had a lot of fun with them this week, including a 4^th of July celebration on Wednesday night for Americans and non-Americans on the compound.  We had a bbq again with the fresh chickens, rocked out to American classics, and then headed to the club to dance the night away.  Pretty unbelievable – we have found at least 4 night clubs in little Milot! “Club” is a bit of a loose term.  This new one we walked to on Wednesday night was basically a room on the bottom floor of a building with a bar and maybe 1 green light bulb, but we all just danced in the outside alley all night while a bunch of locals sat around us and watched us make fools of ourselves. 

Needless to say, getting up early the next morning for a hot day out in the field was a little tough.  We again spent two days in the communities collecting data, walking house to house, and Shelley and I spent one day at the pediatric clinic at the hospital to collect data there.  We've been in and out of the nutrition center as well all week - playing with kids as usual and also trying to find extra help for the few kids that are in very difficult shape, like a little girl that - while totally adorable - has the size and development of a 6-month-old when she will actually be turning 2 later this year, or another beautiful baby who is wasting away because she has a cleft palate and cannot feed properly.  Yesterday, Shelley and I ran a lesson for the moms at the nutrition center on nutrition and food safety basics.  It was of course a little difficult, since it’s never ideal when we can’t communicate in Creole and need to rely on a translator (who may turn your 5-word sentence into a 5-minute monologue and leave you a little confused) and have other nurses chiming in all the time.  But, overall, it went alright, and we got our ‘caregiver education’ in!  Look at us public health professionals. 

Across from our compound, there’s a big, lovely ridge, and a group of us climbed up a treacherous jungle path to the top on Monday afternoon.  Here’s a view from the top!

Last night, we went out in the “party bus” (i.e. a giant truck with benches in the back that were used to haul dogs and cats around this past week for the vet clinic) into Cap Haitien to hang out at a restaurant/bar by the ocean for the evening.  We returned to Cap today – this time riding in tap-taps, speakers blaring Haitian hiphop and flat tire stops included, as well as some nutso teenagers hitching a ride on the back of the tap-taps, holding onto the truck while on rollerblades at 40+ MPH.  Yikes.  We got to treat ourselves with a stop at a bakery before we walked to a hotel with a swimming pool so that we could lounge and swim for the afternoon. 

Time to project a movie now on the white wall outside, for more relaxing time on the porch!

:)