TIH

Living in Haiti is like jumping into a body of water.  Sometimes the water is cool and refreshing, other times the waves crash over you pulling you under; but, the great thing is both circumstances bring different experiences.  One gives relaxation and enjoyment, the other teaches you to swim harder.  This is how it is for me in Haiti, and so once you've lived here for a while, or even visited for an extended period of time, you come to realize that things don't function here the same way they do back home.  So I put together a list of things I call TIH so those that haven't been here before might better understand how things word...this is Haiti. 

1. You have cows as your alarm clock in the morning.
2. It’s a normal thing to be intently stared at as you walk down the street…and pretty much wherever you go.
3. Guys carry machetes around like we carry cell phones.
4. Trucks ride past you carrying chickens, bananas, multitudes of people and cows.
5. People will say all sorts of things, until they realize you can understand what they’re saying. 
6. When Pastor Henri says, “You know, we have a problem.  There are donkeys and cows coming into our yard.” 
7. The rat family that’s multiplying above your bed is just another noise during the night.
8. Before driving for the first time Sister Gladys tells you to watch out for donkeys, chickens, goats, dogs, kids, bikes, tap taps, and donkeys.  Then when you ask is that all, she tells you no, the most important thing to watch out for is the cows.
9. You stop smelling like apple strawberry body wash and start smelling like insect repellent and sweat.
10. Before you would get up every day knowing that it’s not likely something unusual may happen….now you get up knowing that something unusual will happen. 
11. Walking up a mountain hill for exercise seems like a great accomplishment until you get passed by an old woman carrying a bucket of water on her head.
12. You know it’s really TIH when talking with Sister Gladys and at the end of her story she says this is Haiti.