Haiti Fact #5:
Haiti was the second nation to gain independence in the New
World, declaring independence on January 1, 1804. The revolution was a long and difficult
struggle but completed the first successful slave revolt.
Although this is still technically
my first time having been to Haiti, which people ask all the time, I no longer
consider going between Cap-Haitien (where I live) and Terrier Rouge (where I
work) travelling. Actually travelling
therefore requires going outside of that comfort zone. So now I will describe some of the travelling
we did over the past two months.
Cormier Plage
Although I
live near the ocean, there are actually no nice beaches around due to
uncleanliness. So going to the beach
requires an intense drive over a neighboring mountain to get away from the
city. There’s nice beach hotel there
called Cormier Plage that I’ve been to twice for the day. The beach is gorgeous and surprisingly
inexpensive, with a nice breeze that never stops. Sunscreen is a must though.
The Palace and Citadelle
One of
Haiti’s founding fathers, Henri Christophe, left two buildings in the north of
Haiti that guarantee his legacy. After
crowning himself King of the North, he began the construction of a fortified
citadelle in the mountains as well as a sumptuous palace for himself and his
family. The two structures are now open
to tourists, and anyone here as long as we are will likely go several times. We went a few weeks ago and loved it. The palace was severely damaged in an 1842
earthquake but still has a lot of stories to tell. It really only retains some of the skeleton
of what it used to be though. But
visitors can still learn about and look at the history, as well as imagine how
unique a character Henri Christophe was.
To get to
the Citadelle requires a hot, strenuous hike with enormous altitude gain. I just barely made it all the way up on foot and
needed a long break at the top, but it was absolutely worth it. Sitting on top of a mountain, this
impenetrable fortress gives a defender a view of Cap-Haitien and the harbor,
all the roads leading up to the fortress, and even into the mountainous interior. It is formidable and even weathered the 1842
earthquake fairly well. Additionally,
its history is unusual and even ironic.
The historic forts I have visited
in the USA are in either in terrible condition or have undergone extensive
renovations that entirely change the original appearance of the structure. But the Citadelle has not had significant structural
renovations and still has most of its original cannons. It is beautifully preserved. Ironically, it was never attacked, although
Haitian leadership had good reason to expect another incursion on their
independence after ousting all the Europeans in 1803. They built the Citadelle because they would
never go back to being slaves. So Henri
Christophe, in those two structures, left a legacy as a memorable, if not
fiscally successful, Haitian founding father.
As a visitor, I loved the experience and if any reader of this blog
comes to visit me in Haiti, I will gladly go again.
Dajadon, Dominican Republic
This was a
work trip two weeks ago. Dajabon is a
border town in the north where Haitians can get by without speaking Spanish and
where people go to buy things not available in Haiti. On this particular trip, our mission was to
find and get prices for a chainsaw and weed whacker. I came as a translator alongside Eli and Mr.
St. Ange, the operations director of CASB.
Crossing the border turned out to be the most exciting part. I was excited to add another stamp to my
passport and to see how trilingual I actually was, but as we approached the
border I heard a different story: don’t talk to the agents at the border, walk
fast, and have small bills ready if they stop you. We parked and then set off. My boss started walking faster into chaotic
two way traffic consisting of people and small vehicles. Meanwhile, I nervously kept going and tried
not to get run over by anything. All of
a sudden my boss reappeared and said something like, “We’re in the DR now. It helps to separate at the crossing because
they’re more likely to stop groups.”
With my heart still racing but with a realization of what just happened
hitting me, I felt like a secret agent.
The rest of the trip was nowhere near as interesting.
One might
imagine the egg miming incident prompting me to translate the necessary
vocabulary prior to leaving for a shopping trip. Not so, however; upon arriving at the power
equipment store I realized did not know how to say chainsaw, weed whacker, bush
or even grass in Spanish or Creole. Fortunately
the actual tools were there so they did not need to be alluded to, but it might
have been tough. Translating between
three languages was more like translating between English and a blend of Creole
and Spanish, but I got the extremely simple points across and relayed the
important information. We went back
across without incident, and called it a success.
Pétionville
Earlier
this week my boss invited us to accompany him on a trip to meet the
bishop. So on Thursday, he picked us up
in the morning and off we went. The road
quickly transitioned from a flat road full of potholes to a mountain road full
of potholes, which was not an improvement.
After crossing the mountains, we drove along the west coast of Haiti and
got a chance to see large parts of the country, all totally new to me. We eventually arrived in Pétionville after a
six hour drive and checked into the hotel.
The air conditioning and especially the shower in this hotel brought
such a smile to my face. The shower at
our house in Cap-Haitien is powered by gravity, which is great when the
electricity is not reliable. But I had
forgotten how amenities such as water pressure and AC are so nice.
The restaurant we ate at and almost
everything else in Pétionville made me: 1) Remember and miss living in the US,
but more importantly, 2) Realize that so many Haitians do not live like that. Even as expats making a relatively small
amount of money by US standards, we make at least as much or more than many
working people in Haiti. So on the one
hand I’m working on adapting to this new standard of living, but on the other
hand constantly living around people who would give anything to live at that
same standard. This leads to an endless
internal conflict that has no easy answer.
But anyway, we met the bishop the next day, had a nice meeting, and
headed back that afternoon by bus. The
potholes and the mountains weren’t necessarily better by bus, but I don’t regret
the experience. So after two months we
got a quick taste of a few nice amenities before heading back home. Personally the most important thing was
seeing my simultaneously clashing reactions to the same thing and realizing
that this experience will change a lot more than my tan and openness to new
ideas. This experience will change me in
ways that I cannot predict today.
A special thank you to these donors:
Ed and Suzy Burke
Richard and Donna Honan
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