Ode to Stephanie

I had to give Stephanie her own little page here because she literally takes up that much space in character. How to describe it...

Stephanie is the girl who has the biggest, cheesiest grin, but who gives the tightest, bestest hugs in the class (yes I said bestest). You will find Stephanie on top of chairs or the table in the cafeteria, slyly, but once she sees you, she will grin like the sun, stare right at you and ask, Emily, mwen gentil? (I'm nice?), from the top of the table. She used to come up to me about every ten minutes on the playground crying that some older boy had hit her or pushed her. I defended her at first until I learned more about our dear little Stephanie and watched her chase and torment and really, flirt, with the older (older as in 4 and 5) boys until the tables turned and they chased and tormented her and she would run to me screaming and crying. Ah, Stephanie. She has recently started doing this nodding, grinning thing to me and mouthing words, she knows exactly what she is doing. And I don't even have to guess what she is saying to me silently from a distance, or from the circle time of her after school class when she sees me walk by and should be paying attention (of course, I nourish her character and can't help but stop and taunt her): "Emily, I'm nice? You'll give me a candy? Emily, give me a sticker, Emily, I'm nice no?"

I'll have to video her facial expressions but here are a few images I caught of her during Halloween that really sum up for me her presence.  Also, she loves, I mean, LOVES Wilbengy and is so cute when she says his name. It's 24/7, Wilbengy, Wilbengy, Wilbengy. One time I asked her if she loved Wilbengy, of course her answer was 'yes'. This is them napping, priceless.

Where I "Run"...

La chance, n'est pas? ("Run" in big fat quotation marks because obviously there is more picture taking being done here than running, and, I must say, the track is really quite nice to lie down on and stare at the clouds; run-shmun.)

I Can't Believe...

I'm going on three months in Haiti. The kids in my class are already 6-year-olds in my eyes and I've grown to believe that I was very egotistical when I arrived in Haiti; thinking I knew what I was here to do and what I was capable of doing. Ha, that's a laugh. After three months, I'm beginning to find out that I have no idea on either front and that I am learning and growing as I go. That, perhaps, this is a stepping stone onto another learning experience. And, that instead of racing through it believing that I'm the best 3-year-old teacher Haiti has ever seen and that my hugs and high fives will solve these kid's problems for life, that maybe, just maybe, I have some growing to do as well. And that maybe after this year I'll come out of this as more than just a better teacher to children.

In the meantime, some shots and videos from our latest expeditions in PSB:
(We started talking about "trees" and made our own using our early writing techniques of, vertical line (the trunk), scribbling circles (the leaves) and points (the red apples). Then since we started talking about blue we made blue bird handprints and put them in our tree. We also tried painting trees
we saw outside with watercolor, Karlens got carried away with the 'blue' but he had such good concentration I let him do whatever he wanted. We also made salt dough 'points', painted them red, and made them into necklaces, which the girls had no trouble modeling; you will spot Rose Darline easily. I'm not sure they are used to mirrors so they're always astonished to see themselves, I was trying to capture that, their faces are incredible when they see their reflection. Also, some photos from Halloween, trick-or-treating between the classes. I just taught them 'trick-or-treat' as we were walking out the door but after candy was placed in their bags, they quickly caught on. Also, Manndy's self-portrait, which I was VERY proud of. We were practicing drawing circles on their little boards and he drew a circle and made it into himself. When he showed me it had no features and I asked him about eyes and he said, "Oh, yeah, eyes, let me draw those." Then a nose, hair, and random other circle I'm guessing is his chin. But, he quickly improved himself and gave himself arms and legs, it kind of does look like him. I'm just glad he got the chance to do what he wanted with a board and chalk, usually it's so prescribed here. And finally, dress-up. I bleached my entire classroom and got rid of furniture that was collecting mosquitoes and hung up a sack of dress up clothes that had been stashed away. The kids are slowly learning what it is to play and imagine and just have fun in their classroom, and, have no hang-ups about who wears the skirt and who wears the fireman coat; yes! However, Manndy does put that skirt on often....)

Jacmel Photos; bien en retard...

Let's see, the view from the mountain bungalo overlooking Jacmel, the actual tent I slept in (charming in its own wat, everything opened up to the stars and I could hear the ocean below, pas mal de tout), hammock at the house, candle light dinners of sorts, amazing fresh grilled tuna on the spot, incredible beach, I kept thinking I was in Bali for some reason, Jacmel Bay from the mountains when we visited Bassin Bleu, sunsets on the beach, and finally breakfast and a relaxing day, all day on the beach! Then a tour of the town of Jacmel (still a lot of visual destruction from the earth quake) and a gem in the rubble, Hotel Florita. Chocked full of local art and original fixtures and furnishings (1888), you can imagine my ecstasy. Oh, and big, puffy white beds protected by big, flowing mosquito nets. I know where I'm staying next time.  The part I really fell in love with was the bar, it was idyllic and both Billie Holiday and the Ricard flowed non-stop; which probably made it even more dream-like.  We went back for lunch the next day before boarding the nightmare bus and driver/bat out of hell over the mountains to Port-au-Prince.  The lunch was amazing, I didn't want to leave.
Jacmel is a well-known artisan and coffee town and I was lucky to find two canvases I couldn't live without and in typical fashion, parted once again from a town with completely ridiculous baggage in town; two large, stretched canvases.  Luckily I had my own art dealer with me who got the price down to less than half.  I think he has a career in dealing, or bs, I think its the same thing.
What I was really looking forward to was the big bathroom and shower and giant comfy bed at L'Oasis.  A 5-star hotel in PAP that I easily paid $120/night for.  After hiking in the rain, sleeping in a tent on a cliff over the ocean and being whipped over the mountains on motos and in vans, I would have paid five times that. It was exactly what I expected and the views below from the window are not of a rocky mountain side but of houses stacked into the cliffs.  Quite impressive. That's Port-au-Prince, happy to see it from a window.
I miss Hotel Florita...