Once again I can’t remember exactly when I was able to update last, but I remember it was after I did a trip through large chunks of the south. Two weeks ago Tuesday I arrived in Saut d’Eau where I’ll be working with CLM. The next day I went out with Pascal on a moto heading away from Mirebalais. We visited roughly 10 of his clients.

That Thursday we left to attend two Ti Kredi graduations in the North. One in Twoudino and the other in…can’t remember. We didn’t arrive until it was dark. Three of us stayed in Milot at a house Fonkoze rents. On Saturday we returned with some time to spare so I took a walk up to San Souci where I saw some kids playing soccer next to the old tree of justice. I went a little further to check out the condition of the SOIL toilet and joked around with a few kids asked me for the typical (food and money).

When I came back I felt anxious so I walked on the road out of Milot past Sacre Coeur. I was trying to call Ti Paul when I turned around and started to walk back since it was getting dark. A guy said “Bonswa, Ki jan ou ye?” and I replied with a “Bonswa, pa pi mal” to his surprise. “O! Ou pale kreyol?” I decided to come back and talk a bit when I noticed he had a SOIL/SOL staff shirt on. I told him many of the names I knew and he says “You know Chantal? She’s my wife.” (I’m translating). He asked if I wanted to visit her. I was torn because a. it was getting dark and b. I didn’t think she’d remember me. So I told him that and we hopped on his moto and headed down to their house. I had to jog her memory. I talked in broken kreyol for a while and then Antonio told me that Josapha is in town too. So we drove two minutes around the corner and see Josapha, who I had seen on March 1st when I arrived in PAP. As we started talking a larger set woman entered and said “Bonswa.” I said “Bonswa” and then said “Nica?” It was the mayor of Milot, who I had met on my first trip to Milot in 2007. Apparently I was doing the Milot reunion tour.

After these brief encounters Antonio drove me back to where I was staying. We got a beer or two and went to sleep until around midnight or later when we were awoken by two men and one woman screaming at the top of their lungs. I probably slept through the beginning because the woman’s voice was already hoarse by the time I woke up. I could only understand bits of the woman (repeatedly saying) “I can’t do this” and essentially “oh my god.” In the morning we talked about it and apparently the woman had a sick child and was blaming the man next door for doing some Vodou on her. The other man, like us, just wanted them to shut up.

The ride to the north and back allowed me to see Gonaives for the first time. I can’t imagine the devastation there in 2008 (and 2004 from natural and not so natural forces). I saw the longest bridge in the Caribbean, which was never completed, the abandoned airstrip, and the brand new lake created by 2008’s storms. Parts of the road were pretty rough, but many parts were paved. It was great to see people growing rice, but unfortunately the U.S. has been deliberately flooding the Haitian rice market, putting Haitians out of business.

That’s all for now. I’m not sure how much I’ll want to talk about work on here. How much do you want to talk about work? Yeah. I will say the moto rides give me a good terrifying experience everyday. As my siblings can tell you, I’m not one for adrenaline. There’s nothing tougher than screaming at the carnie to slow the terrifying death trap known as the Tilt-a-Whirl at the age of 9 as your sisters laugh next to you. While I withhold the urge to pee on myself, cry, or anything else incredibly embarrassing, I have found a way to cope, especially at the huge hill at the center of town. I’ve lately been pulling songs from Great Southern Trendkill and Songs for the Deaf to play in my head as I either ascend or descend. I figured if I’m going to have a wicked wipe out on a gravel road at relatively high speeds, I might as well have something metal in mind while I do it. And really, is Cat Power going to calm me down in this situation? Fiona Apple?

So please send any suggestions. So far I’ve used up “Tangled Up in Plaid,” “Go With the Flow,” and basically anything Nick Oliveri sang on Songs for the Deaf, and “Black Mirror” off Neon Bible. Feel free to email me recommended tracks at averillbrian@gmail.com.