More General Impressions...Haiti v. USA

Here are some more things that just pop up into my consciousness as I try to adapt to this new life back in Haiti after 5 months away...

1. It's hot. This morning I sat at my computer. I had showered. I was in the house with door and windows open. There was a breeze. I was still. And yet, sweat drizzled down my back.  Some nights are nearly dramatic in regard to heat and stuffiness...even thought my bed is bordered by 2 open windows. 

2. People here mention the virus as an ice breaker. Some ask about what it is REALLY like in the USA that has been so "overtaken" by the virus...according to reports they hear. After a few ideas, they are ready to move on in conversation. Churches will be back to normal in a week or two. Schools are finishing up the 2019-2020 school year now. 

3. Toilet seats are great. My outhouse doesn't have one. We honker down. I find it more difficult to get down and to get up now. The hip. The knees. I may at some point have to invest in my own personal toilet seat.  Aging.  

4. People in Haiti are more in tune with spiritual events than Americans are or admit to be. People here know what evil spirits can do. They know Satan is real. The developed world can't confess that fact. 

5. It's hot. 

6. You can do your own doctoring here. I had a belly ache.  I recognized the pain at the belly button. It's a sign of worms. I sent people for worm medicine. I took a pill. I feel great.   

7. I tried to by Hydroxychloroquine in the USA...$100 US for 30 pills. I said, "No, thanks."  (We use it to prevent malaria when mosquitos are bad...which they are pretty much right now). I sent a person to by it here. I paid $100 H for a bottle of 25 pills ($100 H divided by 23 is about $4.30 US).  

8.  Church in Haiti is not like church in PA. It is, but it isn't. I love both. I am blessed to have both. Singing good old songs is like a fresh rain on the soul. In Haiti, people sing. They don't whisper or hum along way down low. They open up and sing the song. It's powerful to be beside people who are singing.  Add the worship element, and church is a powerful event. 

9. My new freezer is a glorious source of refreshment nowadays. Several people in town have them. It allows you to share (sell) cold water with neighbors. The guys at my house make juice...cold juice. We buy canned juice...cold canned juice. When we make quacamole (?), we can make it cold. We enjoyed a cold watermelon last week. We have an icepack ready for injuries and have used it once already.  Ice is nice.
 
10. It's 87 degrees in my office now (cement roof). It's 94 in the kitchen (tin roof). Later today that will flip.  In the evening, the cement roof area will be in the 90s and the kitchen will cool down to the mid 80's. In the USA, a 77 degree room is hot and stuffy.   So, I can say it : "It's hot."