I made it to my final destination in Haiti, and am having fun learning Creole by immersion. I posted my trip in the capital on my zwazoyo.blogspot blog. It was around 75 and overcast today, damp so it feels chiller than it is, probably 60 now, glad I brought a sweatshirt and fleece jacket. I saw that Lawrence has a low of -15 tomorrow, so I can't complain! Tomorrow I start working with the guy that I teach birding. Orevwa!
I attended a Heifer International Workshop in Arkansas 2 weeks ago and met a guy from Haiti who was volunteering at the Heifer Ranch*. Yesterday I met a woman at my church who has gone on many trips to Haiti and visits the couple I stay with. I mentioned the Heifer Haitian to her and told her his 1st name, and she said '1st name last name?' Lo and behold it's the same guy. Small world. My new church friend is going to teach me Kreyol! I've got my plane tickets for Jan 4 - 30 and am putting together 4 page bird guides that I'd like to give to each child I meet. Reality is that there are a gazzillion kids so I will just give one page of the guide to each kid, and they can share. I'm sure I'll run out of guides.
*I highly recommend the workshops. If you have a student showing promise in international work consider sending him to one - I can hook you up with the Heifer college liason.
**I've also discovered the secret of finding books written in French - searching by French words & titles. On Abebooks I found a bunch of children's bird books written in French.
The Haiti ecotour business is officially launched! If you're visiting Haiti, you can book your tour here http://zwazoyo.blogspot.com/2009/02/book-your-ecotour-here.html Let me know if anything is confusing or you see typos!
