This has been hands down
the most ridiculous week in my time in Haiti, full of ups and downs, hurricane
force winds and the doldrums.
Unlike 1,982 years ago, it
did not begin with me proudly riding into Croix-Des-Bouquets on a donkey but
instead with a vicious bout of stomach flu. Instead of waving palm branches and
smiling children, I was surrounded (or really I surrounded) a mosquito-infested
toilet. On the bright side, the week really could only look up, right?
As it turns out, not quite.
After battling the bug until Tuesday night, I was finally beginning to feel
better. Yet in a desperate moment Wednesday night when the harsh realities of
some past egregious actions of mine became apparent, I hit an all-time low. I
was desperate to talk to my parents and yet the internet was laughing manically
at me, as if he was some cruel eight year old who had learned how to use a
magnifying glass to burn off my antennas. I was so angry; I squeezed my Nalgene
bottle as hard as possible, trying (and failing) to break it. Those things
truly are indestructible, and all that broke was my thumb, which awkwardly
dislocated for a brief moment.
Finally the internet worked
and the week began to take off, like a kite riding a thermal breeze.
Following a supernatural
Maundy Thursday service (see last blog) and an excruciatingly long Good Friday
service (over 4 hours), I was realizing that I was back in my Haitian stride,
at the whims of the zephyrs.
 |
| Yesterday's piece of paradise |
Yesterday, I soared. It was
my best day in Haiti so far.
In typical fashion, I was
awoken from my slumbers at 7am to rapping at my chamber door informing me
"Let's go to Petionville. We go to buy flowers and you can get your
pizza." All I really needed to hear was the word Pizza and I was sold.
After several stops along
the way, we were finally there: the Caribbean Supermarket in Petionville.
Walking into the air conditioned grocery store and hearing the beeps of
products being purchased and the clink of slamming cash registers, I realized
where I was: I was home.
I returned to capitalism
like a child in a candy store. I wanted everything. In the end I settled for:
Poptarts, two Dr Peppers,
raisins, butterfingers, apple sauce, a can of baked beans, a Digornios pizza, a
can of refried beans, the makings for tacos, tortilla chips, and salsa. When I
saw the Mexican food, I almost cried.
Riding the high that only
conspicuous consumption can create, I returned to Croix-Des-Bouquet soaring
high over Cloud Nine. Until I was informed that my day was about to get even
better. We were going to the swimming pool at Moise's work (Morning Star Christian
Academy). For 51 days I have been praying for a swimming pool; I had yet to
submerge myself in any water, only cold showers. The water in the pool could
not have been any better.
I write now following an amazing Easter service. As it
is with every church in America, St Simeon's was packed, likely from your
typical Chr-Easters. But the sanctuary was beautiful, decorated with freshly
cut palm branches and flowers of white. The choirs sang, the band played (video
hopefully to come soon), and it was in that moment that I realized Easter, not
Christmas, is by far the greatest Christian holiday. You could feel the rebirth
and joy of Christ in the room.
 |
| Dominique and Phania flying the kite on the roof. |
Alleluia, He is Risen! Jesus has been resurrected from
the dead and he himself has taken to the sky like a kite.
Why am I talking about kites so much, you might ask?
I have learned and now have practiced a Haitian Easter
tradition. Flying kites. Every year, all of the children make a kite to fly on
Easter. After church, Dominique, Phania, Darlene, and I took to the roof,
letting Dominique's masterful craftsmanship soar into the sky...until it got
stuck in a tree at the neighbor's house. All around, the sky was full of kites
triumphantly partaking in a timeless mystical dance with their eternal partner,
the wind.
Seeing all of these kites got me thinking about the
great parallels between kites and mankind and the human condition.
Some days the wind howls, some days its perfect, and
some days it just don't blow at all. Sometimes you get caught in a tree or feel
like you are being controlled by some reckless force at the other end of a long
string who is determined to bring you crashing to the ground. But as long as we
stay in the air, all is well. The wind will always blow, sometimes it just
doesn't blow when we want it to or where we want it to.
I chose to title this blog "Go Fly a
Kite" because my favorite artist, Ben Kweller, recently released a new
album with the same title. I have chosen the best song from the album,
"Full Circle". If Tom Petty got lost in the back roads of the hill
country of Texas and ended up drunk on stage with David Crosby and Steven
Stills, this song might have been made.
Full Circle
Ben Kweller
"Go Fly a Kite" (2012, Noise Co.)
No comments:
Post a Comment