"What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun."- Ecclesiastes 1:9
Well, I
finally got to the beach. 64 days in the Caribbean, but I finally got there.
And it was as amazing as could be expected. The water was incredibly warm and
clear, the waiters delivered cold Prestige to you, and the views of the steep
hillsides and La Gonave in the distance were priceless. And then there was a
fabulous sunset. I really don’t know if there is anything better than laying in
the sun. It’s a golden glow that produces a kind of warmth, the kind that makes
you feel like your spirit is being thawed by some holy power. Or maybe that’s
just Vitamin D. Either way, you’re plugged in to some force, some energy. The sun is the sole
producer of every calorie of energy our planet consumes. Coal, oil, wind
energy, everything.
Its power can be shared by all.
I’ve been
in the sun a lot these two months. And while I am always very intentional about
applying sunscreen, sometimes it doesn’t always work. Especially when you miss
spots on your back or chest. I now look like I have some weird skin disease. I
have thought about just quitting my sunscreen application and really try to
blend in. A few second-degree burns and maybe I’ll be “caramel”. I’m so tired
of being called blan. Yes, thank you, I know I’m white.
Speaking of skin color and blending in with the locals, there
was a great moment this morning. I took a break from the second church service
of the day to take care of Dieumine’s baby, Nikita. I was sitting in one of the
classrooms of the school, with her sleeping soundly on my lap, when a few
Haitian teenagers walked in. In broken English, they asked me “Is that your
baby?”. I laughed. I didn’t quite see the resemblance. I said no and then they
asked if it was my wife’s baby. I then had to break the news that I wasn’t
married.
I was in
the sun on Thursday too. I had perhaps my most unique experience so far. The
driver, Jimmy, dropped me off on some random hillside in Crochu in order to
plant a bunch of Jatropha seeds on some land Pere Val owns. I ended up meeting
a Haitian man who didn’t know a lick of English and walked with him up this
steep limestone incline to this gorgeous piece of property overlooking the
valley. Here I planted 65 seeds (take that hippies on Earth Day!). As you might
expect, the sight of a lone blan on the hillside caught the eye of many. Thus,
I had a small crowd gathered around me thinking to themselves (yet again),
“What is this crazy white boy doing?” They then started hassling me for seeds,
which I reluctantly gave away. I did my best to explain to them that the seeds
and the tree were poisonous. They likely ate them for dinner.
After my
gardening experiment was complete, I was then on my own to walk the mile or so
down and then up and then back down…and then back up, to St. Alban’s Church
where the doctors from Missouri were working. Besides being yelled at by a few
children, I had a peaceful stroll across the Haitian countryside. The hike,
however, was less than easy; it was burning hot, there was no shade, and the
hillside was as steep as the trail ascending from the Inner Canyon in the Grand
Canyon. The views made up for my suffering.
And then,
just this morning, I was stuck back in the sun. This time on the back of a
taptap. We got a flat tire on our way to the second church service in Lilavois
and hailed down a taptap (a Haitian taxi for those who don’t know). Sitting
perched over the back tire on a 1984 Ford Ranger, I realized yet again that I
stood out like a sore thumb. I myself have never seen a blan on a taptap.
But for now, I rest; I’ll be back in the sun tomorrow.
"Sunshine"
Matt Costa
Brushfire Records, 2005
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