Night Game in Pom Grasia

This was an experience that I can not due justice with my words but i will try.

Soccer in Haiti is much different than in the states. Here we play on small fields with small goals. The fields are dirt and the goals are metal or wood. Dimensions are maybe 30 yd x40 yd for the field and 4ft x 3 ft for the goals. There are 4 field players and a goalkeeper on a team. The goal keeper can not use his hands and if he does the opposing team gets a penalty shot from half field with no goalkeeper in the goal. The game is played very fast and your touch on the ball must be good to survive.

Sunday during the day preparations were made for the game by the players in our village, Lagossette. This includes organizing uniforms, buying bags of water from town and putting them in a cooler, and finding shoes for all the players. Don't be fooled by the poor accommodations, these guys are very skilled and all could have started at Calvin.

The game was scheduled to start at 7pm, it gets dark around 6ish. The players and some supporters congregated by our gate at 7:15pm to head to the game. Transportation was one moped but we had 6 guys so 3 guys hopped on with the cooler and headed to the game while me and two other players walked through the dark. I can't tell who i am walking with because they are black as night. Anyways the moped comes back and picks the rest of us up and we speed down the dirt roads leading to Pom Grasia.

We arrive to an environment that i have never played in. The field is surrounded by a fence consisting of cactus and partially cement wall. There is a guy taking money at the gate that lifts the rope for us as we ride right up to the team bench. I am the only white person among over 100 people surrounding this tiny field. The atmosphere is exciting. People before the gate are gambling, food is being cooked, vendors are selling goods, and two huge speakers are blaring music atop a large cement slab used for a stage. I can taste the ash from whatever is being cooked and the dust is settled into my lungs. The lights are a string of light bulbs that dangle from wooden poles. The whole setup is powered by a generator which goes off twice while waiting for the game to begin. That means everything goes black and you can't see a thing.

More and more people stared making there way in through the gates paying 1 Haitian dollar which is equivalent to 20 cents US. The field is now surrounded with people 4 people deep. The fans are on the end lines and next to the goals. One side of the field is all cactus and you can play off the cactus. Also, i was told to push opposing players into the cactus when i was on that side of the field.

The game is delayed an hour because both sides cannot agree on a referee. The ref is decided on an is sporting red shorts and a Micheal Jordan jersey. We have been warming up for 45 minutes and i had sweat through every article of clothing I have on. Our jerseys are yellow with green lettering, green shorts, and yellow socks. My teammates change on the field but one of my teammates, Toto takes me to a more private place to change into my shorts. The shorts are very short and pairs nicely with the jersey. I wear number 9. Laura comes out of the crowd and takes a team photo.
The game begins and i am starting even though the coach has not seen me play before. The game is very fast paced and physical. Its loud from the fans and the guys on the mic doing play by play. He uses my nickname "Blan" which means white. I play ok and get a shot which the goalkeeper saves. This shot gives the crowd confidence in the white guy. It seems impossible to score. I get a handful of cactus which makes me a little angry and then begin to get physical. Physical play is encouraged and my teammates were also very physical. After an intense first half of 0-0 we all bit off the corner of a plastic bag and jugged some water. I opted to sit the second half because i was exhausted. So, I took my shoes off and gave them to another player to use for the second half.
I sit the bench and have 3 sets of hands touching my back, arms, and head. I feel claustrophobic and its like 100 degrees but i don't know what to do so i sit and focus on the game. The game remains scoreless and goes straight to penalty kicks. These are taken from half field with no goalkeeper.

We win on penalty kicks and the place erupts into an instant dance party. Reggae music is blaring and i am in the middle of the field with my teammates jumping up and down. The crowed lifts me and other players on there shoulders and start spraying water everywhere. This celebration lasted twenty minutes straight. The dancing was incredible and the players along with the Lagossette fans danced off the field and on to the street. Every one was so happy. The procession continued back toward our village. I got picked up by two players on a moped and went speeding through the dark back to the orphanage.

With this win we advanced to the semifinals. Due to my creole lessons in another village I wont be able to play on Wednesday night but hope to play in the finals on Sunday if we win.
This was soccer like i have never seen but i loved it.

-guy who had to pick cactus from underneath his finger nail

Photos

We're having trouble uploading pictures to our blog, but we are able to post some on facebook. So here's a link that everyone can access.

Glimpses of Haiti

The Island

After our long week of creole lessons we got a chance to relax on the beach. It was about an hour and a half drive through the hills of northern Haiti, but our destination was worth the travel. We arrived at a small fishing village on the coast in view of a beautiful island not far from shore. The whole village gathered around our truck before we could open the doors. We paid a local man to take our group of eight to the island on his boat. The tide was out and about 12 guys were needed to push the boat into the water. This process involved a lot of yelling and recruiting of additional help including someone to go get the motor.

The island was small with a great beach and a reef near by for snorkeling. The appearance of the island was very reminiscent of LOST. There were a few other Haitians on the beach but otherwise we had the island to ourselves. When we got to the island we got out the snorkeling gear and cautiously ventured out into the ocean. We are not experienced in this area and were hesitant to get too far from shore. Because of the reef, many colorful fish were easy to find. It was fun to see all the sea life until Laura got too nervous and had to go back to shore.

The locals told us about some ruins of King Christophe from the mid 1700's. We went exploring through some rough terrain. I think they call it bushwhacking but we forgot our machetes and got tangled in more than a few vines. At the peak of the island we found a cannon belonging to King Christophe from 1767. (the date was on the cannon) It was just sitting in a pile of overgrown brush. We also found the remains of a fort and a deep well.

Our first Haitian beach experience was a success and we are looking forward to seeing a few more. It's a lot different then going to a beach at home but we really enjoyed it.

We are back in Milot for week two of improving our Creole. We have a lot of spare time here and love to get e-mails, so keep us updated about what is going on back home.

Kurt and Laura, a.k.a. Sawyer and Kate

Milot

So we're here in Milot for the first week of three attempting to learn as much Creole as possible. We're staying in a volunteer house in a mission near the hospital and having lessons 2 hours a day. The lessons have proved to be quite frustrating (especially for Kurt:)), since our teacher doesn't give instructions in English and can be very hard to understand. We'll probably learn better this way in the end, but it's a tough way to start. With her amazing French background, Laura wins the prize for pronunciation, while Kurt overemphasizes the accent and drowns in the sweat of embarrassment. In the midst of Kurt struggling to survive, Laura helps a ton by giggling like a little girl in church. To make it even better, our teacher sits there falling asleep in front of us. But, when we're not focusing on our Creole, we have a lot of free time to read and relax and catch up on sleep without babies crying.

In our explorations of Milot, we walked over to the only somewhat touristy place, the palace of King Christopher. It's set up at the base of the mountains and a good place to sit and relax...except when you're trying to study Creole and a huge group of kids sit around you and try to help. It is nice when they wipe ants of your leg for you, but personal space is limited under the voodoo tree.

We're still waiting for one more box to come of our stuff, including the Heroes DVDs we got as a gift from the most awesome Bible Study ever. So when that comes, we will probably watch it all day long when not studying Creole.

Our host at the volunteer house is an American named Jess, who has been here for over 2 years. She started a program for street kids in Cap Haitian and has given us a lot of insight into Haitian culture.

-couple with constant back sweat

Arrival in Lagossette

We arrived safely to the village of Lagossette with few hiccups in our travels. We did end up waiting around in Fort Lauderdale airport for 3 and a half hours longer than expected. Our flight was smooth and Lynx Air improved service with a bigger plane and a stewardess with a New York accent.

At the orphanage we were not the only new arrival. Three new babies were admitted in the past 48 hours. This means more babies requiring special attention, including feedings throughout the night. It has been fun to see the growth of some of the previous babies we saw in March, especially the one we spent the most time with.

Our hours of sleep has decreased because we are taking care of a baby each night and are giving regular feedings. Good practice for ten years down the road. Adjusting to new people, food, pace of life, and a whole new kind of hot has been challenging. It feels strange to think we are not leaving anytime soon.

The village soccer team has invited Kurt to play with them. We're not sure if its the ball, access to a vehicle, or his actual skill level. Soccer is played on small dirt fields. As we wait for Kurt's soccer shoes to arrive we get to see him trudge around in a pair of old new balance tennis shoes.
Tomorrow we embark on our journey through the Creole' language in the neighboring village of Milot. We will stay in an old mission Monday through Friday for three weeks. The weekends will be spent back at the orphanage. More details to come but we are eager to improve our communication.

For some reason, it's not working to post pictures right now, so we'll try later so you can see where we live!

Happy Independence Day!

We are currently sitting in a hotel room watching venus and serena in the wimbledon final in Florida. We arrived yesterday and are relaxing on the beach until Tuesday.

We got a chance to say our goodbyes and had a great week spending time with friends and family. We loved spending more time with Graham, our host for the last week, and waking up to him saying, "mama, maaa-maaa!"

Here's some pictures from last week. Hope everyone has a happy 4th of July!