NYC Never Sleeps . . .

     If you've heard the saying New York City never sleeps, you've obviously never visited Carrefour, Haiti. Compared to Carrefour, I'd dare say NYC sleeps like a well-feed baby. I'm thankful I packed earplugs! Also, the streets here remind me of ant hills. The ‘hills’ are the homes/streets and the swarming masses of Haitians the ants. Except, I’m not sure which has it better: the ants or the Haitians. But world, let me say that I’m sorry: I feel as if I’m complaining a lot and haven’t committed on how much good there is here. My heart will swell when I see a child so willing to trust a stranger (me) and love on me with all they have.  
Photo below: me and baby Joanne (she was severely malnourished but is healthy now!)

      

                 Photo above: local  river

                      

On a side note: I’ve started working at my second location and they call me their ‘intern’- -it sounds so official but I promise I’m bumbling along attempting to understand each hour as it comes. At this second location, I live with Mickey and Liz (the mother/daughter dynamic duo). I sleep on an air mattress, water pressure doesn’t exist in regards to showers, and only cold water is available (but in all honestly, why would you want anything besides cold water here?!), I’m still fighting a GI bug, and I’m tired, but overall? I cannot wait to wake up tomorrow. The pain you feel when you realize the medical issues these children suffer in addition to malnutrition: cholera, TB, HIV, blood pressure issues, diabetes, malaria, chicken guenna and so much more, all these things push you to do your best. 

    But on a vitally important change of topic: this new location has a cat. I. Am. Happy. It’s a tortoise shell and honestly if you know anything about animals in Haiti, you know that most are starved half to death (literally) but this one is healthy. Because Mimi (that’s the cat’s name) is healthy and normal sized, when Haitians visit and see the cat, they jump back semi-scared because they don’t know what Mimi is since they’ve probably never seen a normal looking cat. Weird. But then again, so sad.
P.S: I only eat 2 times a day and it's become normal . . . weird!

xxLeah