Reflections from team 1

Hi friends, Andrea and Jess V. again, this time traveling through Miami, Florida.

We have had safe travels so far, and are still recovering from our flea, ant, spider, gnat, mosquito bites...which altogether resemble the chicken pox. Nonetheless, it has been a fun journey back. We were just reminiscing about our appreciation for universal languages. Since many of us could not speak Creole, we have noticed that there are other ways of communicating other than through words. First there is laughter, which has been used a lot throughout this trip. For one, it is contagious. Just the other day we were all laughing at how Jared slipped on some dirt. Naturally, Nolan's laugh was slightly unique than others', and Jonel, one of the Haitian workers, found the sound of it funny and he imitated it. This made us erupt in more laughter. Secondly, laughter brings people together in the fact that can find the same things to be humorous. For example, in one of the many soccer games we had with the Haitian staff at the Le Kay guest house, I, Jessica, got pushed and fell backwards into the hedge bordering the lawn. This obviously caused everyone to erupt in laughter. All in all, when people were goofy or happened to do something ridiculous, it broke down cultural barriers and allowed us to connect on a different level, allowing us all to feel the same joy.
The other universal languages we discovered was while driving through the streets of Haiti. For one thing, the car horn is used VERY frequently. It basically means "move now, or get hit." Pierre sometimes did this when hauling rocks with the wheelbarrow. We also found out that the "thumbs up" sign through the windows could put a smile on just about any face we passed, and we often got a thumbs up in return. As for the white van which had tinted windows, they were not able to communicate with the people outside, but got Dejon to laugh when Nolan's gas came back. So apparently flatulance can be universal as well.

We hope this gives you another good depiction of our trip. We are now going to retire under the airport seats. :)

God bless,
Scooty, and Jackie Chan's sister