Monday, March 12, 2007

This is not America

So. Hummmm. The midwife course. Let's just say that midwifery in the USA is not really so easily translated to Haiti. A person needs to readjust their expectations a teensy-tiny bit.

Just getting the teacher to understand birth-control here took half an hour. I will never understand people visiting a new culture and trying to tell 20 year residents how it is -- or getting judgy about what you should and shouldn't do. That's just nuttyness.

Very odd.

The other thing that bugged me, people who focus on what CANNOT be done. We can't do this and we can't do that. How lame. How about thinking about what you CAN do. My goodness, a missionary would not last here for seven minutes if they only thought about what they cannot do. That list is enormous!

Sometimes I just wanted to punch someone. I did learn how to take blood-pressure though. My sweet stressed-out friend that was hosting the event, had HIGH blood pressure today.

One lady came saying she was seven months pregnant. She insisted she feels the baby moving. After not finding the heartbeat she was sent downtown for an ultrasound. Turns out there is no baby. I think I saw a Maury Povitch like that once. People who believe they are pregnant so they start exhibiting symptoms.

I wonder what happens in the reverse, if a pregnant woman refuses to believe she is pregnant. The power of denial is no small thing. But, I digress.

Enough about that. What else?

It is a good thing we decided to take Isaac on the vacation later this month. His excitement level far exceeds all the rest of us put together ... and we are pretty excited! This morning in the hour I was with him getting ready to leave for Port, he mentioned it no less than six times. He calls it "going to the big hotel" and "BAcation" ---- he is obsessed and wants it to be the topic of every conversation. Howmanymoredaysmomhowmanymoredays? Willweswimmom? Willwesleepinabighotelwillwewillwemom. Icantwaitmom. As a two year old, he liked going to hotels. He even likes the Super 8 ... he's a weird one for sure.

Britt and Chris are out stitching up a foot right now. Paige is on her usual after-school tour talking to anyone and everyone, getting village gossip and spreading joy. Troy and Britt are now officially admitting that her Creole is better than theirs. She speaks it fast too. I cannot understand even 1/3 of it when she talks. She's a smart little whipper-snapper, that one.

The attorney went and represented Troy in court today. Troy did not go. We have no idea what the outcome is yet.

I think it is official. Haiti is sharing time with the Central Time Zone now.

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Troy FORGOT one of our kids. He made a list of our family history, a little document that said where he was born, where I was born, talked about our parents and our siblings. Then it listed our children. The document was an overview document for the home-study guy here in Haiti.

Yeah ---- He forgot Noah. Left him off the list completely. When we noticed it I wigged out like I am known to do and said, "well, we gotta fix it before the guy makes us pay for the homestudy all over again!!!!!!" Today I went in with amended information. You know, I remembered the child from my womb ... it must be a mom thing or something. ???? How do you forget one of your kids?

I handed the paper to the adoption worker that sort of represents us right now and said, "Here, Troy forgot to list Noah on the list of our children." The guy looked me in the eye and said "Ah, it does not matter, it's not that big of a deal to them."

HUH? Help. It's not? Just the fact that Troy-boy cannot list his five kids correctly should DISQUALIFY him from adopting. I argued that it might matter --- but my argument fell on deaf ears and now I really don't know what to do.

It all goes back to my title and my first paragraph today.

This is not America. A person needs to readjust their expectations a teensy-tiny bit.