There is not a day that I don't learn something new and wonderful (and sometimes terrifying) here in Haiti. The culture is not my home culture so of course it seems a bit wonky to me at times. Much the same as some American Midwest middle class culture would be way odd to several of my Haitian friends. (Without even trying very hard, I can think of several things that would seem whack.)
Dreams are a powerful force in this culture. People absolutely believe their dreams foretell the future and they pay close attention to what they have dreamed. People discuss and talk about their dreams frequently.
I did an ultrasound on a first-time expectant Momma recently. We got a perfect picture of her baby sucking it's thumb and we could even see the mouth movement clearly as it sucked. We saw a beautiful four chamber heart and two kidneys (which are hard for me to find). As we looked the baby over and did the measurements of it's head and femur the Momma asked if I would tell her the sex of the baby. After a while I was pretty sure I was looking at a baby boy and I said, "Here is the thing. I can tell you what I *THINK* it is but you need to understand that I have told people wrong in the past. I once told a mom she was having a girl and the little girl she had named Sarah arrived with a penis." (The Mom laughed.) I went on to clarify, "I have experience in midwifery skills but way less training and experience with second trimester 'sonagrafi' - so this is not a san pou san thing." (not a 100% thing)
She said, "Okay. I understand - What is it?"
I said, "I think it is a boy. REMEMBER - no guarantee, just what I think."
She said, "YOU ARE RIGHT. GOOD WORK. IT IS A BOY. I ALREADY KNOW. I HAD A DREAM."
I said, "Okay, well, I had a dream that I won a gold medal in the Olympics in the 100 meter Freestyle and I still have not been given my medal."
Either my Kreyol failed or that was a very dumb joke - or both. She said, "It - is - a -boy. You are strong at sonagrafi."
In 20 weeks we will find out.
Dreams are a powerful force in this culture. People absolutely believe their dreams foretell the future and they pay close attention to what they have dreamed. People discuss and talk about their dreams frequently.
I did an ultrasound on a first-time expectant Momma recently. We got a perfect picture of her baby sucking it's thumb and we could even see the mouth movement clearly as it sucked. We saw a beautiful four chamber heart and two kidneys (which are hard for me to find). As we looked the baby over and did the measurements of it's head and femur the Momma asked if I would tell her the sex of the baby. After a while I was pretty sure I was looking at a baby boy and I said, "Here is the thing. I can tell you what I *THINK* it is but you need to understand that I have told people wrong in the past. I once told a mom she was having a girl and the little girl she had named Sarah arrived with a penis." (The Mom laughed.) I went on to clarify, "I have experience in midwifery skills but way less training and experience with second trimester 'sonagrafi' - so this is not a san pou san thing." (not a 100% thing)
She said, "Okay. I understand - What is it?"
I said, "I think it is a boy. REMEMBER - no guarantee, just what I think."
She said, "YOU ARE RIGHT. GOOD WORK. IT IS A BOY. I ALREADY KNOW. I HAD A DREAM."
I said, "Okay, well, I had a dream that I won a gold medal in the Olympics in the 100 meter Freestyle and I still have not been given my medal."
Either my Kreyol failed or that was a very dumb joke - or both. She said, "It - is - a -boy. You are strong at sonagrafi."
In 20 weeks we will find out.
