Since I've been in Haiti for over a month, I decided it would be fun to share some of the cultural differences I've learned and experienced so far!
1. There are no real traffic rules. Just use your
horn and avoid the potholes. I’m amazed that I haven’t seen more wrecks!
2. There are two systems of currency here: Gourds (it
sounds like gouds) and Haitian Dollars. Some grocery stores are in gourds and
some are not. It takes 45 gourds to make one American dollar. I bought a can of
tuna at Delmas 2000 for 90 gourds, which is $2.00. At Delimart, everything is
in Haitian dollars. It gave me a heart attack the first time I saw tuna marked
$16.00. It turns out there are 9 HD for every 1 American dollar, so the tuna
was about $1.70. Everything is crazy expensive here. I thought it
would be completely opposite! I spend about $40 US dollars every two weeks
buying Gatorades, juices, Pringles, and some other snacky foods.
3. Haitians like to wear clothing that is
verrrrrryyyyy tight. I have been asked several times by my kiddos why my shirts
are so loose.
4. Haitians tend to be very honest when you ask
them a question. When asked how their weekend went, they’ll respond with bad or
not great if nothing great happened to them. This is in stark contrast to
Americans, who always respond with, “Good! How was yours?” even if they didn’t
have a good weekend. This honesty is difficult to adjust to. I have been
wearing shorts every day to the children’s home. One day, a teenage boy named
Tony said, ‘Why do you wear shorts?’ So I told him that I just liked wearing
shorts better than skirts because that was what I was used to in America. He
frowned and said “Girls should not wear shorts ever. It’s not good. I do not like
it. And why do you wear boy’s shirts? I do not like it.” I was taken aback; no
one has openly criticized my wardrobe before. But here, it’s normal to be so
open and honest with what you like or dislike.
5. I have also been asked why I wear a string
bracelet around my ankle. I respond by saying that it is a friendship bracelet
for my best friend and I to wear. However, here in Haiti it means something
much different! Apparently, it’s a symbol of voodoo or devil worship to wear an
ankle bracelet. Needless to say I will be taking it off my ankle and wearing it
on my wrist for the rest of my time in Haiti.
6.The Haitian culture is very open with
everything. For example, my coworker Amy told me this story a few weeks ago. A
girl in her class missed school. Ms. Amy asked the class if they knew where she
was. A young man spoke up and said that the girl missed class because she was
constipated. Ms. Amy was very taken aback to say the least! In America we don’t
ever share that much detail with others, let alone the whole class!! For
another example, I was pretty sick this last week and missed two days of school
with a stomach bug. When I returned, one of the male teachers asked me if it
was time for my menstrual cycle. Naturally, I turned blood red and sputtered and
was totally awkward. But here, it’s nothing but normal. Most Haitians that go
to school here grew up in a one room house- mom and dad and brothers and
sisters all sleeping in one room. They are very
comfortable with their bodies and bodily functions.
7. The Haitians here have picked up on some random
American sayings and use them ALL THE TIME! Truly. I’ve never heard any American
say ‘truly’ as much as I hear Haitian students say it. Another fan favorite is,
‘it is not true!’ instead of simply saying ‘nuh-uh’ or ‘No!’ or ‘I didn’t!’. I
love listening to these kiddos with their heavy accents and funny sayings. Truly!
8. Haitians are very amused with arm fat (or as my
good friend Makenzie has so lovingly named them- bat wings). They love to come
up and poke my arm to watch my arms jiggle. I’m 90% sure this is because they
have about zero body fat on their own bodies and 10% because they’re kids and
love to make fun of old people :)
9. Speaking of Makenzie- apparently it’s a boy name
here! The kids are very amused when I tell them that it’s a girl name back
home!
10. Don’t even get me started on the names here!
American teachers- you have no room to talk about all the crazy names and
spellings you get in your class until you have a room full of kids named Emiel
(em-ee-el), Ludjer (lee-jay), Keymderson (kim-der-son), Tcharli (charlie),
Roseguerline (rose-girl-leen), and Bergeline (bur-ge-leen). Even the kids who
look like they have typical American names have a Haitian twist- Richardson
(Ri-shard-son) and David (Da-veed). It’s taken me a month and I STILL mess up
their names! In my defense though, they struggle to say Brittany. I’ve gotten
Miss Bryn, Miss Bwitt, and Miss Brit-Ta-Knee. The good thing is we can all
laugh at our mistakes together!!
That's all I could come up with at the moment! Please know these might not apply to all Haitians, I don't want to be accused of wrongly stereotyping people. These are just some of the differences I've noticed in the past month or so! If you have any questions, let me know by commenting below and leaving your name or just message me on Facebook!
"Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and
not for men.... You are serving the Lord Christ." ~ Colossians 3:23-24
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ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. I found this post by searching for the meaning behind ankle bracelets in haiti.y husband is Haitian and was very upset with my stepdaughter for wearing one. It was shocking to both of us and I couldn't figure out the big deal.
ReplyDeleteYour point of view is very interesting. I also came here to find out the reason why anklets are forbidden by Haitian parents. I grew up in the States but my family is Haitian. To comment on the kids saying... That is not true. Is because in Creole we have something very similar, basically translated the same way. So when in shock about something that's what we say. We say "c'est pa vrie"... Translating exactly too that's not true. I apologize in advance for any typos... I'm replying on my phone.
ReplyDeleteI’m Haitian and I can totally relate to any of this post like she said earlier some of the American words is basically a translation of our own words or phrase for instance and mind you we don’t victimized ourself and growing up my Dad always say that if we want we can do anything so yeah it’s not only ankle bracelet, tattoos and dread are also a big no no in Haiti thanks for being there and thanks for bringing joy and happiness in their life.
ReplyDelete