two cool things

If you live and/or are going to be in the Twin Cities metro area this coming weekend, there are two cool things happening that I'm excited about!

1. The Living Green Expo at the State Fair grounds. Believe it or not, I have never been to the Living Green Expo! I discovered that they have a free CF lightbulb recycling drop-off bin located at the expo, among many other awesome things. :) We're going!

2. The Mayday Parade will start at 1:00 on Sunday, travel down Bloomington Ave, and end in Powderhorn Park! I just learned about the Mayday Parade today, but it looks very, very cool -- plus, I haven't seen In the Heart of the Beast Puppet Theatre in a LONG time. (Gigantic, homemade, 15+ foot puppets! They are SO COOL!) The theme for the parade this year has to do with the bridge collapse last year, and how to build bridges within our community. I hope to make this, too -- and I'll take pictures!

Why, oh why, is it only Monday? This weekend is going to be so fun -- PLUS, Dan has a gig, Courtney and I are going to bake cookies, and Dan and I also have a wedding reception to go to!

Hopefully I'll turn back into a food blogger next week. Until then, keep enjoying the Haiti pictures. :)

HAITI: Dan's photos

A small selection of the pictures Dan took:






Now this is what I call neck strength:

A cemetery:

More tap-taps!

We thought "bow-wow" on the tap-tap was pretty funny:

green website

Courtney hooked me up with the greatest website today: Catalog Choice! The free service provides people who sign up the opportunity to "opt out" of hundreds of catalog mailings! I just went through all of the catalogs they have in their database, and reduced my junk mail significantly!

Go check it out, if you're sick of your mailbox being stuffed full of catalogs.

Earth Day is every day!

Earth Day Resolutions for 2008!

Happy Earth Day! Diving right in . . .

Last year's resolutions were:

1. REDUCE PAPER/JUNK MAIL by signing up for online bill-pay, and cancelling catalogs. All of my bills are currently paid for electronically, except for my rent. Recently, my leasing office has offered an online payment option for rent -- which I will take advantage of beginning May 1st! I haven't done such a good job in the catalog department -- I still collect far too much junk mail.

2. SAVE ELECTRICITY by installing compact-fluorescent lightbulbs in every light fixture in my home. Well, I did okay with this one -- the lights I use the most often have CFs in them, but not all.

3. USE MORE GREEN TRANSPORT by getting back on my bike! Well, after I made this resolution last year, I discovered my cheap red bike had been stolen. Bummer! However, a good friend from church choir has been loaning me her second bike, and I had been biking quite a bit last summer (especially to and from work when I still worked at the store,) and a little bit this fall. Well, it's officially spring again, and the bike's back out! Woot!

Drumroll please . . . for this year's resolutions!
(A quick note -- I'm making more resolutions this year, because I need to carry over two from last year, which I'm going to expand on, plus make a couple of new ones.)

1. REDUCE PAPER/JUNK MAIL by making a list of every organization that sends me junk mail for the next month, and then contacting them all and asking to be removed from their mailing lists.

2. SAVE ELECTRICITY by finishing the CF lightbulb install job, as well as purchasing an "auto-switching" power strip for my computer. (I already unplug my television when I'm not watching a movie.) I'm going to use some of my "Bush money" this May to make a couple of green-provements. Let's stick it to GW and use his cash to rub climate change in his face, one little choice at a time!

3. CONSERVE WATER by applying the "Haiti" rule to toilet flushing, at least at home, and taking shorter showers. (Did you know that one toilet flush uses more water than one average person living in Africa uses in an entire day? The Green Book has some amazing facts.) Also in the bathroom greening department, I plan to use a two-in-one instead of a seperate shampoo and conditioner to not only save time in the shower but also in packaging, (once I use up the mountain of shampoo and conditioner I have stockpiled in my home -- does this happen to anyone else?), by choosing bar soaps over liquid soaps and body washes, (less packaging, again,) by purchasing TP in the large 12-roll packs (less packaging than the 4-roll packs,) and replacing my nylon mesh body scrubber with a natural loofah when it falls apart.

4. PURCHASE FOODS THAT CONTAIN FIVE OR FEWER INGREDIENTS. There may be exceptions to this rule, of course, but by and large, this is the year I'm going to get away, completely, from processed foods. Buh-bye packaging and fuel costs associated with processing and shipping my breakfast cereals and frozen burritos and all the other stuff I like to rely on. I also hope to frequent my farmer's market more this summer, buy as much local stuff as I can, visit a U-pick farm or two over the course of the growing season, and freeze as much local, fresh produce as I can for future use. I also want to cut my food waste down to almost zero.

5. LITTLE THINGS: research carbon-offsetting my air travel this year, continue to refuse ATM reciepts (except when I make a deposit,) encourage the children in my class to use crayons over markers (and help our admin. assistant seek out soy-based crayons to purchase in the future,) buy Dan a luggage tag (so he doesn't have to keep wasting paper luggage tags at the airport,) make sure all my cooking oil goes in the garbage (did you know most of the oil in the oceans and rivers doesn't come from major oil spills, but from cooking oil and used motor oil we pour down drains and sewer grates?), and start buying exclusively beeswax or soy-based candles (the candles I have right now have some soy in them, but are not 100% renewable.)

Why so many things this year, you ask? Well, global warming is pretty dang serious, and I'm hoping to inspire others to make big changes as well. Need some new ideas for this year? Check out GreenYour..., a new website I just discovered that offers green ideas for almost every area of life I can think of!

What are your Earth Day resolutions this year?

almost Earth Day!

Get ready to make those Earth Day resolutions, folks!

The New York Times Magazine this week was subtitled, "The Low-Carbon Catalog." Check it out for some great ideas, if you can't think of anything new to do! Also, The Green Book, linked over on the right, is another great resource.

Anticipate my check-in on last year's resolutions, and the new ones I'll make this year! Until Tuesday . . . .

HAITI: street scenes

** Please note that the large majority of these photographs were snapped haphazardly from a speeding van. Forgive any weird angles, blurriness, or partial rear view mirrors!

Even though the traffic is frightenly horrendous, there are a few stoplights in Haiti -- and people actually pay attention to them! AND, the stoplights are solar-powered!

Check out those power lines -- no wonder the power comes and goes!

A "tap-tap" -- privately-owned, homemade taxis that basically function as city busses. All the tap-taps are painted with crazy, intricate designs on them, and many have God-themed names.

Close-up of a different tap-tap:

Across the street from the presidential palace:

One of my favorite photos:

Another favorite photo -- an artist with countless paintings for sale, wrapping around half a city block in either direction:

A view of the mountains, on our way to Kenscoff; if you look closely, you can make out some evidence of terrace farming:

The man in the red hat has a large box of pop on his head -- and is walking around selling it!

This is a large ravine, carved out by floods and mudslides, full of trash:

Another favorite photo:

People gathered at the cistern/pump/well; most folks don't have running water or electricity outside of the city:

Shopping for crafts in our alley:

The end of our alley, AKA,"mango market:"

HAITI: manifestations

The "manifestations" in Haiti, (i.e., food riots,) actually began before we arrived on April 5th -- they had started the previous Thursday in the southern town of Les Cayes. There was another group there the first night we arrived, and they had been in Les Cayes, and witnessed the beginning of the manifestations. One of the younger guys in their group had climbed up on to the roof of the house they stayed at, and took pictures of the manifestations -- I didn't have a chance to see them, but I heard they were incredible, and not in a good way.

Sunday, things were pretty quiet -- we were able to go to church in the morning, and drive up the mountain to Kenscoff that afternoon. Monday, the manifestations spread to Port-au-Prince, but it didn't affect our plans. We were able to visit other places outside the downtown area, because the police had constructed road blocks to keep the manifestations contained.

However, Tuesday, things changed. We were not allowed to drive to CEPAM to build the chairs on Tuesday, and decided to build the chairs at the guesthouse instead. We worked all day, hearing crowds of protestors chanting and singing in the streets. We knew something was up when the generator at the gas station on the corner shut off -- everything was eerily quiet, actually. Even though the manifestations started peacefully, they escalated -- the protestors started banging on the large metal gates, breaking bottles on the gates and throwing glass, throwing stones and bricks at cars, and a bakery a few blocks away was looted. A high concentration of protestors kept gathering at the gas station on the corner, and these guys:

were dropping these:

to try and disperse crowds. This one didn't exactly reach its intended target -- instead of hitting the ground and leaking gas slowly from the ends, it speared itself on our next-door neighbor's spiky iron fence, (can you see that big hole?) and all the tear gas exploded all at once. One of our neighbors, as well as our team leader, got a big faceful of gas, and came running up into the house -- seconds later, we all could smell the gas, and ran inside and shut all the doors and windows. In the end, we were able to laugh about it -- the UN really missed their target, didn't they??

The manifestations continued into Wednesday, when things got even more intense. (Obviously, we stayed at the guesthouse again.) The protestors continued marching, shouting, and throwing things, demanding a statement from the president. We did hear gunfire a few times, quite close by -- we were told that UN troops were firing into the air to try and disperse crowds and get people to go home. Protestors also set up their own road blocks by piling tires in the streets and setting fire to them. (It smelled pretty awesome, let me tell you.) Smoke from roadblocks:


Our guesthouse management called us as soon as Preval made his statement on television, and we were all able to watch:

Folks took notes and translated for us, which was very helpful. Preval's speech was very inspiring, and he suggested solutions that would repair the situation in Haiti in the long-term, but he offered no short-term solutions to the problem. Things quieted down for a few hours, but then picked back up again around dinner time. We got a huge thunderstorm Wednesday night, which seemed to shoo most of the protestors home.

Thursday, things were quiet in Petion-Ville. Life seemed to be back to normal, as far as we could tell -- people were shopping in the street, although gas stations and most stores were closed. The manifestations did continue downtown through the rest of the week. Thursday evening, several Hatian senators gathered and called for the Prime Minister's resignation, and gave him 48 hours to do so, before they would try and oust him themselves.

Friday, we were able to leave the guesthouse a little bit, as long as we stayed in Petion-Ville, due to gas shortages. (We had to make sure we had enough gas left to get to the airport the next day!) We were able to go to the grocery store, and also take a walk through the large open-air market. We did hear one more protest pass Friday afternoon, but it seemed quite small in comparison, and very peaceful.

Saturday, we left very early for the airport, to avoid any potential manifestations that might arise due to the Prime Minister's resignation. We saw Preval on television again while waiting for our flight -- we wished we had had a translator! We left the country on time, arrived in Miami in one piece, and have been trying to follow events ever since -- the Washington Post and Miami Herald seem to have the best Haiti coverage, we've discovered.

In the end, we were safe the whole time, and mostly just bored, because we couldn't leave the guesthouse for three days straight. I've joked -- "that's what I get for travelling to a politically unstable country!"

HAITI: building chairs

Our main project for our trip was to visit CEPAM, the Methodist home for the aging, and build nine chairs for use on their outdoor patio. This project has been a long time coming -- we worked on cutting, drilling and countersinking, and routering wood back in January! We packed up the pieces, loaded them into tubs, checked them on the airplane, and planned on visiting CEPAM on Tuesday the 8th, to visit with the residents and build their chairs.

Unfortunately, the manifestations spread and intensified on Tuesday, and we were unable to safely leave the guesthouse. We decided instead to assemble the chairs at the guesthouse, with the hopes of delivering them to CEPAM later in the week. Our Hatian friend, Tony "Boss," came over to help with the construction process.

First, we unpacked all the wood and sorted it into piles:

Then, we worked together to make one "box," which stands as the base for each chair:

Next, we made "kits" for each chair, laying out all of the pieces, and pre-assembling the boxes. This is when we discovered we forgot all but 8 of the backslats, which meant we could really only finish two of the nine chairs, but we improvised later, not to worry:

We all decided to pose for a picture once we finished the first chair! Back row: Don, Deidre, Ed, Ginny. Front row: Myself, Tony Boss, Dan:

Don, Ed, and Tony really did most of the work, once Dan and I made all the boxes and put all the legs on the boxes:


Don't they look great?

The hard workers, taking a load off after they've finished:

And, lastly, Mme Florette, the director of CEPAM, came to visit us on Friday, (we were unable to deliver the chairs -- although things calmed down, we didn't have enough gas and all the gas stations were still closed!), and she tried out the chairs. She thinks her residents will be very pleased!

Overall, building the chairs was a great way to deal with the boredom of being stuck in the guesthouse . . . for the first day, anyway! The only hitch was that Tony got stuck with us that first night -- he tried heading for home just before dinner, and returned ten minutes later. The streets were too violent -- he called his family, had dinner with us, and the management found him a room in the guesthouse for the night. He did make it home safely the next day, though! He also returned later in the week to visit again, before we left.

HAITI: critters and creatures

LIZARDS:
Lizards were everywhere! They kind of remind me, in a weird way, of squirrels. They are just sort of everywhere, and skitter about and rustle around. (Although I found the lizards adorable and fascinating -- squirrels are creepy, though!)



GECKO (on the ceiling!):
This little dude would come and visit us at night, and hang out around the ceiling fan, feasting on all of the little insects that gathered up by the light. He (or she) was so sweet and curious!


GOATS:
Unfortunately, goats are usually lunch in Haiti. (Milk-drinking and cheese-making aren't a part of the culture.) They sure are adorable, though!


CHICKENS:
Chickens were out and about in Haiti. Someone asked one of our Hatian guesthouse workers how they knew which chickens were whose, since the chickens generally roam free. Their response? "The chickens know."
Also, the chickens woke me up every day at 5 AM. Boy, are they noisy.


KITTIES:
My favorite two little orange kitties that live at the guesthouse. Even though they catch and eat lizards, I still love them!

HAITI: miscellaney

FOOD
I'm sure all my food blogging friends out there would like to hear a little bit about what the food is like in Haiti. To be honest, it's not much to write home about if you're a vegetarian -- beans and rice or peas, plain white rice, white bread, iceberg lettuce salad with tomatoes, peanut butter sandwiches, etc. There were a few amazing things about Hatian food: fried plantains, milletant (a local squash, kind of like zucchini,) young coconuts, coffee, and fresh mangoes! Look how beautiful the mangoes were (and I ate piles of them for breakfast every single day):


GUESTHOUSE
Here is a picture of the guesthouse where we stayed for the week (there is also a pool, which is blocked by the wall in the front part of the picture):

And here is a picture of the entrance, with the gate rolled back, to give you an idea of how secure most middle- and upper-class homes are in Haiti:


CONSERVATION
Despite Haiti being a pretty dirty country in general, I was surprised at the conservation efforts I saw here and there. Gas and power are expensive and inconsistent, so folks conserve as much as possible. Most people drive diesel vehicles, which are more fuel efficient, and since most people get city power on average 4 hours a day (in fits and spurts,) lots of things are still done by hand, like laundry. Water is also scarse and expensive -- clean drinking water even more so. Some environmental messages from Haiti:
A sign in the bathroom reminding us to conserve water, and also to not clog up the plumbing:

Signs at Frere school, reminding children to respect their environment by putting trash in trash cans, by using toilets (instead of going in the woods,) by protecting plants and animals, and by not disrupting classes in session:

Solar panels on the roof of the guesthouse. Although these panels don't contribute much energy to the overall supply, they do help charge the batteries a little bit.


FANCY PLACES
We did drive through downtown our first full day in town, before the manifestations started. Rene Preval's house (i.e., the Presidential Palace):

A neighboring park/monument (forgive me, I forget to whom):


AIRPORT
We realized one of the best scenic views in Haiti is to be found at the airport:

And, yes, we're all boarding the plane Jackie-O Style!