What's a girl to do?

Text out of the blue #1 Apr 9

Honey, bonjour. quelque fois quand la realite depasse la fixion on manque comment s’exprimer. C’est comme un coup de foudre....tu es trop belle, tu occupe mes pense et tu m’a fait trop rever. Mon pere me disait que dans la vie on peut toujour rever, car on ne sais jamais sur quelle genre de personne on tomberras sur. Bizard, mais, realite je besoin de vous dans ma vie “donnez moi la chance” svp. Dimanche je vais passe chez vous apres culte pour un bonjour. Peace. BW

(My translation: Honey, hi. Sometimes reality surpasses fiction and one doesn’t know how to express oneself. I saw you, realized you are from the US and am really hoping to persuade you to help me get a visa. You are too beautiful. It was meant to be. My dad even said so. Please give me a chance. I’ll come by and see you after church on Sunday. Peace BW)

I did not respond. First of all because I didn’t know who it was writing me this amorous message, and second, because my general strategy in these situations is to not say anything. An answer is an encouragement to try again-- at least in Haiti.

Text #2 Apr 10

Bonne nuit, mon amour. Je pense a toi et surtout a notre avenir. “I have a dream” une belle femme....il n’ y a rien que plus bon que la famille. “Il y a confidence”. A demain. Love BW.

(My translation: Good night, my love. I’m thinking of you and our future together- you know, the one where you help me get a visa.... I have a dream of a beautiful woman and our family together in the United States. Until tomorrow. Love BW)

So, ignoring didn’t quite work, but I still didn’t respond. Who was this guy and how did he get my number? Maybe my tennis coach was playing match maker??

Text #3 Apr 11

Suis desole, mais quand meme il falait me dire de ne pas passer. Tu es libre! thank you.

(My translation: I’m sorry, but all the same you must tell me not to come. You are free! Thank you.)

I received this text after J, my wonderful, heroic, rat-killing housemate agreed to shoo the guy away when he actually showed up at our gate on Sunday afternoon. However, I deduct from this message that, D, as I now knew his name thanks to J, is aware that I really am single despite my best attempts to have J pass for my husband.

Text #4 Apr 16

Juste bonjour et savoir si vous etes ici. Je voulais vous voir “tu me manque aux yeux”, please. Take care.

(My translation: Just checking in to let you know I haven’t gone away and am not giving up! I want to see you! I miss seeing you! Dammit, would you give me a chance??)

Ugh. Despite the lull in texts and absolutely no response from me, Mr. D is still trying his chances. I keep forgetting to ask Coach B if he gave out my number.....

The Many Uses of a Flag Stick

A flag stick, unlike a flag pole, is a piece of wood about 4 feet long used to hoist and attach an organization’s flag to said organization’s vehicle. I find flags of this type to be extremely ostentatious. So when I returned from my recent vacation to find flags affixed to several of our organization’s vehicles, I set about scheming on how to remove them.

Luckily, my housemate, J, agrees with me that neither of us want to drive a vehicle with a logo-ed flag flapping to announce us. On Friday, we took home one of these flagged vehicles and immediately cut the black rubber strip tying the flag stick to the truck.

We went about our business, which for J, was to burn the trash. Looking around for something to poke and stoke the fire, the flag stick was the most appropriate tool to be found. With flag still attached, the bottom end of the flag stick took on its new purpose. (Of course, we had a laugh over burning the flag, but the stick, except for a bit of char, and the flag remain intact.)

Around 5 am Sunday morning, the flag stick took on its 2nd new use. At this blessed hour of the morning, I was awoken by a noise in my room. I tried to tell myself it was part of a dream. It wasn’t. A minute or two later I heard a bit of a scuffle near the window and saw my curtain move. In the darkness I tried to discern what this thing could possibly be and how in the world it had entered my room in the first place. Was it the snake that allegedly entered our house a month ago and was still hanging around or was it a a different creature? Bat? Bird? Rat?

I worked up my courage to leap out of bed, bound for the door, and turn on the light. Keeping my eye on my room, I knocked on J’s door across the hall, “There’s something in my room!”

Without hesitation, J did a bit of poking around and rat (a rat!) ran out from behind my bed. After chasing the stupid thing around the room, into the bathroom and back again the rat ran up the curtain and into a cubby at the top of the window.

“What could we stab him with?”, J asked.

“The flag stick!” I answered from outside the bedroom door.

I monitored the mouse in the cubby while J grabbed the flag stick off the front porch. Thus threatened, the rat took a flying leap onto my bed at which point I screamed and ran for the living room. I let our night guard in to assist with the rat hunt. He and J chased it into the living room, and I ran for my rat-free room and shut the door.

I could hear movement round and round the living room and down the hall then whack! whack! whack!

“Is it dead?” I called.

“Yes, but don’t come out now, there’s blood dripping from the rat on the flag stick.”

(The first time a peace promoting NGO’s flag has been used for violent purposes??)

The guard disposed of the rat, J cleaned the floor with bleach and I changed the sheets on my bed.

The stick will be used again to burn the trash and burn the rat germs off the stick. In the meantime, I’m sure we’ll find other purposes for our well-used and useful flag stick.

a HAIKU for you

travel, work, retreat

time escaped me once again

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