11.22.2009 Viva Las Vegas: Part One

Well Dominic and I finally got to make our first get-away stateside! We left Haiti for the glitz and glamor of the city that never sleeps...Las Vegas! We had both been seriously overworked in Haiti and you can't get any farther away when you consider the comparisons of Port-au-Prince and Vegas.

We stayed downtown, at the Golden Nugget. This is where I always stay in Vegas as the idea of Old Vegas appeals to me. The Golden Nugget just added a really glitzy new wing to our hotel, see the photos below. We liked it so much that we extended for another night! The new wing opened during our stay and I was madly in love with all of the glass light fixtures. I have a glass obsession.

 

 

Off course we spent our entire second day in Vegas at the Strip. We literally walked the entire thing, I am pretty sure it was about 4 miles. We also tried out the Double Deuce double decker bus. I highly recommend it for those of you who want to hit Vegas sans rental car. It was a breeze to navigate their public transportation.

Dom had never been to Vegas so we had to see the sights! He is very patient with me as I wanted to have photos of everything! I also think we deserve some points because we actually took photos together. Generally, we forget about those as I am always behind the camera.

Dom at our first stop, The Mirage.

 

One of my favorite shots of the day, talk about great light. 

 

Dom showing me all the angles of Cesar's Palace with mojito in tow!

 

The coolest new architecture in town, according to me!

 

One of my favorite casinos, The Luxor.

Doms first time in Paris.

 

Post gelato at The Venetian. Yum!

 

Dom and I at The Venetian.

See my favorite highlights of the trip on my next post!

11.15.2009 Rosa Mina Orphanage

As some of you know Dom and I have been volunteering at a local orphanage called Rosa Mina on Sundays. There is a group of people from the embassy who go and play with the kids. We do crafts, play games, and love the kids. It has been truly one of the most eye opening experiences that I have had since I've come to Haiti.

The woman who runs the place, Pastor Rollande, currently has 70 kids. She feeds them on $60.00 a day. The orphanage is currently trying to remodel the bedroom areas for the kids. People from the embassy are giving their crates that their supplies come in to build bases for the beds. They are really in need of donations as they have such a great need. Here are the rooms they are trying to remodel in the next few months.

This is one of the bedrooms they hope to redo.

  

 

 

This room will be the classroom, they are trying to have a primary school onsite.

This week we made friendship bracelets out of colored yarn. I'm not sure if Americans can even fathom how happy that piece of brightly colored string made these kids! Crafts are always a big hit, the kids get so much enjoyment from them. Here are some photos of them in process.

I have been saving a banana or two from each bundle Dom and I get. I made over 100 banana nut muffins and we brought them to the orphanage. I think the kids really enjoyed their "pam ketz".

Packy is one of my favorite little boys, but today even the muffins didn't make him happy!

All of the kids love having their photo taken and even more so they love seeing the photo on the back of the camera. There was a crowd around me the whole time asking for their photo. Too bad it's hard to kid the candids that way, but we had a blast! Enjoy the show!

Thumbs up is a universal sign! 

 

 

Enjoying his muffin!!

 

Group shot post muffins

 

Sonia with her crew. Sonia brings the crafts most weeks and does such a great job with coming up with activities to entertain the kids.

 

This little girl was diligently working on her writing for a good portion of the time we were there.

 

This was Jenn's first trip to the orphanage.

 

Dom's sunglasses were a hit, the kids loved trying them on.

 

Meet Joel, I love him because he is all boy! As his shirt says "Short, Cute, and Loveable!"

 

The older boys could not get enough of the camera, they wanted to play fight and catch it in camera. I could of entertained them for hours with the click of a shutter.

Sometimes I wonder if the older kids get over looked. From our first visit to Rosa Mina I noticed that the older kids are always watching over the younger ones. This boy tutored the others on their homework for the entire visit. I believe the owner is currently trying to raise funds so he can continue going to school himself.

Yesterday, Dom and I chose 6 of the kids from the orphanage to sponsor for Christmas. A group who volunteers set up a christmas tree in the orphanage and have an angel for each kid. We are hoping to have all of the kids sponsered for christmas. There are very few toys at the orphanage so we are trying to get each child something for christmas. If any of you are interested in sponsoring one let me know. It will need to happen quickly as the gifts take awhile to get to Haiti, but I will be home in Arizona for the next two weeks and can bring the gifts back in my suitcase.

10.25.2009 Artisan Einstein Albert and His Bowls Part II

Here are the two bowls which Dom had already purchased prior to me arriving in Haiti. They are the Diana bowls.

 

 

Einstein told us that several years ago he was at an Artisan Fair at the Javitz Center in New York City. A woman at his booth love his work, but asked him if he could make her a custom piece. She sketched out the shape she wanted, left a number to contact her and left Einstein to his work.

He was immediately approached by the other artists who asked him if he knew who she was. He said no, they told him that it was Lady Diana. He immediately called home and had the order rushed, they turned over the product in a week.

He then delivered the bowl back to her. She asked him what she owned him, and he asked her if he could use her name on the bowls instead of taking payment. The Diana bowl is now one of his top cellars. And to think Dom bought them without knowing that story...he must just have great taste!

10.25.2009 Artisan Einstein Albert and His Bowls

Last Sunday, Dominic and I took a tour to the workshop of one of our favorite Hatian artisans. We already own several of his beautiful wooden bowls (ours are the Diana bowl which have their own story to be told at a later date!).

These bowls are hand made by Einstein Albert, one of the premier wood craftsmen of Haiti. He is running the businees which his father started - making bowls out of the fast growing Gommier tree (or the Gum tree). Einstein Albert's workshop is located in Mariani, on the eastern edge of Port-au-Prince, where he employs several apprentices. He also has several farm areas where he grows the trees.

Here are some photos of Einstein's inventory which he takes every Sunday. These bowls have been formed but not sanded, stained our water proofed! It is amazing how many different style of bowls he has, he says that they are constantly coming up with new designs.

 

 

During the next stage of the process the bowls are sanded down. Every bowl is done by hand! While we were at the workshop there was quite a team of workers, these are truly a handcrafted product. One of the women told us that they work 7 days a week to keep up with the demand for his bowls.

Einstein isn’t the only producer who is nervous about the recent push to raise Haiti’s minimum wage to about $5 a day. Although the legal minimum wage may be only about $1.75 a day many companies explain that they provide 15 days of paid vacation a year in addition to bonuses and payment for work done over $1.75 worth of labor a day. They claim their workers usually make closer to $5.75 a day. Garment manufacturing companies are being encouraged to stay in production and new investment is being sought. In the current economy, and with Haiti’s poor infrastructure, the minimum wage increase is everything but attractive foreign investors and struggling local production. Clinton and other supporters have proclaimed the possibility of a rejuvenated craft sector to lift Haiti from economic strife.

 

Each bowl is then inspected and any imperfections in the wood are filled with a type of putty.

 

Here are several of the bowls in the process of being lacquered, there are many coats of lacquer applied during this process.

Einstein’s bowls are made to last! They are made to be waterproof with up to 10 layers of lacquer which turns the naturally light wood into a rich dark chocolate brown. These bowls can be used to serve hot foods or cold foods. They can be left in the fridge full of last nights dish. And takes little effort to clean them off with a damp, soapy sponge.

In the past, Einstein bowls were sold at Neiman Marcus and other major department stores for hundreds of dollars. Now, he employs 30 people who he is occasionally forced to put on standby due to the former US embargo on Haiti in 2005 and the current recession.

He makes a beautiful product that will last a life time for a moderate price. You can be sure we stocked up on some Christmas presents over the weekend. The bottom line Crystal + Einstein Bowls =Love.

P.S. I will post some photos of the finished bowls and tell the Diana Story next post!

10.11.2009 Basin Bleu

Sorry that it has taken me so long to post these photos! I was sick last week and never got around to it! The day after we went to Jacmel, we decided to go to the waterfalls at Basin Bleu. It was quite a trek to get there from the beach. In order to head up into the mountains we had to ford a river! Yes, literally that is us in the middle of the river!

Then we were left in the hands of God and Greg as we climbed up the treacherous mountain path! The view of the ocean from the top of the mountain was definitely worth it!

Once we reached the waterfalls, we obtained a couple of guides to show us the way to the waterfall. It was quite exciting as we hiked and scaled the side of the mountain on our way to the waterfalls!

 

 

 

 

Finally we reached the falls!!! To bad that it rained the night before so Basin Bleu was Basin Brown!

 

Still we didn't let that stop us, let the fun begin!

 

 

Greg was the bravest among us!

Here he is before his big jump, yes he did jump off!!

 

So we climbed back up the mountain and headed back toward Port-au-Prince. The road was incredibly rocky! At one point, we stopped and asked a guy on the side of the road if the road was clear, and he said he didn't "think" there were any mudslides. Then we asked him if we would be able to come back up the mountain if there were. He told us, "No, you can go down but you can't come back up." I think we were all alittle freaked out at that point, except maybe Dom. But we made it down the mountain, and amazingly ended up in cloud forest which was amazing! We drove through clouds down all the way down the mountain side and of course had to stop for another picture of the million dollar view.

 

We also stopped at a road side fruit stand and got enough fruit to last a month. Needless to say I will need my mom's banana nut bread recipe as my freezer is full of bananas. Here's a photo of Dom with the spoils of war.