Anvi We

I had a dream last night that I looked at my calendar to see what day it was and realized my flight back to NYC wasn’t until the 25th. I looked around, I was home, which was strange, so I went back to sleep and awoke back in Haiti... if only it was that easy. There was so much more for me to see, two weeks didn’t do it justice.

A long hot shower drinking all that I can take in.
Snuggles with the wild one.
12 hours of sleep.
A large ass cup of coffee.
I'm ready to go back.

What day is it?

All I know is it’s my last day if all goes as planned. No new alerts from the US Embassy so that is a plus, although I hear the US Marines are on standby today if Martelly doesn’t actually step aside. Crazy Haitian politics I do not understand - I can barely follow the madness that is the US politics and this is 10x over. I'm sitting here watching a lone fishing boat bob up-and-down on the waves having a hard time believing I will be back in the chill tomorrow evening...

Yesterday was a quiet day. Beach. Swim. Swim. Beer. Swim. Lobster. Relax. Perfect. We were the only Blan’s on the beach - word was out and every single person within walking distance brought their stuff to sell. Bird mobiles, gum, peanuts, sculptures, paintings, jewelry, coconuts and hats. Unfortunately for them, I wanted only peanuts. The children are persistent, no matter how many no’s or merci’s, they stay and stare at you with sad face that someone has told them works on tourists. They were told wrong. Hoping to meet up with my little Muse Coralee again today and shower her family with my remaining Gourdes. I hear there may be small Kanaval celebrations in town but no one knows for sure. So like every other day, heading out to find something amazing. Cheers! - g

Day 10-ish

I’ve spent a lot of time negotiating my ride back to Port au Prince and now that I may have one, I’m not ready to go. On day 2 I was thinking about how I can cut my time short. Day 6 the U.S. Gov’t. was sending messages that we should head home. Now, Day I think 10, I could use another week down here. I’m just now starting to understand the rules, timing, the people and this weekend has potential for madness in PaP as the President is supposed to leave… but then again, maybe he won’t. There have been protests (manifestations) in Jacmel, but quite small, and since I’m not listening to news, I had no idea until I checked the Expats Facebook to see if anyone could get me a ride. Enough of that. Today was the best! Early on Jean Paul was my moto guide along the waterfront to Marigot. We stopped at all his favorite spots and said hello to each family member we passed with a big smile on his face. I photograph at a much slower pace than he was used to with but we made it work. He was trying so hard to keep me safe and guide me through some interesting situations and I’m walking off getting lost in moments and taking too long. :)

When Fedno met up with us we moto’d to Etan Boyse, a small lake/reservoir up in the mountain from where I am staying. Paul guided us up and around through the area that he lives - I’m so thankful he’s a great moto driver! The road at times was so steep I got off and walked. The views were beyond breathtaking and everyone was incredibly nice. I was still getting “blan!” cat-calls but they were less “yo tourist” and more “hey! come say hello!”. It’s not too often a foreigner comes walking over the top of the mountain alone so the surprise on the one families faces was priceless. The children stopped in their tracks, smiled… and once I said hello, all was well. They were a pack of 11 kids playing with their grandparents, laughing and loving to ham it up for the camera. To have some fun I filmed them dancing and played it back to them. They must have watched it 10x before I had to go. It’s pure happiness to see children smile - the boys were ready to go but I could have stayed the rest of the afternoon.

The ride down the mountain was far more difficult then the ride up and with Fedno not being the experienced off-road moto driver, we walked down most of the way. At one point it was so bad, Paul rode his moto down then walked back up to drive Fedno’s which was incredible. Along the way we met a local man that runs a program for 65 kids. Mostly orphans or kids of parents that have no money. He feeds them, houses and teaches them farming and art. At first I thought he was asking for money but what he really wants/needs is a sponsor from an organization. If anyone knows someone to contact, let me know. Only bad thing from the entire day is the 1000 bug bites on my leg from stopping to talk to him. I’m not sure what they are, they almost look like tick bites but without the outer ring. I never felt a bite but when i looked down I had small blood drops running down my leg and bites everywhere. I cleaned them off and doused myself with another layer of my 3x potion of bug repellent and we continued on. They don’t itch, but they sure are ugly! Heading off again, cheers! - g


Cayes-Jacmel Market  


Cayes-Jacmel Market


On the road to Etan-Boyse


Etan-Boyse






Fedno and Paul !

Day What?

I’ve hit that point in my trip where I don’t give a shit what is happening back home with the US elections, and since i’m not receiving the alerts the rest of the Americans are, I’m still here with the lack of elections in Haiti. All seems fine from Jacmel… beaches, fishing, beer, rum punch… life - so I’m staying down here as long as I can until I need to head home. Haiti is a bizarre country to me. There are many, many extremely poor people yet everything is so expensive. I’ve done the math a thousand times, take the price - divide by 55 - sounds like a small number but in reality everything costs the same in NYC, their currency is just inflated. Sigh from the “Blan” who they assume is rich, and yes, in their eyes I am... yet in my reality, not so much. Every picture costs money here, I think only 3 people haven’t asked for something since I have arrived. That part of this adventure is completely overwhelming to me. Oh money.

Today, I hired Fendou, a student from The Art Creation Foundation for Children which is an incredible program here in Jacmel. On my way to pick him up, I saw Paul who is a student of my friend Marie’s photo program Fotokonbit. He was out photographing near the water so I invited him along, he jumped on as the third on my way too small moto and away we went. That was something. We started at Bassin Bleu to photograph and swim though no swimming happened. Neither of them know how to swim and I forgot my suit in the car (dumbass! but i have an excuse, I’m tired and for the most part, I have NO idea what anyone is saying… ) After a bit of a hike then descending down the rocks via a rope to the third basin, the guide gave me that “told you so” look for not going back for the suit. Stunning waterfalls drop from high above into turquoise waters which of course would have been refreshing after the hike. Next time. From there we got back in the car and pissed off our driver as we chose the slow road home, stopping as the scenery excited us. Once he found out he would get more money he calmed down and took us to some cool areas along the water that I hadn’t seen yet. Believe me, money wins here… I just wish I had more of it! I’ve heard multiple times already I paid too much, but so it goes. Anyways… I’m meeting up with the boys again early in the morning (for me), after awful sleep and bizarre nightmares last night, I'm crashing early... well, it just started to rain so maybe i'll have another Prestige before the pillow. Cheers! -g

Our little jaunt to Bainet.






















The driver said, "hey, it will only take about 45 minutes. We'll have a nice fish on the beach, it will be great!" And everything about the day was. Even after the 45 minutes that turned into 2 hours along roads that made no sense. Even now that i'm pretty sure that fish is what is causing the "issues"... the town was wonderful. Bainet was hit just as hard as everywhere in Haiti, homes fell, churches collapsed, and in true Haitian spirit, they are rebuilding and will continue on. Everyone I've met has yet to make this drive so I feel honored to have seen Bainet. It's a small town, where I found folks not only welcoming of our cameras, but us, the foreigners. The beach was sparkling and the landscape along the way stunning. If you make it to Haiti - I recommend a day or 2 in Bainet. We only had a couple hours but if, and when I return, I will definitely spend more time there.

Day 1







No commentary on Haiti yet. A lot of turbulence due to the elections but so far that hasn't affected anything near me. I can tell you this much... I didn't bring enough cash, bug spray or face wipes, but I think I'll survive ;) Heading out today with a guide who spent most of his life in New York City. I'm sure I'll have more to say tonight! All is well in Haiti. Cheers!

Spent the last few cloudy, rainy days designing and thinking about redoing my kitchen, an ongoing thought process since I bought the apartment 11 years ago. So of course I woke up today and the first site I looked at was google flights. For 5 years I've traveled instead of home repairs and right now I'm feeling like packing it all up and running off to another part of the world to See! Sadly I cannot afford both, but I need to do both. Looking through these images is a reminder that a home is more then what it is made of... and after every trip my kitchen doesn't seem so awful. Yet I live in a world where "make do" is not part of the equation. Society pressures us to want more, look better, and spend. I certainly don't need a custom $25k kitchen, but i could use some cupboards that will stay put together and a stove that works correctly. I could also use another month in Brasil.

Inbetween the frames...















...that make the edit are so many more images. So many wonderful people we meet along the way, moments filled with laughter, stories and so often a beer. Very seldom do you come across someone that truly doesn't want their photo taken, and if you do, usually after a few moments of conversation you are invited inside and taking photos after all. It's wonderful! So these are just a few images of the many, taken in the first two days on our wanders through Cachoeira. I miss these moments.

Maria Vieira, Igatu.













Sylvia Plachy said recently, “I tried to understand what was going on without the language.” After visiting with Maria I returned with an image I took of her in 2011... at this moment, I desired more then anything to understand more of the language.




I understood enough to know this was her son, he adored his mother, and that the images I brought to her meant more then I could have known. She loved the photo of herself, thinking she turned out pretty good, so proud! But then I handed her two more images of a neighbor (photo). I was sure he had passed away, as the last time I was in Igatu was 2011 and he was not doing well then. She stared at the images, her son enticed her to remember who it was. Memory came quickly and when I looked up again tears were running down his face, a single tear on hers. He was obviously important to them. Her son began telling me the story, I handed them tissues, and nodded like I understood. I did not. We all shared this moment together but I still had no idea.

Thankfully I was with friends that did speak Portuguese. As we passed by again I introduced them to her son and he explained that it was his uncle, his mother's brother. If I remember correctly he was the man that collected the money at the mines when the diamonds came in. That not once did he steal or cheat any of the miners. But that part is cloudy as my mind was wrapped up in the love that Maria was sharing. A hug, a smile, tears.

Not every photograph makes the final edit, but all photographs are worth keeping. Once I knew we were returning to Igatu I gathered as many pictures as I could to share with those I had photographed in 2011. These photographs bring smiles, open hearts and memories worth every tear drop and hug that there is. Miss Gabriella (photo) that I had photographed had all but grown up. Shyer then she was in 2011, thanked me and ran off to her friends. Her mother loved the photograph.

It's these moments that really stay with me. Returning and sharing with new and old friends alike.