Sister Teresa

25 May

From before daylight I could hear the rain outside my window. Not a downpour, but rain nonetheless. The last time I had arranged to perform at the preschool, I got rained out. Fanel had said that there is not a space inside large enough for all the children. So when I went downstairs at 800 am, my hopes were not very high. What happened though because of the rain was quite marvelous. Vladimir, who is probably 16, saw me and came across the street to greet me. His English is quite good, and he wondered where I was going. He said that he had no school because of the rain. He said laughing, when it rains in Haiti, there is no school. He saw that two of his friends were standing out of the rain on a porch across the street. He called them over and introduced them. They too spoke English quite well. He asked about juggling and said that he had already been juggling at his house this morning. I did n’t have any equipment with me except for the rubber bands around my wrist. I did a couple of tricks and he wanted to learn them.. And so began a three hour session that ended up with about a dozen of his friends learning some basic magic skills, several learned how to juggle three balls, one was mesmerized by a string trick I had done, a cut and restored trick., I later saw him doing it for a friend!! So it wasn’t to be for me to perform for 172 preschoolers. I hung out with a bunch of young men who were very eager to learn my skills.

After a short rest, I go have lunch at my favorite little street place, the food is great, the flies are thick, and a dog waits for my chicken bones, what could be better. I come back to the hotel and get ready to go to the orphanage at 3. As I come out of the hotel I am met by Manno, Vladi, and Seby, who ask if they can accompany me to the orphanage. I welcome their company. On our way there, we pass a group of men sitting and playing some game, I couldn’t see whatl They wanted me to do a show for them but I told them I couldn’t but would come on my way back. When we arrive at the orphanage we are let in and we continue on up the hill to the main building. There is no one there to meet us, and even when we ask for Sister Teresa, there seems to be some confusion. We are told to wait. Soon a rather round sister approaches us, she is Mexican but speaks very good English. She gives me the green light, calls the children together and I’m on my way. There was a team of doctors visiting from the hospital across the road and they watched most of my show too. The children were very happy at the end and I shook everyone’s hand. It was obvious that some had mental disabilities, but they were very playful and charming. When I finished and was packing up I went to thank the sisters, but they had all disappeared, so we simply walked out the gate.

I was hot and thirsty, I had forgotten my water. We were headed back to the hotel and were passing by the men who had called out before. No way they were going to let me walk past. I agreed to do something for them. I intended to give an abbreviated show, but the crowd grew very big, close to 100 and I kept going. It was another winner. Manno had only taken one picture at the orphanage, which was a little disappointing to me. Seby asked if he could shoot the street show and he did a great job.

It was a full day. I decided to walk to the beach to wind down from the day’s excitement. I love walking, observing, and noticing new things. I started to pick up colored pieces of rubble. Not sure what to do with them but they caught me eye. During my walk I actually found the preschool where I was to perform this morning. It is called La PouPonniere Kindergarten.

I decide to just go there tomorrow if it is not raining. As I was relaxing after dinner, someone knocked on my door, it was Fanel, apologizing for not coming this morning. So it is all set for tomorrow, as long as it doesn’t rain.. But I heard someone say today that this rain will last for 5 days. My fingers are crossed.