Leaving Port-au-Prince yesterday around 3PM, our driver Claudie navigates the clogged and craggy streets fluidly, dipping down every small pass and alley. Rubble seemed to be more prominent in the streets than people, until you looked around, over and above the piles to see markets, barbershops, sign painters and school children, all busy at work or play. Life is continuing, but like like no other. It seems there has always been a post earthquake Haiti, or a post "something" Haiti, when looking at the near normalcy. It is a country of adaptability, strength, endurance.

Past Carrefour on the road to Leogane, there is silence in the van as we watch the abandoned beach resorts and "discos" from decades past, all of us thinking of that Caribbean vacation we took once. White sandy beaches and rum drinks on post-colonial sand occupied by the cryptic colonialism of tourism. This sand has a different memory, a different history, in its granules. The feet that dance on this sand are not the sun-burned feet of European office workers celebrating a week away from drudgery. The feet on this sand are strong, rugged, historic. Feet that carried this country to independence yet at times retreat in sheer dependence. They dance two dances, conflicted within themselves. The road is cracked in half, opening slowly day by day since the earthquake. Soon it will be split completely in two, restricting proper travel from the provinces. All the king's horses and all the king's men, don't seem to be putting Leogane together again. There is no more waiting for the "cavalry." Time to get rid of the king! But where is he and WHO is he?

Arriving at the crossroads, the cross of Barom Samdi, we turn right. Down the dirt road into Lakou Model, with its long history of Rara, Alan Lomax wrote of this place in 1937, and his journal has brought some of us here today. And brought all of us together. The camp is almost ready; tents, tents, and more tents. The tent has a new meaning in the Haiti of today. What is for us an adventure is the way of life for most of the country. The word adventure seems hollow reflected in the eyes of the people watching us arrive. The SAZ team has done a great job creating our small community, port-a-potties and a makeshift kitchen, a Delco for power, and a communal table are getting set up. There are about 30 on the team, busy at work setting up a HUGE stage and screen in the middle of a cow field, curious onlookers waving and hiding smiles behind well-worn hands.

As night falls, we find our tents and look for spirits... of all kinds. The liquid and the vapor. They are everywhere. Clarin (Haitian moonshine) and Barbancourt rum are offered to the Loa whose land we are sleeping on... or will try to sleep on! 10PM dinner of chicken and rice leads into storytelling and more spirits, lulling us into the attempt at sleep. Nocturnal sounds of roosters crowing all night, dogs yelping and howling, pigs chewing, and the occasional "My back hurts," "It's soo hot," "What's crawling on my back," "A pig rooting outside my tent. Really?!?" and "Shut up or you're dinner tomorrow" ring through the air. Try to sleep. Try to sleep.

Morning comes at 5AM for some of us, earlier for others. The sheer heat in the tent is unbearable, until you step outside. Back in, back out, back in again. The buzzing begins, and life is reinviting itself all over again. Kiki on the stove, Michou on the microphone, Tatiana and Gage debating and discussing Rara and drum beats. Time to start the day.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Tuesday was our first full day in Haiti. We immediately went to business, but not before a home made, well-prepared, healthy and delicious breakfast. There were amazing mangos, avocados, the lightest crispiest omelets you can imagine. Then we split. One half of our team was driven through downtown Port au Prince; the other went to the FastForward studios in Petionville to edit footage and continue research for the documentary project.

Downtown Port au Prince was bustling with activity. Roadside merchants, traffic in all directions, World Cup fever in full swing. Flags and t-shirts of Haiti's favorite teams, Brazil and Argentina, were ubiquitous. The Brazil v. Korea match was about to begin. Our tour driver took us to Place Jeremie, Bas Peu de Chose, Canape Vert, Turgeau, and Champs de Mars (site of the National Palace). There was rubble everywhere you looked. Half-buildings and crushed cars appeared to the left and right of us. The roads were mostly clear, a few were impassable. Children in school uniforms walked in groups, sometimes covering their faces from the dust of passing cars. Smiles were hard to come by, but the city was busy. We drove around for an hour and a half.

Back at editing central, the group pored through hours of footage shot weeks ago in Leogane, piecing together the narrative for the film to come. Progress, lots of progress, was made on that. New discoveries, sublime coincidences, breakthrough moments.The other half of the team returned from their tour and joined them, content to look and listen at the goings-on of the editing team.

The sounds of screams broke the silence. They were joyful shouts, coming from every corner of Petionville. It rose and rose until it caught us all up in its intensity. Brazil had scored its first goal of the game. Haiti felt happy, you could hear it coming from the earth, hanging in the trees. Our FastForward editor said screams like that hadn't been heard in Haiti since before the earthquake.

On our ride home, smiles were everywhere. Haiti was happy, and so were we. Next stop Leogane.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

The GFF team arrived in Port au Prince on Monday just as the sun was setting. Made it to Petionville through the crowded streets bustling with World Cup fever. Our team, including Professor Gage Averill, ethnomusicologist from the University of Toronto, celebrated a good friend's birthday and bedded down for the night, in preparation for the days to come. Stay tuned.

The Green Family Foundation (GFF) has been hard at work in Haiti with FastForward Haiti, a team of video producers, industrial, graphic and light designers, and production managers who produce amazing events in Haiti. Currently FastForward and GFF have teamed up for the Food for Souls tour of Haiti, which has all ready made stops in Champs de Mars, Carrefour, and Cité Soleil. Food for Souls reaches an average of 2000-8000 people per event, and works with local businesses and community leaders to ensure a unified approach.

Cinema Under the Stars' current tour, Food for Souls, is an extravaganza of Haitian culture comprised of documentaries and films produced (mostly) by Haitians for Haitians.

Read more: Report on Cinema Under the Stars in Cité Soleil