MINUSTAH: My lasagna dinner with a representative from the United Nations in Haiti

United Nations emblem.

I received an e-mail Sunday from a family at St. Paul Lutheran Church inviting me to share dinner with them and their house guest--a man who works for United Nations from Port au Prince, Haiti. His name is Emmanuel, and he is Minustah de la Mission des Nations Unies pour la Stabilisation en Haiti, or the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti.

Although Emmanuel is a native of the Republic of Burundi, he has been working in Haiti for several years in telecommunications. It was so wonderful to talk to him about Haitian culture, political affairs & Haiti's newly elected president (popular musician Michel Martelly), reconstruction after the earthquake, and NGOs in Port au Prince. He said that from his experience, Port au Prince is "not a problem" and not dangerous for travelers as long as I do not wander alone in the "red zones" or accept a ride from someone I do not know when I arrive at the airport. This is reassuring to hear from someone involved with the police in Port Au Prince.

Emmanuel's native language is French, and striking up a conversation in French helped overcome some communication barriers, though we mostly talked in English (and reminded me how rusty I've become since my month-long backpacking trip in France!). He said that being a French speaker allows him to understand Creole very well, the official language of Haiti, so I definitely need to intensively work on my conversational French. French is mostly spoken by the Haitian educated elite and remains the language of politicians, whereas Creole is spoken by the majority of the general public.

On a different note, I have been kicking myself all morning for forgetting to take a picture to share with you all! After all, I started a blog to streamline my experiences into a cyber scrapbook, with both the blurbs and visuals. I'll be sure to take advantage of the photo opportunity when I meet Emmanuel again this summer in Port au Prince. He will be working during the months I'm in Haiti, so we're planning on meeting again.

I'm so grateful to have a friend from Haiti with whom I've shared a meal and good conversation. It makes me feel like less of a stranger to the country knowing he will be working in Port au Prince during the months I will be serving Canaan in Haiti. I'm looking forward to new friendships and the enjoyment of new cross-cultural experiences!

Edit (4/29): Here's the fundraising update for the end of April!