Simplicity

6.23.2011

Shortly after I moved to Texas, one of my friends got stung by a scorpion in my house. Not long after that, I was stung by a scorpion while I was lying in bed and then again while I was doing the dishes. We found a huge prehistoric-looking bug in our bathroom and spiders and other creatures tip toed around our house incessantly. I had to literally talk myself into sleep each night. I would tell myself, “you’ve been stung by a scorpion and survived, even if you get stung in your sleep, you’re going to be okay.” I was just about to crawl into my tent in Haiti and I noticed two little lizzards chasing each other around the house. Then, I remembered a couple days ago, a rat was crawling on the exposed edges of our rooms. There’s ducks and chickens running around our house and I pet mangy dogs every single day. When it’s time for bed, I crawl into my tent, zip it up, and I sleep until the sun and morning sounds wake me up. The creatures don’t phase me here.

On one of the first days of English class, one of the students said, “On a big dog, you can’t see the fleas, but on a small dog you can.” He then equated that to America and Haiti. He said America is a big dog and we can’t see the problems there, but since Haiti is a small dog, the problems are seen in plenty. As I think about my creature-phobia in America and my peaceful existence with creatures here, I am reminded of that students saying and a little bit embarrassed and very much humbled by my afterthoughts. In America, I have no bigger worries than the creatures in my house. I have clean drinking water, I have access to good food whenever I want it, there is no threat of typhoid, malaria, or cholera. If I don’t remember to wash my hands before I eat, it’s not a huge deal. I don’t have to wear shoes in the shower and I can brush my teeth with water from the tap. These are all pleasures of America, more specifically, my life in America. In Haiti, the trash that litters the street is a reminder of the toxins that poison the water. If I am feeling sick, it could be a serious disease and not a common stomach bug. In Haiti, the clean drinking water we have access to is a gem, a gift that not many are given without cost. People live in tents and most houses are opened. Air conditioning is almost unheard of and access to basic things like internet and phone are limited, at best. In Haiti, there are far greater things to worry about than the creatures in my open walled house.

I’ve made a “To Do” list for when I get home and it definitely includes “Hair Appointment and “Wax ( current Groucho Marx style) Eyebrows.” Things that I haven’t even considered since I’ve been in Haiti because there’s greater things to worry about. I live in America and I believe I live pretty simply, but as my time here winds down and my journey home begins, I am trying to reconcile the truer simplicity that I live in here with my life back home. I am grateful for the drinking water and cleanliness at home, but I want to be able to live grateful for the these pleasures without worrying about the “creatures in my house.” Truer simplicity has been my resonating lesson while in Haiti; the lesson I will bring home.