Lockdown

           Going on day five of the most recent “lockdown” in Haiti.  I don’t even know that it’s so much a “lockdown” right now as it is a gas shortage and no one has gas to get anywhere.  This is the third time I’ve been in Haiti during a “lockdown,” and I have learned to keep myself occupied.

            First of all, do everything s—l—o—w—l—y.  There is no rush to get stuff done because when you finish, there still isn’t anywhere to go.  You literally have HOURS to fill, so efficiency takes a back seat to filling time.  And, if one does things slowly, one is less likely to work up a sweat.  For example, I had to put away my clean clothes on Monday. Usually, I fold the clothes and put like items into piles so that when it comes time to put the folded clothes in drawers, I just have to pick up the pile of shirts and put them into the correct drawer.  One pile. One trip.  Not so during a lockdown.  Fold one shirt and then slowly walk to the dresser to put it into the drawer.  If I really want to slow the process down, I open and close the drawer each time.  But, I have to balance slowness with not working up a sweat.  

            Secondly, it’s important to vary the times of day that one does one’s activities.  Too much routine can lead to boredom.  Every morning I get up and head up to the roof to play Candy Crush Saga, check Facebook, and read some headlines on CNN and FOX.  I also take time to read.

            After that, though, the schedule is completely open! Do I color first?  Or, should today begin with Bible study?  What about making the bed?  The options are endless!  For the most part, I fill my time with these activities:

1.     Coloring—during a “lockdown” one has the time to color in every little circle or speck in those detailed adult coloring books.

2.    Read

3.    Bible study—truly good for my soul.  

4.    Watch Netflix and/or movies—the shows that Michael and his family added to my external hard drive are coming in really handy!  Too many days stuck in the compound, though, and I’m gonna run out of new stuff!

5.    Stand on the roof and look out at the neighborhood—this morning’s highlight was the moto taxi driver in the winter parka (it’s cool today—about 75—and cloudy, and many Haitians find that pretty darn chilly.  I, however, am loving it!).

6.    Stand on the roof and listen to the arguments going on in the nearby market—I don’t understand much, but it’s something to do.  Yesterday’s arguments got really hot and some guy pulled out his gun to shoot it in the air.  I stopped watching and headed downstairs!

7.    New York Times crossword puzzles—I do the easy ones from Monday, so do not be impressed!

8.    Write—this could be in my journal, blogging, or for my book.

9.    Nap

Today I threw in some time with the kids.  Alavrez asked me to come downstairs and play with them, so I did. We played Ninja.  Basically players jump into a ninja-like stance, put one arm behind their backs, and hold the other arm out like a sword.  Players then commence swiping at each other with their sword/arm while making ninja sounds.  I lost every game—not sure how because I really don’t know what the rules are. Either Alvarez or Widley won each game, but I’m not sure how because they just seemed to chase each other while making ninja sounds and swiping at/hitting each other.  These kids hit hard, so I was not too disappointed to lose early on in each game.

            Once the ninja game was over—thank God!—it was time to play with my hair.  Alvarez and Widley tied knots in it for a while, and then Jonathon came over.  He, at least, brought comb and brush, so the knots disappeared.  After about 30 minutes they were done and ran and found a mirror so that I could see their handiwork.  Not bad—they had just combed the heck out of my hair and left it that way.  They wanted to use pomade to get my hair to stay in place, but I put the kabosh on that—I will only be so generous with my hair!

            Lastly, it’s important to pace the eating.  Because time is going so slowly during a “lockdown,” especially by day five, it seems as if hours must have passed and it’s gotta be time for lunch already.  But, in reality, maybe only 1-2 hours have passed and it’s really only mid-morning. It would be easy to think “Well, it’s almost 11:00, and that’s almost lunch time, so maybe I’ll just have an early lunch.”  If one gives in to the temptation for an early lunch, that leaves a rather large gap between lunch and supper, and psychologically that’s tough to fill.  Because if lunch is consumed by 11:00 or 11:30, the mind thinks that half the day is gone, but in reality, only a small portion of the hours have been filled.  And, too much snacking while doing little to no physical activity is not good for one’s health. The other real corker is when supper is served early.  The evening meal is supposed to ready at 5:00, which I think is pretty early anyway. It’s really rough, though, when supper is ready at 4:00.  Seriously, that could be afternoon snack time on some days!  With supper done at 4:00, that leaves a lot of hours to fill before bedtime.  Again, it’s a psychological issue as much as anything.  I mean, now there’s a good five hours to fill before bedtime, and I tend to go to bed early here because there’s not much to do once the power goes out!

            So, there you have it—what to do when leaving the compound is impossible due to violence, gas shortage, or any other reason that Haiti could cough up.  Enjoy!