Brazilians

Yesterday, thank the lord, we got a day off to go to the beach. We went to the exact same beach club that I went to freshman year with the GO Haiti team. Back then, there was no one there except my team and this other couple. We had the entire place to ourselves. This time, however, as we entered the lobby and looked out over the pool, all we could see were tan men in speedos. Christie, one of the girls we are with swore it was a gay retreat. Turns out, the United Nations mission in Haiti, which consists mostly of Brazilian soldiers, had their day off at the same beach club. No body ever told me how attractive Brazilians were! I'm thinking of ditching Creole and picking up Portuguese.

They were really nice and very gentlemanly. They taught us how to dance and when asked what they do they suddenly got a serious look on their faces and said "we're peace keepers". Before meeting them, we would see the UN trucks drive by, laden with guns, through a seemingly peaceful village. All of us were disgusted by the intimidation that the UN seemed to have on this country.

After meeting them, though I still think they're attractive, I still can't see why they are here. They don't know a word of Creole or French, they take five days of a month to go to the beach, and they never leave their barracks in Port au Prince except to go to the beach and ride around in their oversized white trucks.

Still, we're all enamored.