Travail des Femmes

At the Marriott Port-au-Prince Haiti, I stood in front of a ballroom of people, with my interpreter (a stand in for one of Marge Simpson’s sisters). I discovered that when you have to speak through an interpreter you can’t be nervous, because there are too many things to think about: Is this the place to pause? Did she get that slight change from “they” to “she”? Should I stare at the audience while the interpreter gives my speech? Did she emphasis “winnable” the same way I did? Who does she think she is? This is my presentation! As I said, perhaps, a few too many places the mind can drift.

The audience was large and generally courteous. The topic of the day was the launch of the National Gender and Elections. I went through the different sections: legal framework, election management, civil society, political parties, violence against women and the media. I ended with this:

Finally, let me say that I was here four years ago and spent time in the displacement camps around Port-au-Prince with women who were working to end gender-based violence at the most basic, household level in tents and extremely difficult living conditions. These women amazed and inspired me, because against all odds, including the earthquake, displacement, and disease, they were committed to tackling the complex issue of GBV for the sake of equality and justice. I hope you can give me just one moment more to make a bit of a plea: the continued vigilance and support from those of you in this room is critical to the success of the National Gender and Elections Strategy. Continue to press policymakers working to implement the plan. Continue to press local civil society and their male allies and continue to cultivate and nurture public support for gender equality so that the women and men working at the community level know that their work is not in vain. On the contrary. The national, and even international spotlight, shines brightly in Haiti. You should feel proud to have created a beacon for all of Haiti and the world to embrace.

Marge’s sister helped me bring it home to her credit and people applauded with mild enthusiasm.

But after I spoke, members of the national election commission started taking questions from the audience and all hell broke loose. The theme was what it always is: women need more financial support to run credible campaigns. It turns out that Haiti has 140+ political parties and 64 candidates running for President (including a few women). More than a few of these candidates, as well as candidates for other offices were in the room. And they wanted public financing. Now.

In fairness, the election is less than a month away and there is apparently no sign of the money.

I came away thinking firstly: do not mess with Haitians, especially the women. But I also think we’ve got to do more by women candidates. Public finances do not an elected official make. It’s about the game of politics. It’s about the private sector. It’s about connections. Yet, we teach our women leaders in trainings to run a straight campaign, be good and fair to everyone. Etc. etc. This is politics and women need to play the game, no? I’m not saying train them to lie, steal and cheat. (At least I don’t think I am) But the handout strategy seems to me to waste time. Don’t lament, work the room!

I’m sure that if I stood and shared these sentiments right now, I’d be knocked on my ass in a nanosecond. So I’ll refrain…for now.

In a New York minute

Scott suggested the name "tourist with opinions" or TWO when I asked for some help describing my weekend. I went to the big apple instead of a girls weekend in Montreal, which I had originally planned with Kate. Since leaving New York in 2007 I really spend only fleeting moments dashing to one or two destinations in the city. I decided in my big solo trip that I would find ways to enjoy New York on my terms. I had two: I wanted to take advantage of the entertainment (world's best) and I wanted to relive some moments from my time here. 

For point 1, Kate suggested we play "broadway roulette," which of course is the latest cheap way to see a show. For $49 (a steal!) you choose 5 shows and in the day one with availability would be chosen for you. Perfect. We saw Matilda which truth be told was only ok - a little too kid focused but with great talent and good music. We had dinner at a Greek place which would have been good, but the service was terrible (it turns out the staff were more focused on their failed broadway aspirations than our dinner order.) We left the show halfway through, just because we could. It was a good night.

On my other term, I decided to meet Kate after spending a few hours on my own in the Village. Here I was able to meander through years, no decades of old haunts. First stop, Joe's pizza for some slices. A real NY pizza joint: standing room only, pictures of random celebs with the owner on the wall and good, classic pizza for cheap. After that I stopped to pick up canolis which may or may not make it home to Hayden. I walked along Bleeker street for a bit, which still had many of the tourist trap yet charming restaurants and bars. I stopped at a little boutique on Thompson st. that always has the cutest dresses. I purchased some cute shorts.

I walked through a Washington square parked filled with NYU students, a Hare Kristna festival (seriously) and passed a doppelgänger for Caril Kane's character on Kimmie Schmidt, except crazier and on a child's BMX. 

I made it to Astor place which was sadly unrecognizable with now a second skyscraper. I got to St. Marks, which is gentrified, but holding at least with some sort of balance between crappy smoke shops and sushi restaurants. As I approached Second avenue I saw a street festival, which is always the bane of residents: annoying, tacky stuff that you don't need that slows down foot traffic. Only sadly, because I am now a TWO, I confess I enjoyed some of the stalls. I waded through and got to my old block. As I was about to reach my building I passed a little toy shop that had always been there but of course I had no use for before. I bought Austin a ball that he will love for exactly 5 minutes.

After remembering in front of my old door, I walked through my old deli that is literally the best deli in a city of awesome delis. I walked toward 14th and stopped and got a pedicure (oh yes I did). I made a brief pit stop at trader joes to grab some wine and then headed to Brooklyn.

Upon disembarking in Williamsburg, I über-ed to Kate's kooky kooky neighborhood. It's so Polish that everyone on the streets is speaking Polish and all of the newspapers are in Polish.

On Sunday morning I woke up early and went to buy coffee and donuts from Moe's donut shop, started by a guy who left "the best donut shop in New York" to start his own place after he fell out with his partner. Classic New York.

We met Cora and Inti and their brood, discussed aging and children and had a very Brooklyn lunch at a beer garden: cheeseburgers and ironic curly fries, milkshakes and PAC man.

And then I hopped on the 2 train to penn station. 

Just what I needed!

The Separation

On Sunday I left Austin for the first time to travel to Tunisia. Anxiety reigned supreme. He hasn’t been weaned. We’ve never been apart (since he was conceived!) I am the one who knows best how to care for him. Hayden will miss the queues for when he’s hungry, when he’s tired, when he wants his ball, when he’s telling him about a passing plane…most importantly, my heart was breaking with the thought of missing him. Deliriously negative thoughts about never seeing him again took up way too much space in my brain.

On day four of Tunisia, it turns out that Austin is ok and so is Hayden, and I think maybe I am too. I may even be a little bit excited about being in Tunis. I haven’t seen much yet, but heading out to the Medina and some sightseeing very shortly. It is a nice calm oasis in an otherwise rather turbulent Middle East. It reminds a bit of Tripoli (minus the turbulence). It is windy but beautiful. The hotel I’m staying in, The Residence, is ridiculously lavish. The food is good, but not great. The fish is very fresh and the calamari in particular is that divine, tender, melt-in-your-mouth kind of calamari that you only get once in a very blue moon. The mezza is not as good as Moroccan or Lebanese and the pastries aren’t as good as Turkish.

Working with my colleagues in the field is, as expected, a breath of fresh air and excitement about the work. Lots of energy around new ideas and collaboration. I’ve promised trips to Egypt, Jordan and back to Tunisia several times (we’ll see).

It is nice to take a break from constantly worrying about Austin. Indeed, I have been sleeping better here, although aided by Tylenol PM.

And today we spent sightseeing, which is just amazing here in Tunis. We went to Carthage, site of ancient Roman ruins overlooking the Mediterranean. We went to the medina and I got some bargains. The guy I bought a little rug from complained that I was too difficult J We went to Sidi Abu Said, which is basically the Tunisian Santorini. Just so charming. We sipped Tunisian mint tea with pine nuts while overlooking the vast inlet to the sea and downtown. Finally, we ended up at a S-WANKY restaurant nearby that must have been the best restaurant in Tunis. Certainly better than most DC restaurants, where we drank delicious Tunisian red wine (who knew) and debriefed each other on the geopolitics of the region and the fantastic shopping in Tunis.

But boy am I ready to see my boy. And Hayden and Jeter too!