Canada|Kanada|Canada|:)

I was surprised when (two weeks ago) Papi said to me that we’d all be going to Canada.

Normally I’d get the news of a big trip only when the commotion would begin, and a head would peep into my room with the assumptive question ½, « ou pa pral’ [New York; or «New Jersey; or « Miami; or « Canada]? », “aren’t you going to…”, or simply when suddenly, one of the SUVs would get replaced by a rental car:)

Don’t want to put on mileage, I guess..:D

This time around, I had a two weeks+ notice—probably because it was accompanied by a request for me to prepare the house for a couple of guests, Madan (Mrs.) Sen Val (my youngest elder sister’s godmother) and her mom, who would be stopping by, and then the original plan was for us all to go—and some extra time to prepare.

Eventhooough…

I never really plan on going since my passport (the one with the palm tree:D and the other the elements found on the Haitian coat of arms)’s, been expired for two years now…

Now, on the rest of those elements, it’s not that I can’t enumerate them all; it’s simply that it’d take a whole post to list them one by one and talk about the significance of each;)

Now I’ve been getting mixed messages.

Some say that they’d let me in as long as I present my permanent resident card—they’d accept just that, as long as I haven’t been naturalized, only then would I need an American passport, and the same would be true on my way out and “beside,” said my second brother in law to be, “the Canadians don’t even want [me:],” but the voice in my head kept telling me that things must be done in an orderly fashion. And besides, I don’t want to give the rest any delays at the border.

The only source of a definitive answer would be mom’s pastor—from whom the joke that follows comes,—who’s been naturalized Canadian before coming to the U.S. (y’all should see him now when he talks: his head flops up and down:D j.k., inside joke among South Park viewers (I used to be…), but he’s in Haiti right now and since his arrival, I haven’t even been able to reach him to say hello…

…« ou tronpe :», literally, the best fit (in this context) would be “you’ve been duped:),” the lady politely said to me as if it were sexually, or in life in general..:)

I got a good silent laugh out of that (wait, wouldn’t that be a smile:), and said to her, « …pase yon bòn joune :», “bye now; have a nice day:).”

Yes. I will only enjoy diplomatic immunity/perks only if God wills it;)

Oh the joke:)

On a Saturday morning last year (possibly the one before last), as we were about to take off for the beach (not too good of imagery:) pun not intended) yes, “depart” is the right word here…

…but this bus was bound for Canada and among its passengers there was this relatively older lady…

Once they got to the U.S./Canadian border, the authorities began to conduct a quick search of the bus—I guess it’s procedure…

…but anyhow, the conducted their search with no troubles at all. That is, until they hadn’t reached that lady.

Once they got to her, she protested, “NOONE IS TOUCHING MY THINGS; all I have here is just a pot of legume!—(a blanched, then sautéed vegetable mixture. Let me tell ya, good stuff!!!:).”

all of a sudden, they called for backup.

A whole team dressed in black just rained on them! And they even brought out their dogs with them!

You know why???

:)

Well, the word for “pot,” the cooking vessel, is « BONM, » hence the bomb squad and their bomb sniffing dogs!

[corny joke drum sound]

Now I really like this hymn that says that all the world’s God’s Own field and it’s sooo true:)

Borders, nationality, et cetera are all men’s inventions. The only people, besides the Jews, by God’s Decree, who can really claim a geographical area would be the Native Americans here in the U.S., and those in Central and South America, and let’s not forget those in Canada.

(:But even THEEEY wouldn’t stand a chance if they were to be called to court by the wild buffaloes:) and llamas:) whose ancestors have roamed the land looong before it’s discovery, RE-discovery, conquest, and colonization!

meh,

I’ve been to Canada before; this would’ve been my 3^rd or 4^th trip:)—it’s not that I’m tired of it or anything…

Plus, my sister, before she got married, has been with us on those trips, but now she has other familial obligations, and although Manmi is as cuddly, if not cuddlier(is this a word???:) than her, LOLz:), it’s not the same without her…

:)

Madan Sen Val’s mom, after noticing our empty bedroom, randomly (I mean, TOTALLY OUT OF THE BLUE:) commented on how all of the young ladies have gone to live in cohabitation. Definitely funnier in Kreyòl!

XD

Plus, culturally speaking, it’s unanimously frowned upon.

My not going just freed me to do something else that’s perhaps more fruitful:

I’ve always wanted to throw a kegger XD—just kidding, OK!!!:)

But nah…

Pastor Abraham who is from the American congregation at mom’s church had asked me (around that same time Papi came and spoke to me, if not long before) if I could help him move the furniture into the new building, and he later asked me if I could translate for him at the joint-service, and to both I said yes, I could.

I also said to him that we’d have to sit down and go over the passage and topic on which he’d be preaching so I could start preparing—you know, those prophets’ names and theological terms have a whole different pronunciation. He said to me that the Holy Spirit would do His job; just show up..:)

Plus.

I’m Catholic.

I won’t have come out of my mouth the things that I have not yet been convinced of, and I won’t have come out of my mouth the things that are complete misunderstandings and outright calumnies—brought about from a lack of ecumenical dialogs, genuine distrust and nearly total reliance on biased sources for knowledge about Catholicism.

I just can’t speak in negation about Mary. We already know Who She is and what She ain’t so there are more important things to focus on, like God’s awesome work that He’s done in Her—for His Greater Glory:)

I really felt torn and I still feel torn here.

I just wanna make myself available..:)

I just wanna be and do as much as I’m allowed to do and that I’m capable of:)

As always, I didn’t worry about outer appearances (whatever I throw on, it gets me tons of compliments;), but I did ponder, “if we should proceed with this interpretation thing, how am I going to fluctuate and drop my voice like him?—(he’s a particularly passionate guy:), and should I wear a Hawaiian shirt like him?”

But “Nah,” I said, “I’m gonna do me:

I’ll just wear a banded collar shirt, no tie;)

And so over lunch on Saturday I told him that I am Catholic, and asked him if that’d…

…yea, I didn’t even finish putting my thoughts together, and he said I could still do it!:D, and that at 7:00, as the others rehearse, we’d all (him, I + another brother (and fellow member of the BHS graduating class of ‘07) who was with us) would sit down and go over the Sunday morning program, which “is [always] subject to changes by the Holy Spirit” of course:).

Ya I really wanted to go to Canada—espesyalman paske yo achte KAY!:D, they’ve just bought a house, I heard, but I guess I can always go another time.

I just felt needed here in Brockton, and I can’t bilocate (Catholic vocab for ya;)

Plus I’ve still got a whole stack of books to quick scan before I bring them back to the library and if they can’t be renewed, anymore:), I’ll finally return them—one in particular has been with me before I started working there in early June;) there’s also this another book, an Oprah’s pic (by Edwige Danticat(1) that I borrowed from my English prof. that I want to take a look at before returning it to him…

PLUS I still have to do a mini inventory of my old notes and magazines and decide which one will get the shredder and recycling bin treatment, and which one will have another year…

Ya, all in all, it was a good weekend!

(1)        http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media/product-gallery/037570504X/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_0?ie=UTF8&index=0