It's a New Year

We danced 2012 in around a fire with a bunch of earthloving friends in Kenscoff, in the mountains, with drums, flute, tambourines, maracas and a massive bamboo rain stick. It was cold and we drank mango-infused cane liquor, ate chiquetaille [my favorite Haitian party food], goat stew and cake soaked in rum, and set off some dangerous-looking fireworks. After midnight, when it was officially Haitian Independence Day, we shared a pot of pumpkin soup.

I love the symbolism of the new year - transformation, improvement, fresh starts - and all the better combined with the birthday of this revolutionary nation. I'm sorry to say that excitement about this year is being tempered as the second anniversary of the earthquake looms, and anxiety and sorrow are surfacing in ways that I didn't expect.

Still, it's a New Year and if our entrance celebration of 2012 was any indication, it's going to be a good one.