By far my favorite t.v. show (and admittedly, the only t.v. show that I watch with any regularity) is Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations on the Travel Channel. For weeks now they’ve been advertising a soon-t0-premiere new episode on Haiti and I’ve been hoping to catch it. Last night was the big night, and I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time! Braydon and I both happened to be in the kitchen (him cleaning up from dinner, me cooking for Swap) when it came on. We stopped everything to stand in front of the t.v., watching every minute of it, and then frantically trying to cook/clean during the commercial breaks.
It was an hour of refreshing television. Not refreshing in the sense of “light and airy and rejuvenating,” but rather, refreshing in the sense of “raw and real and re-jolting.” It was Haiti for real. Not the typical “Haiti” you see on t.v. In true Anthony Bourdain fashion (which is why I love him so much in the first place), it was honest-to-the-depths and without-the-typical-media-gloss. It was the most realistic coverage of Haiti that I’ve seen since returning from Haiti to get the boys in 2005. It brought me right back. I could almost smell, hear, taste Haiti. I could feel it– the heaviness, hopefulness, confusion, clarity, anguish and resilience that is Haiti. At one point, early on in the episode, I broke down sobbing– tears pouring down my face. With K & O’s birthday coming up, I’m overly emotional this week anyway (I’ve always been ridiculously emotional around their birthday and it doesn’t seem to be lessening as the years go on). But aside from my emotionality, the show is just simply heart-and-mind stirring in its own right.
If you have a chance, watch it– click here. The episode is moving and haunting. Just like Haiti: moving and haunting.
I missed the show last night but I saw a Haiti show on February 28 – is this a new one?
I don’t know Phyl, maybe it is the same one… I’m guessing you just got it earlier where you are than we did here? hbj
Oh Heather, thank you for providing a link. As soon as Miss Mal is safely asleep, I am definitely going to watch. I have been missing Haiti sooooo much- a few days ago, while cleaning out old travel bags etc, I found A LOT of gourdes. i am saving them to go back and work- maybe when babygirl2 is about 4, which means Malia would be 8. I wish i could go now.
Mwen sonje Ayiti plis ke mwen kap di!
xo
H&B- Thanks for the link. I gotta go watch it. LOVE him.
BTW- Did you click on Real Hope for Haiti’s post today? It was one of the new people in the RC. The second picture- I kept coming back to it over and over. It is one of a young father holding a newborn. This man looked somehow familiar… Tonight I went back again– i think in a way- this man looks like Owen in 15-20 years. Or at least how I imagine… at least in pictures! People have pointed out older ET boys and said the same thing about my son and I can’t see the resemblance so … maybe its’ just me. But it haunted me for much of the day.
Shannon– Whoa, yes, haunting— the man in the picture…. I don’t see a strong resemblance to Owen can see what you mean— and very often I see Haitian men and think they resemble the image in my mind of what my boys will look like grown up. So, I get it. Thanks for sharing. And that RHFH post is very, very haunting (as so many of their posts are). Love and deeply respect their blog for what they are sharing with the world. It is photos like those that first drew us, for one, to adopt from Haiti. Thank you for reading, HBJ
If you have a chance watch, Angels of Milot: Haiti’s Aftershock, a documentary airing tonight.
Thanks Mindy! Will look for it! hbj
I happen to be awake late one night and got to see it , I too had mixed emotions about , I did love that it was the real Haiti. but sad that i didn’t feel I could let my son watch . It would cause too much sadness on his part…