Ariella+Kulp

__**Haiti **__

**__ Climate and Geography __**
==== Haiti is a very small country, even with its little islands surrounding it. It is 10,714 square miles, and it is actually a little smaller than Maryland. It also has many mountains and its highest point is 8,793 feet. In Haiti, there are rolling hills, and lushes valleys with rivers forming at the bottoms. Surrounded by water, Haiti is a peninsula and it shares and island with Dominican Republic. The name of the island that Haiti and the Dominican Republic share, is Hispaniola. ====

==== Haiti’s climate is tropical wet and dry. The fall and the spring are known as the rainy seasons, as the summer and winter are dry. Out of all the months, July is overall, the driest month. Hurricane season is from the beginning of summer, June, to the beginning of fall, October. Haiti usually has very warm weather. There is never snow in Haiti, not even on the highest peaks of the mountains on the coldest days. The average weather in the capital, Port-Au-Prince, is 81 degrees, and the average weather in the mountains is 66 degrees. Since it is so warm in Haiti, people usually wear shorts and loose clothing. Some women do not like to wear shorts or pants, so they wear baggy skirts or dresses on very hot days. They do not have heater in their houses, and if they were to have anything, it would be air-conditioning, and fans. ====

[[image:http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSbZvQN72OGJ5ZwSmcypnHB-8rwm1HJ7tX3z4wrUwE7kPmTSLrA1w caption="Massif de la Hotte"]]
=__ Every Day Living; Haiti __=

When you enter a room with a group of people, you have to go around and greet every person separately. If the person that you greet is superior to you, you must call them by //Madam, Monsieur,// or //Doctor.// Also, if the person is older than you, you may call them “uncle” or “aunt”, even if you guys aren’t related. You greet strangers by shaking their hands. You greet friends by giving them a kiss on the cheek, and you would normally say //“Bonjou,// // kouman ou ye?” // That means, “Good day, how are you?” The usual response is “//M pa pi mal, e ou menm?”// which means “I am not worse, and yourself?” If you are a good friend, you might make nicknames for each other and call your friends by their nicknames. Relatives also often receive the same greeting.

In Haiti, most women love to wear multicolored clothing and a lot of jewelry. Men also like to wear gold jewelry as a status symbol. If you live in the more urban part of Haiti, you will see a lot of Haitian’s wearing western style clothing. The most common footwear is sandals. Businessmen wear suits and ties. Most women usually wear colorful skirts, or even pants, preferably with a matching headdress. A lot of younger people wear shorts, considering the warm climate zone. They like to follow the North American trends. People who live in the more rural side of Haiti wear a different variety of clothes. When working, the mean wear t-shirts, and shorts or pants. The women wear headdresses and dresses but usually never pants.

Haitians love spontaneous gatherings. When they create conversation with someone else, loud voices and laughter is usually involved. If Haitians want to get someone’s attention, they would say “psssst”. When Haitians are telling a story, they use a lot of hand motions to help make the story come alive. If someone is in a rush to get somewhere, and they can’t start a conversation, all they would do is nod their head up. It is know as rude to click your tongue in Haiti. It shows protest and disgust and most people find that offensive.

[[image:https://encrypted-tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRxZvarOzaLrlkXCicA9fEw9p7VS6OHucQzxhyh_01FsIDTEbQWaQ caption="Haitian Jewlery"]]
= = =__ Arts, Literature, and Architecture __= Haitians love to sing and dance and they love music and just being themselves. They actually bring music and dancing into their everyday life! In some cities, disco, reggae, konpa, and meringue are some very popular types of music. Many of the people who live in the more urban side of Haiti like to listen to the music that the North Americans listen to.

Haitians love crafts and some of the crafts that they do for fun are painted screens, papier mache art, wood carvings, basketwork, pottery, and painted wooden boxes. Since Haitians love bright colors, they are known for their sculptures, because they are filled with strikingly beautiful colors and unique images. Some typical themes for the artwork in Haiti are history and nature.

Since Haiti doesn’t have many natural resources that can really help build houses, like we have in Maryland, the Haitians just use whatever is available to the area that they live in. In the older parts of Haiti, you will see brightly painted houses that are usually two-stories high and made out of wood, and brick. Middle class Haitians have land, filled with tropical fruit trees, corn, or sugar cane.

=__ Religion, Holidays, and Festivals __=

Haiti celebrates many holidays, considering all the religions that are practiced there. 80% of Haitian’s are Catholic, and 16% or more are Protestant. Haitians like to practice vodou. Catholic priests use vodou in some holy ceremonies and rituals. Some holidays are New Years, which is also Haiti’s independence day, National Hero’s Day, Constitution day, agriculture day, Easter, Flag day, Fete Dieu, and Christmas.

On New Years, Haitians usually go to visit their parents and family to wish them a great new year, and a healthy new year. There is a big festival called Carnaval. In pre-Carnaval, they usually have a big parade. When people are waiting to see the parade, they dance and sing. They take their boom boxes, play music and dance around with friends and family. It is just another way to show that you are celebrating Carnaval. Those parties usually last all night and continue through the early morning. In the morning is the only time that stores are open that day during Carnaval. There is also a day devoted to the local patron saint, different in each village. Patron saints are important in this country because it is a Catholic country and saints are important to the Catholic religion. That holiday is celebrated with a service in the morning, a festival in the day and a ball or dance party at night. Some of these festivals can get very big very fast as more and more people join and they can last well into the night.