Haiti is not Senegal

If it isn't obvious in my other posts, I'm constantly referring to my experience in Senegal to prepare myself for Haiti. There are certain similarities, for instance they are both francophone countries with another more localized language/dialect that is spoken in unofficial settings. Both countries are also developing nations with evident poverty. These two things, language and socio-economic state, are significant, but I can only imagine how different the experiences will be.

In Dakar I lived with a family and studied and toured with several other American students. My primary concerns were language/culture immersion and comprehension. For the next several weeks I'll be teaching at a music camp. This experience should challenge me in an entirely different way, as I don't have much experience in music as anything but a student. I'll be forced to articulate myself in a music theory classroom and in private flute lessons. I will also probably have to perform in various contexts. I've done an excellent job avoiding many performance pressures (I get stage fright), but this should push me out of my artistic and intellectual comfort zones, in addition to my geographic and cultural ones.