Busy day

Last night, I had a great dinner with a friend who took me to his Haitian friend's house for dinner. The food was very good but the conversation was amazing, mainly because of the level of mixing when the guy spoke. It was unreal. I could never really tell what language he thought he was speaking. I had to write down as many notes as I could remember from what he said, just so I wouldn't forget. But also on a personal level, he was very likable and very concerned for people's well-being and the construction of a society where all groups work together for the common good. It's always nice to meet people like that.


This morning I got up at an ungodly hour for no apparent reason other than the fact that I was awake. I went into town (which wasn't nearly as dead as I'd been led to believe) and picked up some souvenirs, the last ones, finally. I came home, listened to yesterday's interviews (disappointing, unhelpful), and went to a friend's house to talk about the study.

Then at 5, I left for Kourou, site of the European Space Center, to see the launch of Ariane 5. Lots of people were there, and I even heard some native English speakers, which I hadn't heard in a really long time with the exception of a brief encounter with a Mormon missionary. The rocket launch was awesome, and it was nice to see the countryside as I left Cayenne for the first time. Here are some pictures and a video of the launch.