The House I Grew Up
Can someone tell me where they feel more comfortable after their house? The house is located in Cap Haitian (Haiti) in the middle of a big garden. Cap Haitian is the second most important city of my country. It was previously named, Cap‑Français (initially Cap-François) and Cap‑Henri. It was historically nicknamed, The Paris of the Antilles, because of its wealth and its beautiful architecture and artistic life. The house I grew up was for my grandparents. At least two generations of my family grew up in this house. My mom told me her mother gave it to her before she died. She was 27 when she got the house from my grandmother and she was about to get married. I grew up in this house with my mom, my dad, and my two brothers. Every morning, when I wake up I wish I was in my house in Haiti because I miss it so much. This is where I want to be everyday in my life, because it is the only place I feel good and comfortable.
The house is at least 70 years old and in good shape. It was built with ancient architecture with two floors. It is one of the biggest houses in my neighborhood, fully secured and surrounded by high wall. This house has five bedrooms, two-bathrooms, one kitchen, one living room, two garages, and one basement. When you first enter in the house in the front door, you will see the kitchen on your left, the living room on your right the bathroom and the bedrooms upstairs in the second floor. The bathrooms are very large, airy and tiled. It has a shower. The floor of my house is fully marbled. The kitchen of my house is very large also and comfortable. It is near the living room. There is a door in the kitchen who open in the back of the house with a beautiful view of the garden. All over the wall of the house are my family’s pictures and my grandfather’s paintings. He was a very recognized painter in the city. My room was my favorite part of the house. This is the place where I can really be myself and did what I wanted because it made me feel comfortable because it is my own space. My house was always crazy, with my two brothers who are always played and ran everywhere. My room was the only place in the house where I can come and relax.
In the front of the house there are two big trees; one is a coconut and the other one they call it (Kenep) in Creole, which is one of my favorite plants. This is a beautiful house painting with color beige and brown. The outside view of my house is mixture of colors and beautiful scenery. My house is a mixture of both classical and modern, which signifies how I have not forgotten my history and background based on a long line of familial relations. My mom always makes sure the house is in good condition because the house is the heritage of the family and recognized by the city as one of the oldest houses.
Gardening can provide much more than adding beauty to your yard. The house is in the middle of a big garden with at least two hundred trees of many different kinds, including the most important fruits. In the garden, we grow plants like yam, plantains, tomatoes, corn, mangoes, coconuts, oranges, lemons, bananas etc. In my country, every fruit has his own season, which means we cultivated everything separately. For example, in summer it is for the time for mangos. We have different kinds of mangos in the garden when the mango season comes we give them to people in the neighborhood and sell them because there are a lot. I used to bring my friend to my house to eat mangos. Mango has a lot of vitamins. Many times, when I woke up in the morning after I finished to taking a shower, I ate at least fifteen different kinds of mangos. At night, before I went to sleep, I ate mangos again. They are so good, and I like them. If you ask Haitian what is their favorite fruit, trust me, they will say “mango”.
Every December I travel to Haiti, because we have family reunion every Christmas in the house. We used to have a lot of fun. We used to be at least thirty together for the reunion. My mom, my uncles, and my aunts always tell us stories about our grandparent. They always say we shouldn’t sell this house because it is our heritage. Even though we are not living over there we must keep it for our children, our grandchildren, and bring them every year to come to spend some great moments in their heritage. Every December 24th we have a lot of fun during the reunion. The whole family gathers in the front of the house where closing remarks are made and we speak about great time we had during the year. We always have a big barbecue during this day and drink a lot of beer. My mom always closes the reunion with some good advice and prayer.
Before I left Haiti to come to the US, it was very difficult for me because of the system of the US. I grew up in this place with my family. I spent all my childhood in this house. This is where I feel so good, but I had to leave it for a long time. That was a nightmare for me when my mom told me I had to come to the US to continue my major. I remember when I was in the plane to come here, I was asking myself, “will I be comfortable in another place as the same I was in my country?” I asked one of my cousins who was with me that day in the plane, and he started explaining to me what kind of houses there are here and how they build them. To be honest with you I almost cried when he told me they don’t have gardens in those houses, and I have to buy everything I need. It was so hard for me for the first year. Every day when I wake up I always think I was in my house in Haiti, because I always wait for the birds to sing for me every morning. One of my biggest problems were the weather because it is only hot here in summer. It is hot in my country, but my house has a lot of fresh air because of the trees we have. Many times, I say I have to go back to my country because I don’t feel comfortable here.
It is difficult to forget a place where you grew up. I always say I will never comfortable anywhere else in this world. I hope one day I go back to where I spent most of my time to find my old life and live a better life. This is where I want to be for the rest of my life.
