The Myth of Sisyphus

[bcholmes]

I'm seriously thinking about going back to Haiti over Christmas.

There is a Haitian proverb: dye mon, gen mon. It means, "behind the mountains, there are more mountains."

I am growing very fond of that proverb. And recall that we must imagine Sisyphus happy.

Comments

[nex0s.livejournal.com]

Someday, I would like very much to go to Haiti.

Maybe we could arrange a trip together. I'd much rather go with someone who'd been before :)

An active imagination and daydreaming capacity is good!

n.

[bcholmes.livejournal.com]

That'd be great fun! If you start considering a time frame, let me know. I'd love to go with someone.

You lived in New Orleans; eske ou pale kreyòl?

[nex0s.livejournal.com]

I did live in NOLA, but I don't speak any creole. I am a sadly limited single language american (though I can get around mexico on my spanish).

IT wouldn't be for a couple of years probably. But, um... Yeah!!!

n.

[geekymary.livejournal.com]

That's a wonderful proverb. How is it pronounced?

[bcholmes.livejournal.com]

The first word is almost one syllable, and the 'e' is pronounced 'ay'. Close to 'day', with a bit of a 'y' stuck in after the 'd'.

The 'o' in 'Mon' is about the same as 'con', but the 'n' is almost not pronounced. (If you know any French, it's similar to 'bon' in "Bon jour").

'Gen' is pronounced with a hard 'g' sound. The 'e' sounds like 'Ben' and again, the 'n' is almost not pronounced.

[wild-irises.livejournal.com]

Not only do I like that in principle, it's very useful to me in my life right now.

Thank you!

[wild-irises.livejournal.com]

From where do you get "we must imagine Sisyphus happy?"

[bcholmes.livejournal.com]

From Camus'[*] essay, "The Myth of Sisyphus".

[*] I'm blanking on whether or not I should have a possessive 's' if the 's' before the apostrophe is silent.

[avt-tor.livejournal.com]

It should be "Camus's". See http://www.bartleby.com/141/strunk.html#1

First, Camus is French, pronounced "Camoo" in English, so the 's is needed. Second, Camus is not an ancient proper name. Third, it ends in -us, not -es or -is.

I consider Strunk the authority. This is his first rule. Strunk says "This is the usage of the United States Government Printing Office and of the Oxford University Press."

[djehutydjesi.livejournal.com]

I looked at airfare yesterday for a haiti trip, incredibly it cost slightly less than if I were to go home to Northern Maine. Kanzo doesn't seem impossible now.

If you go and find a nice Erzulie boutey pick it for me and I'll buy it. :>

[xthlcm.livejournal.com]

Have you read this yet?

Mountains Beyond Mountains (http://www.amazon.ca/dp/0812973011/)

If not, you really should. It's an excellent book about an amazing man and his love for Haiti (and Peru, and Russia, and really anyone who's poor and been fucked by the public health establishment).

I'm also reading a book by Paul Farmer, The Uses of Haiti (http://www.amazon.ca/dp/1567513441/), that's educational and passionate and agonizing to read.

[bcholmes.livejournal.com]

Both of them arrived the other day. I've started reading Mountains Beyond Mountains and am quite enjoying it.

[bcholmes.livejournal.com]

Holy damn, that was good. Thanks for the pointer.

Let me know if you go.

[ardasiril.livejournal.com]

...I know some folks you ought to meet :) Or maybe I ought to come with you. And D-- kanzos at her house are in January as there is no Vodou between Dec. 24-Jan. 6.