Rocks in the Water, Rocks in the Sun: A Memoir from the Heart of Haiti
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80 “Un avocat haïtien réclame des excuses de la part de Coderre,” La Presse, 27 February 2014.
Glossary of Haitian Terms
ajoupa
A temporary structure used as a home.
annavan
Forward march.
blan
White. In the first place, all foreigners in Haiti. Secondly, Haitians who are light-skinned can also be called blan. However, a very dark-skinned foreigner is also blan because he or she is not a native Creole speaker.
bòs
Boss: a master in any vocation.
bourèt
A large wheelbarrow with one single wheel used by sturdy men to transport heavy loads in the cities.
comida
A kokorat who waits in front of a MINUSTAH base for a handout. Comida is the Portuguese word for street kid.
degoche
The first step in an apprenticeship; a small course to learn the basic principles of any discipline.
ebenis
Cabinet maker, furniture maker.
houngan
A male Vodou priest.
kafou
An intersection of streets.
kantè
A truck designed to transport merchandise.
kay
A home.
kivèt
A tub for washing clothes.
klarin
An alcoholic beverage made from sugar cane.
kokorat
A street kid. Kokorats search through garbage piles for food and anything that they might be able to sell. They have no home. They live outside of families and are unemployed.
konbit
A peasant work collective for a full day.
konpa
Style of Haitian music.
koutche
A person who brings together buyers and sellers for a range of products, including real estate, employment, car rental or purchase. A business person touching all interests.
kout lè
The fatal breeze that the San Pwèl blow on their victims.
lakou
A group of several small houses belonging to members of an immediate family.
lougarou
Vodouists who can transform into any animal during the night. They can stay in human form and fly as a result of a fire that burns in their buttocks. They search babies and either steal their soul or suck their blood. In both cases, their little victims die.
lwa
A Vodou spirit.
madriye
Thick planks of wood used in the crafting of furniture and construction.
mambo
A female Vodou priest.
marinad
A spiced dumpling.
mason
Mason.
mawon
During the time of the French colony, a slave who escaped his owner to live free in the mountains. Today, anyone who flees from his or her responsibilities. Also, the colour brown.
mekanik
A mechanic.
mera
A peasant work collective for a half day.
ofis
A piece of furniture like a china cabinet, but with sliding glass doors instead of doors.
pèpè
Second-hand goods from North America sold by street merchants throughout Haiti. Although most commonly used to describe second-hand clothing, it refers generally to all second-hand goods sold in Haiti.
plasaj
Common-law marriage.
ranyon
Clothes and other fabric too worn, stained, and ripped to be of further use.
rechau
A small oven that uses gas or coal, hammered out of scrap metal by travelling artisans called “recholye.”
restavèk
A child given to another family who is victim of abuse and exploitation.
San Pwèl
A kind of Vodouist who circulates during the night. When they meet people in the streets, they emit a breeze that will be fatal within hours. They also have a magic rope made with human intestines and fibres from the sisal plant with which they lasso their human victims to transform them into animals, such as cows and horses. They can even eat the people that have been transformed into cows.
sòs pwa nwa
A sauce made out of black beans passed through a strainer or a blender or a mortar and served with rice or cornmeal.
sousou
A sycophant; a yes-man.
taptap
A transportation service. A pick-up truck transformed to carry approximately a dozen passengers along specified routes. It is private business in the place of public transportation.
tayè
Tailor.
tet ansanm
“Heads together.” A term to call for unity or cooperation.
ti bourik
A chair used to aid mothers in childbirth (literally, “little donkey”).
tikounouk
A very little house, often squeezed among others, as in slums; a shanty.
tonton makout
A soldier in the service of the Duvalier regime.
vèvè
Symbols to communicate with the Vodou spirits. Each lwa, or spirit, has its own vèvè.
viejo
Haitians who spend many years in the Dominican Republic.
Pawol Granmoun / Haitian Sayings
Zafè kabrit pa gade mouton.
A sheep doesn’t concern itself with a goat’s problems.
Bourik travay pou chwal galonnen.
The donkey works so that the horse can prance.
Si ou pa pwason, ou pa dwe antre nan nas.
If you aren’t a fish, you shouldn’t enter the net.
Tout otan tèt ou poko koupe, espere met chapo.
As long as you still have a head, you can hope to wear a hat.
Sak vid pa kanpe.
An empty sack cannot stand.
Marengwen ap vole ou pa konn mal ak femèl.
While mosquitoes are flying, you can’t tell male from female.
W’ap kouri pou lapli, ou tonbe nan gran rivye.
While you’re running from the rain, you fall in the river.
Se le ou nan male w’ap konn kiyes moun ki zanmi w.
When you are in trouble, you find out who your friends are.
Nan chemen jennen, yo kenbe chwal malen.
In a tight space, you rein in a wild horse.
Bourik fè pitit pou do li pose.
A donkey has foals to lighten his load.
Tout sa’k pa bon pou youn, li bon pou yon lòt.
Things that are not good for one person are good for another.
Chat brule nan dlo cho, le li wè dlo frèt, li pè.
After a cat burns itself in hot water, it is then afraid when it sees cold water.
Twòp magi gate sòs.
Too much seasoning ruins the sauce.
Responsab se chaj.
The person responsible is also accountable.
Le ou bezwen debarase yon chen, ou di li gen raj.
If you want to get rid of a dog, you say he has rabies.
Ou jamn tande pòt an bwa goumen avèk pòt an fè?
You ever hear of a wooden door fighting an iron door?
Men anpil chay pa lou.
Lots of hands make light work.
Makak sou konn sou ki bwa li fwote.
A drunken monkey knows what tree he is rubbing against.
Se kondisyon ki bat kòk.
You can’t change the rules in the middle of the game.
Se sòt k’ap soti, lespri ap antre.
Each trial makes us wiser.
Domi pa konn mizè malere.
The wretched can sleep anywhere.
Woch nan dlo pa konn mizè woch nan solèy.
Rocks in the water don’t know the misery of rocks in the sun.
Chants
Si yo tire sou nou, n’ap mete dife.
If you fire upon us, we’ll start a fire.
Lafanmi Chilè siye dlo nan je�
�w,
Chilè pa mouri, se nan plàn li ye,
demen a katrè al telefòne’l,
al devan Sen Jan Bosko w’a jwenn Chilè.
Lafanmi Toto siye dlo nan je’w,
Toto pa mouri, se nan plàn li ye,
demen a katrè al telefòne’l,
al devan Sen Jan Bosko w’a jwenn Toto.
Wipe away your tears, Chilè family,
Chilè is not dead, he is at the pawnbrokers,
At four o’clock tomorrow you should telephone him,
In front of Saint Jean Bosco Church you will find Chilè.
Wipe away your tears, Toto family,
Toto is not dead, he’s at the pawnbrokers,
At four o’clock tomorrow you should telephone him,
In front of Saint Jean Bosco Church you will find Toto.
Grenadye alaso! sa ki mouri zafè a yo!
Charge grenadiers! Those who die, that’s their own business!