A Human Moment
I went on Omegle again tonight, expecting to have another hilarious conversation with somebody random.

That's how it worked out at first. One guy who pretended to be my long lost father, a 56 year old from Arkansas, a nice guy from Paris, and a guy from Brazil.

Then I entered the chat again. First thing I saw was "greets from haiti". Holy shit, I thought. Haiti's home to what the UN described as the most dangerous place on earth, Cite Soleil. I asked, "Isn't Cite Soleil in Haiti?" That's where this guy lived.

If you want to know what Cite Soleil is like, watch "Ghosts of Cite Soleil", it's an amazing movie, shows you how indescribably brutal life is there. Armed gangs, rebels, Fanmi Lavalas (a political party by name, but functionally they are ex-President Aristide's militia), and United Nations soldiers roam the streets in constant conflict. There is little electricity. It's one of the largest slums in the world.

I threw a barrage of questions at this guy. He lived in Soleil 17, one of the many districts in the city. Each gang controls a few districts. Gangs vary in allegiance depending on who supplies them with food, guns, ammunition, and other supplies.

His name is Armand, he's studying at the university. He's taking anthropology.

The first question he asked is if I was able to send food, because Aristide was holding the United Nations provisions.

He asked me what it's called when somebody stands on a snowy mountain and goes down, like in the Olympics. He'd never heard the word "skiing" before.

He's lived in Haiti his whole life. I asked him, is it really as bad there as the documentaries show it? He said "its all i know, but even i know this isn't natural".

We chatted for a while, firing questions back and forth. I got an e-mail address from him, it's his classmate's. He said if I write her, she can pass a letter on to him, as well as provide me with a physical address, so I can send mail directly to him.

He had to go study, and when he disconnected, I actually cried. I never thought I'd make a true human connection when I'd signed on. It was just overwhelming.

The transcript of the chat is below the cut. You can see at the beginning I almost thought he was lying, but quickly changed my tune.


You're now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!
You: Greetings from Alberta, Canada!
Stranger: greets from haiti
You: Cite Soleil is in Haiti, isn't it?
Stranger: yes, i am in soleil 17
Stranger: will u send me food
Stranger: aristide is holding UN provision
You: I thought he fled the country.
Stranger: he is back
You: Rene Prevail is the president of Haiti right now.
Stranger: puppet president
You: Where in Soleil do you live?
Stranger: 17
You: Is it really as bad there as the documentaries say?
Stranger: its all i know, but even i know this isn't natural
You: This may sound ignorant, but I'm surprised you have internet.
Stranger: there are 4 internet cafe. i am student doing field study
You: How old are you?
Stranger: 19
You: What are you studying for?
Stranger: anthropology
You: You've lived in Soleil your whole life?
Stranger: i moved to portauprince at 12 and stayed until 17
You: Did you know there's a movie about Cite Soleil?
Stranger: there are many missionaries that make video tapes when they come
Stranger: some US people make videos here too
You: The movie I saw was called "Ghosts of Cite Soleil".
Stranger: haha about tupac?
You: Yes.
Stranger: his name rings out in soleil, but not anymore
You: He's been dead for a while now. Was he really that popular?
Stranger: yes he was a boss of soleil 14-17
You: Does the UN have a lot of soldiers in Soleil still?
Stranger: yes and no. when there is uprising they show up but not when there is gang violence
You: So they aren't doing much about the gangs at all?
Stranger: they only react to political confrontations
Stranger: no
You: Weren't they sent in to control gang violence in the first place?
Stranger: originally they came to stop lavalas
Stranger: and rebels
You: So Aristide still controls a lot of what goes on over there?
Stranger: yes, or else the rebels would feel safe, but they still are in hiding
You: So when you say 'rebels', you mean rebels against whom?
Stranger: the governemt
You: And the rebels support Aristide, yes?
Stranger: some do, most do not.
Stranger: mainly lavalas
You: And Lavalas are Aristide's party?
Stranger: more of his militia
You: Okay.
You: So the UN soldiers are up against the Lavalas and the rebels.
You: Who are the gangs of Soleil supporting?
Stranger: yes, anything political the UN oversees
Stranger: 12-17 support lavalas
Stranger: 5-11 rebels
You: And what do the rebels want?
Stranger: what they believe is true democracy without corruption
You: So there isn't any particular party the rebels support, they just want something else entirely?
Stranger: do you have curfew in your city
Stranger: yes, they are changeable. they support whoever gives them money, food, and guns
Stranger: whoever promises them the most
You: Oh, okay. No, there is no curfew in my city.
You: People can stay out as late as they want, as long as they aren't being too loud.
Stranger: do you have air conditioning
You: Yes, most houses here do, but we don't need it very much. My city gets VERY cold in the winter.
You: Winter lasts for half the year here.
Stranger: i wish it were cold here
Stranger: does it snow there
You: Yes, there is snow outside right now. About 18 inches on people's front lawns, but the roads are clear.
Stranger: 18 inces! do you go down the mountain like in the olympics. i forget what they call it
You: Skiing? Haha, no, but we do have places where people ski for fun. There aren't a lot of mountains where I live. Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada. It's pretty flat here.
Stranger: is skiing where they stand up and go down the mountain.
You: Yes, that's skiing.
Stranger: do u play soccer there
You: I played soccer for about 9 years.
You: It's my favorite sport.
Stranger: we play it here as well
Stranger: do you like ronaldinho
Stranger: or cristiano
You: I don't watch a lot of soccer, haha. I haven't since I was young.
Stranger: i understand
Stranger: have you been to haiti before?
You: No, haven't been outside of Canada since I was 6 years old.
Stranger: stranger, i need to study
Stranger: thank you for the conversation
You: Do you have a mailing address?
Stranger: no but my classmate does. one second
Stranger: bryonyjameson@lycos.com
You: What's your name, Stranger?
Stranger: i do not have a physical address but the univerity does
Stranger: armand
You: Armand, if there's a physical address I can send you mail to, I'd like to have that as well. :)
You: My name is Alex, by the way.
Stranger: nice to meet you alex
Stranger: let me ask my classmate her physical address
You: What is the university's address?
You: Okay, that works.
Stranger: i must go but she says that if u email her she will get u the address
You: Okay. Armand, do you mind telling me your last name?
Stranger: nice talking with you alex
Stranger: bautista
You: Thank you. It was very nice talking to you. I'll write you soon.
Stranger: ok. i look forward to hearing from you. thank you for the conversation, alex
You: Take care, Armand. :-)
Stranger: you to
Your conversational partner has disconnected.