Bieber Fever

Dear friends and family, it is with a heavy heart that I relate this terrible news. After a mere three weeks in Haiti, I've cracked. I now like music by Justin Bieber.

I didn't go down without a fight, mind you. When I first got here and the kids asked me if I liked songs by Justin Bieber I said no, because a) I didn't actually recognize any of his songs, and b) I felt like I shouldn't be liking them on principle, kind of like Miley Cyrus. I don't think they believed me. Then when they borrowed my ipod and were looking through the music, they came to me and asked where the Justin Bieber music was, thinking they just couldn't find it, and I said I didn't have any. They asked why, I said I didn't like Justin Bieber, they looked at me like I had just said I enjoy drowning puppies in my spare time.

Since then, I have listened to a LOT of his music. Actually, I've listened to just 3 of his songs approximately 12 billion times. There is always music playing from the computers in the library, and it's quite an interesting mix of Miley Cyrus, Beyonce, 50 Cent, SouljaBoy, Kanye, Justin Bieber, Christian Worship Music, Enrique Iglesias, and the dreaded High School Musical soundtracks. When I first got here I was highly amused by the transitions between wildly different genres, and kept cracking up at the ridiculousness of trying to have a serious conversation with Jamie while songs that I associate with Paces are playing. But after a few days I stopped noticing. And after a few more days I started catching myself singing Miley songs while I was painting classrooms. A few more days and I started debating whether it would be wrong to delete my least favorite High School Musical songs from the library computers so I wouldn't have to hear them anymore. And then yesterday I was singing along, realized that I actually liked the song, realized it was a Justin Bieber song, realized I still liked the song, and just gave up. In my defense, when you've been subjected to "Kiss Me Through the Phone" on repeat several nights in a row, just about anything sounds good.

Also, this strange mash-up of teen music, r&b, rap, and american worship music isn't just unique to the kids here. Lots of times when I pay attention to the music that's playing on the street or in the houses around us, I hear pretty much the same thing (minus the Enrique, I think that's just us).