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Anna in Haiti Day 7
“Why did the Chicken Cross The Road?
I woke up this morning feeling much, much better. Three cheers for Bernard and his Cipro! Today is Saturday and Robert and I have both agreed that we will not teach today. We both have a mountain of work that we need to do and are having trouble getting it done while teaching students. As for myself, I have a stack of bows that individual students have brought me and I do not trust them to my new re-hairing recruits. So, by 8:15, I am sitting at the bow table, MP3 player blasting the Black Eyed Peas, re-hairing my little heart out.
Allande shows up at 10.….he refused to take the day off. Seriously! So I told him that he could watch me, but that was it. I had to work! He agreed and sat quietly watching me until I finally took pity on him. I had done about 15 bows and was feeling a little more in control of the situation, so I showed him how to do a silk wrap. He practiced for a while and I told him that there was a very good chance that he would be the only person in all of Haiti that would know how to do this. That brought out a huge, genuine smile from him and I was glad that I had shown him.
After lunch, we decided to take the rest of the day off and I headed down through the neighborhood with Bernard, Tom, Robert and Bob. Tom is a graduate cellist with a gentle, fun nature and a great sense of humor. Bob is a percussionist and band director that has literally been everywhere. He is the most well-traveled person I have ever met and he regales us constantly with great stories of his escapades. I am in awesome company with these men and we laugh together as we dodge the traffic, jumping over big craters in the sidewalk, avoiding stray dogs, and ducking around all of the vendors, street kids, and women carrying huge loads on their heads.
There are a lot of white people out today! That is something that you really notice here. I can go several days without seeing anyone non-Haitian besides our group. When I remark on it, the guys say that it is because it is Saturday….the NGO folks and people here doing business in Haiti are out in force. They also say that it is a bad day to buy souvenirs, cause all of the prices will be higher due to the abundance of ‘blanc’, which is what the Haitians call us. J
As we near the art gallery we are heading for, I get caught in a swirl of people crossing a street. Bernard says “Watch out” and I glance down just in time to see an old woman carrying two chickens by their feet try and squeeze between me and another pedestrian. The chickens hit me and I am ashamed to say that I actually squawked! Well, it was like half-squawk and half scream and I immediately clapped my hand over my mouth! How uncool of me! But in my defense, the chickens weren’t quite dead and it was a bit disconcerting to be that close to them!! The guys all laughed uproariously and we kept making our way down the increasingly crowded street.
Down here, it is less tourists, more locals, and we are in a true market area. You could buy all sorts of stuff…..telephone wire, soccer balls, and used shoes….used shoes by the truck load. We continued to duck under dead wires that were hanging down and to jump over big holes in the road, all while dodging the motor bike until we came to the art gallery. It happens to be right next to Café des Arts and we enjoy the afternoon checking out all of the truly beautiful Haitian art.
There is so much that I would love to buy and take home as gifts for everyone, but it turns out that prices in Haiti are decidedly American. I would have thought that everything would be cheaper, but no…..groceries, drinks in a bar, and art are all expensive. Oh well…..
We end the afternoon in an ice cream place where we watch a tremendous thunderstorm from under the safety of an overhang. We have had these storms almost everyday and they are quite fascinating. They move very slowly and the thunder and lightening are truly biblical. When the storm passes, we make our way back home for dinner before returning to Café des Arts for more live music.
This time, almost all of the volunteers come along with all of the staff. We have a huge group and have a great time listening to the music and watching the dancers. After midnight, some of the staff invite five of us to go to another club, a Haitian club, for some dancing. I am in!!! I know that we will be safe with all of them and how else would I get a chance to do this?
However, several cell phones started to ring and the staff mysteriously decided that never mind….they were too tired. And that they would give us a ride home. Seeing as how we walk everywhere, this was strange. But we trust our hosts, so we climbed into their cars and are home in a jiffy. Turns out that some ‘not-so-great’ stuff had happened nearby, causing everyone, staff included, awake to the possibility that things were not as safe in Petionville as they had thought.
That turned out to be our last late night out, but it really was great while it lasted. J From here on out, we are confined to either the church itself, or the hotel next door for our evening frivolities. With this crowd, though, it doesn’t matter where we are….we have a great time, regardless. J J
Bonswa….
Anna
We’re Gonna Dance Upon This Earth! |
