Walmart and Wild Women -Haitian style
First of all let me explain that yesterday's blog titled "Oh No You Haven't" was munched up by my computer two seconds prior to posting and I haven't been able to retrieve it. The reference was expanded in the blog to " I thought I'd seen everything in Haiti, yesterday I had to say to myself "Oh no you haven't." So, someday the content may actually appear with the title.
Also, you will have to give me grace for this transmission as I don't seem to have spell cheque today.............
Okay, off to the kaliedescope of craziness that was today's adventure. What could have taken us (3 teachers, two administrators and myself) about 1 hour at Walmart to complete at home, took us 8 hours to complete today. Shopping -Haitian style. We went to the local market to purchase items to make care packages to take to the hospital tomorrow. We amassed enough to fill almost 100 sacks. What a great way to boost the local economy while bringing much these needed supplies to the patients that have been bussed, and helicoptered in from the earthquake zone. When I looked around at all the used clothing and items that have been shipped in to this country by the market stall mountains full, I couldn't help but wonder why we would ever need to ship another thing. Buying local would at least lessen the tension that the market ladies live with every day in their desperation to commandeer the buyer to their stall over their neighbor's. Shopping here takes nerves of steel, and the stamina of a samuri warrior -seriously!
Let me give you a few highlights of the day............
-Lady cleaning her toenails with an uncooked piece of spaghetti which she was selling in little bundles she had taken out of the box it came in and tied with string.
-Holding hands with a one of my teachers (weird at 50 something feeling like 5) while walking anywhere so they wouldn't lose me.
-Lady scooping juice out of a bucket with a javex bottle into little plastic bags she then punched a straw though to sell as take out drinks.
-A contraption made with the front end of a pink princess bicycle (streamers still in the handle bars) attached to a wooden box that had a burner with charcoal and a grill cooking hot dogs -back end was the back wheels of a tricycle. All this rolled along in a 2 foot wide path way in the rabbit maze of stalls.
-Giant cauldron of something frying -I thought it looked like chicken livers, but didn't want a real close look so am not sure. The vendor was scooping them out with a small shovel he had drilled many holes in to make a strainer of sorts.
-Nose blowing all day, everywhere using the finger pressing one side and then the other -no kleenex in sight. Of course I chose to wear flip flops -yuck!
-Lady with a beard came in to the stall selling soap and perfume.
-Had to promise to bring a pair of Canadian sandals (whatever they are) and $2 to get permission to photograph the lady selling a a huge tray of fish. -yummy sitting out in the 90 degree heat.
-Chaos erupted with screaming, chairs overturned, people running and uprorious laughter when a rat was spotted running madly through the crowd. -yes, I was up on one of the overturned chairs until it escaped far enough away for me to believe it wasn't coming back our way.
-Lady carrying a live turkey upside down by the feet in a plastic bag she had poked a hole in for his head. -I'm sure I heard him say "I'd rather be in the Bahamas."
-The idiot who decided to drive his motorcycle through the crowd causing all of us to step into vendor's stalls that had their goods spread on the ground -this led to many of us being berated for putting mud on their stuff and demanding we pay for the damage.-this made me think that they probably all got together and hired this guy to drive by so they could try to get a little extra money out of people.
-The fake hair everywhere. -I guess it is extensions, but it looked like the horrible synthetic yarn my mother made place mats out of in the 70's.-and a little freaky when you see it in piles here and there especially with the rat extravaganza still fresh in my mind.
-The guy selling sunglasses who was sporting a very Elton John looking pair with rhinestones decorating the frames and one lens missing.
-the lady scooping sugar out of a sack that I'm sure had as many flies in it as sugar. -there didn't seem to be any charge for the flies. -that surprised me because nothing is free in Haiti.
-the fun we had kabitzing with the vendors that they better not make the "white" price for their goods just because I was there, because I have a visa to say I'm Haitian. -I have no such visa, but the fact that they would then turn to me and have me issue a flurry of Kreyole to confirm their lie, was a joke that they never wearied of for the 8 hour shopping extravaganza.
-Running into many people I know and sharing the Haitian cheek kiss and respectful 10 minutes of catching up on things made me wonder if maybe I was Haitian and did have that visa after all -that was just the hours of sun melting my brain I'm sure.
-In the middle of the section selling used sheets and blankets finding a large metal pan full of live turtles for sale.
I could go on and on -literally. After all it was hours of one non-believable sight after another. Being the only white person in this local lunacy, I'm sure I was kind of a non-believable sight to them as well. Except for the rat, I had a blast.
I'm so glad we had so much fun while working so hard because delivering this to the hospital tomorrow will likely not be so much fun. I have been talking with a Haitian-American nurse staying in the same hotel as I am, and here working to coordinate all the patients arriving from Port au Prince to all the area hospitals. She told me this morning that there are so many people I will be shocked. She was hoping to get some transferred to some smaller clinics today. She said they helicoptered them in and did not helicopter in any supplies or any plan as to what they are to do with these people once they are recovered enough to be released. She said there are so many kids there who have no idea if their parents were killed or are still looking for them somewhere in Port au Prince on top of having amputations and major surgeries of every kind. She told me to make sure to put some kind of doll or stuffed animal in the bags for the kids as some of them arrived without even a pair of underwear on and need something to hug. We made sure we did that.
Well I'm off to do something about my sunburn and plethera of bug bites. I think I'll leave cleaning my toenails with spaghetti until tomorrow -ha.
Peace,
Julie
Posted on Saturday, February 6 2010, at 5:53 PM.