One of the things you learn living here, is its different in many ways from home. I've discussed some of these differences while sharing about mangos versus apples, and warm versus cold cultures. I've found, living here, in a "warm" culture, the norm is to be warm, and perhaps the unstated belief is that warm is somehow better, but really, in some things warm alone just doesn't cut it.
After our regular Haitian driver made a trip to PAP on Monday but failed to return with both pieces of lost luggage, a second trip was essential, the following day to get the still-missing piece. Now I can't say that the attempt wasn't made previously, nor that the explanation that "we're trying" wasn't said with a smile and sincerity, but when you're missing your luggage, as when you're missing lots of things, trying is nice but getting results is what really counts. In this case a mixture of airlines, gangway checking and incomplete documents and a multitude of (wrong) numbers made it difficult, but with a little persistence and Skyping back to American Airlines in the middle of the night the pertinent details were finally discovered and the next day the bag was retrieved relatively easily from where it had been sitting for four days waiting to be claimed. And hey, I even had a smile when I rolled it out the back room to freedom!
 |
| jockeying for position as the road narrowed or avoiding holes |
 |
| a long dusty day in the sun... |
 |
| still signs of abandoned structures collapsed from the earthquake |
 |
| essential building materials, rebar & rouble' (rubble) |
 |
| taxi stop at ever-present lotto houses |
 |
| hillside towers bring cells to life |
 |
| across-road rivers and puddles at important exchange west of PAP |
 |
| cavalcade of parked buses, recycled to Haiti after a lifetime in Canada & the US |
In addition to the luggage we did some shopping for essential items only available in PAP so I had the opportunity to snap a few pics of street scenes and general life in Haiti, which I'm including without much discussion. Perhaps it'll give you a flavour of things here and a better appreciation for beautiful Haiti.
 |
| road repair crew tearing up old concrete |
 |
| roadside mechanic shops everywhere, "what do you need done?" |
 |
| corner food stall, but watch out for that hole! |
 |
| everything to market, even a wheelbarrow to cart it away... |
 |
| cleaning the gutters, ugly now but essential, it's getting done! |
 |
| local Sleep Country bed sales, mattresses not included |
 |
| everything by hand, its the Haitian way |
 |
| fruits and eggs, Thanks to God |
 |
| mattresses over here! |
 |
| 1.0 manpower pull cart |
 |
| beautiful buses |
 |
| the destroyed Palace is slowly coming down |
 |
| Centennial (?) Plaza monument |
 |
| a few gems still standing |
 |
| women carrying water |
 |
| garbage collection day, a positive sign |
 |
| brassieres outside the bars |
 |
| typical roadside markets, atypical bikes |
 |
| store-side alleyway |
 |
| garbage-cluttered major channelized drainage ditches |
 |
| keeping a cool head while selling water by the bag, next to the bakery |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.