Nightlife and Holiday Spirit!

Hello Friends,

First and foremost, let me wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a bountiful New Year!  This is the last post for 2013 and I want to leave you with with thoughts of joy, understanding, compassion and forgiveness for everyone around you from those you love to those you love to hate, the ones you never notice, the ones without a voice, and of course the people who touch your life in some way.  So, with holiday cheers, and a shot of cremace, coquito, eggnog or whatever you choose, let me dive into a subject many of you have been asking me about: Haiti nightlife!

Haiti's nightlife is alive and kicking!  You will be hard pressed any day of the week not to find a spot to hang out, socialize, listen to music and have a good meal.  There is a myriad of restaurants, bars, clubs or just hang out spots of every flavor and for every budget.  Restaurant wise one can find Thai, Chinese, American, Irish, Middle Eastern, Jamaican, French, Canadian, and others.  As for the clubs, they range from rooftop affairs for the jet setting crowd, to holes in the wall for more discrete entertainment.  Pick your drink and you can be served in a little plastic cup on the side of the road, or or a fancy glass in your favorite haunt. 

Nightlife starts early in Haiti at 8pm unlike places like Miami or New York.  If you're not sure what's going on just drive around for a few minutes and take a look at the billboards or "affiche" posted here and there at major intersections.  You can also search the internet, or follow your favorite spot on Facebook or Twitter.  My go to website for all that's happening around town is www.manmanpemba.com.  Not only do you find upcoming events, you can also browse their directory, or peruse the reviews similar to Yelp!.  A few months ago, one of my reviews won a contest that resulted in 2 tickets to "Zoukmania".   

As for the entertainment itself, there is something for everyone. First, there are all the "bal".  The artist, the venue and the entrance fee determine the type of crowd that will be there and how popular the event will  be.  Last night I went to Magnum Band/Frères Déjean at Karibe Hotel.  Our dear president also attended and regaled everyone by getting on stage and singing with both bands.  He was there shaking hands, dancing and enjoying himself like everyone else.  In November for guédé night, I went to Boukman Eksperyans/Boukan Guinen at Cafe Trio and the place was packed as people wanted to see those two rival bands one one stage for the first time.  There has also been Mizik Mizik/Dadou Pasket at La Reserve restaurant, Zoukmania with Eric Virgal, Tanya St Val and others at Parc Canne à sucre, Klass at Cafe Trio.  Upcoming "affiche" include Mizik Mizik/Nu Look, Skandal, Carimi/Klass, Zin/Nu Look, Kdans/Kzino, Djakout #1 and more!

If going to a "bal" is not your thing but you still want to listen to music and maybe dance a bit, then you can partake in some of the recurring events at various venues like Jazz night at La Reserve, Salsa at Hotel Montana, Latin night at Quartier Latin, Jukann at Press Cafe, Reggae night at Cafe Organic, Twoubadou night at Mr. Grill  just to name a few, or go to a resto-dansant.  But don't stop there, a lot of local and international DJ's have made a name for themselves in Haiti and have a strong following.  They can usually be found at one of the many bars or clubs.  The hottest ticket right now is Bob Sinclair at Tara's on New Year's eve.  Let's not forget special private parties like the annual Black Party, Cercle Bellevue's Noche Buena, Tara's Masquerade Ball, and Lavish at Ibo Lélé.

Now, if music is not your cup of tea, you can attend special dance performances or plays, gallery openings, literary events, Kako's Bingo Night when it's in town, or catch one of the comedy shows.  I recently fell off my chair laughing at "Kakofoni" a comedy show, and heard great things about Stand-Up Ladies at Karibe.  For others, weekly events at the various "place publique" like Place Boyer, offer free musical, theatrical or sporting entertainment.  in, for those who prefer to stay home and just get together with a few friends, a lot of restaurants in Pétion-Ville deliver, so pizza, chicken wings, fried chicken, hot or cold subs or fritay are just a phone call away.  Also, Caribbean and Giant market rotisserie chicken and extensive liquor and gourmet food section are just a stop on the way home.

There you have it, a brief overview of the nightlife in Haiti.  A few tips to remember: always carry change with you, at least 50 gourdes, to tip the guy on the street who helps you find parking and watches your car.  All one way streets turn into any way streets as you see fit on your way back from the event.  Always spring for the VIP section if not too cost prohibitive because it is so worth it!.  Definitely get your tickets as early as possible to avoid paying twice as much at the door and to make sure there are still VIP tables available.  Plan on being home around 3am unless you decide to top off the night at Harry's.   Plan on bumping into at least a few people you know no matter where you go.  Finally, if you really want privacy, stay home or go to a hole in a wall where you can barely see your hand, let alone your date!   

Everyone, enjoy your holidays and come back next year for all new posts!

Christian's Corner

Hello friends.  I love the Christmas season.  At school we had a tree lighting ceremony, which is like a Christmas show with the kids singing, but I didn't go.  In my class we had a secret Santa, and I picked one of my best friends.  We had a Christmas party and everyone gave their gift.  It was a lot of fun.  So, some of my classmates are traveling for the holidays.  Who is excited about the trip to Miami?  I am!  Who is going to pick me up at the airport? who are we going to visit first? which one of my favorite restaurants will we go to?  I am also excited about the presents.  What do think you're going to get for Christmas?  I want a kitten.  

Well, Merry Christmas!;) and I wish everyone a happy new year!

Halloween and people watching!

Hello everyone!

It's been a while since our last post.  As you can imagine we got caught up in settling-in. As we are nearing Halloween, I wanted to update you on how Halloween is celebrated in Haiti.  Well, basically it's not!  Since Christian attends an American school, of course I am hearing all about the season.  The school is going a great job keeping this holiday alive for the children.  To give you an idea, all the classes are decorated, each classroom door is decorated with a specific theme (3rd grade is Frankenstein) and there will be a prize for the best one, the 11th graders are hosting a haunted house on the 30th, on the 31st the school is hosting a "trunk or treat", Halloween parade, prizes for best costumes and cupcake fest, and the PTA is hosting a "Trick or Treat and Movie night" for the students!  In addition to parents volunteering time and decorations for these events, and donating cupcakes (3rd graders) and refreshments for the celebration, they are also shelling out a bit of though.  Let's see.... 100gds entrance to haunted house, 250gdes for school Halloween t-shirt, $US5 for mesh trick or treat bag, $US10 for movie and trick or treat. It's all worth it though to see the excitement in their eyes as the day gets nearer.

As for us grown ups, well my eyes light up at the thought of the long weekend ahead, and the two hottest tickets this week:  Guédé at Hotel Oloffson, and Boukan Guinen / Boukman Eksperyans at Cafe Trio.  It's all anyone can talk about.  Most of the locals are excited about Eddy Francois singing with Boukman Eksperyans.  He hasn't performed in a long time so they are eager to see him again.  The RAM program I am told is a big deal and a great show extremely well attended especially by the expats and their pals.  Well, maybe next year I'll check it out.  This year I'm staying closer to my house and my roots and heading to Boukman.  

Celebrity Sightings

Okay maybe I should say Haitian celebrity sightings.  As you know, Haitian celebrities walk among us normal people unlike their Hollywood peers.  So, one Sunday afternoon, while waiting for our dinner at Quartier Latin, Fabrice Rouzier (Mizik Mizik) and his family sat at the table next to ours.  A few days later, while grocery shopping at Giant Supermarket we came across Joel Widmayer (Zèklè).  While at the barber shop Mikaben (Michael Benjamin) walked in and sat right next to me.  Christian recognized him and got a "korem" he was happy about.  Christian loves his latest single (Ayiti Sé).  If you don't know it, check it out on YouTube. It's an awesome song and video!.  Next, in the lobby of Karibe Hotel I saw Alan Cave (Zin) walking by.  I think he was there because of the Haiti Fashion Week.  Recently, at Zoukmania in Parc Canne à Sucre, I got to shake hands (ooh his hands were so soft!) with the love of my life (in my dreams), Ti Joe Zenny (Konpa Kreyol / Kreyol la).  The following weekend, I got to say hello to Keke Belizaire (Mizik Mizik), and hang out with Dadou Pasket (Magnum Band), Maestro Douby (System Band) and, Joe Damas (Radio Metropole now DG of RTHN).  I don't doubt I'll run into more ..ahem.. celebrities, so I'll keep you posted when it happens.

People Watching

While stuck at a branch of Sogebank waiting for a check to be verified before being cashed (which it never did and I have to go back to the bank!), I got a chance to do some serious people watching.  Mind you, you are not allowed to use your cell phone in the bank, so that meant no chatting, websurfing, playing games or listening to music to pass the time.  Instead I just got to sit and watch.  During these two and a half hours of agony, I came to realize that besides the airport, the bank is probably the most entertaining place to people watch.  I mean, you have all sorts of characters walking in and out of there.  The most interesting, would be the people who come by to set up an appointment for the Canadian or French Consulates.  They come decked out in their finest as if the poor bank clerk could somehow be influenced or maybe have some kind of influence over the Consul or the process!  I saw a woman in Haiti's 90 degree heat, wearing a full size, down to the floor wool scarf, an older man in his finest three piece suit, an edgy young man with lime green shirt, matching lime green sneakers and moussed spiky hair.

Then there is the line for making Sogecarte (credit card) payments. That one is a mix match of different people, mostly young professionals with a few students and chauffeurs thrown in.  What I found peculiar was these two women that came in together, both obviously pregnant but one "fait la belle maladie" and the other is just "gròss".  No joke, I'm not making it up or trying to be crude, what a contrast!!!!  

Perhaps the most comical if not sad part of my observations was the actual queue.  Remember as a kid in school when you lost your place in the line and came back to find someone else there and they told you "qui va à la chasse, perd sa place" or better yet "plas se nan simitye" and you just had to resign yourself to go to the back of the line?  Well, there is no such thing at a bank!  You walk in, you take your place in the line, after a few minutes you get bored, or tired, or rush outside to answer a call, when you finally return you boldly go to where you previously stood and just take your place back in the line.  The person behind you can't say anything because yes, at some point you were in the line before them, and if you attempt to thwart their cut-in they start arguing with loud voices and plenty of arm motion that they were there.  I mean it's gotten to the point where after 20 minutes in line some poor soul who finally made it to the front finds himself behind one or two more people because they had decided to enjoy the lounge chairs instead of standing in line and are back claiming their spot.  As for courtesy for the elderly, or handicapped or pregnant, it's fallen to the wayside.  It's a cutthroat queue out there and you just better claim your spot when you can.  At least Unibank has a special queue for the elderly, pregnant and handicapped, so someone is addressing the issue. 

As I grew more and more bored and tired sitting there waiting, I started secretly enjoying everyone who got busted for phone use in the bank.  Most people know better, some are clueless (like me texting while in queue oops!), and some just try to get away with it.  What is funny is when a phone rings and sometimes will not stop despite the owner ignoring the call.  Geez, some people are very insistent and just keep calling back!  Then you can see their expression and the battle they wage between running out the door to answer the call and risk losing their spot, or staying put. Because, despite it all, someone may not let you cut back in the line and if they are intimidating enough you'll walk away.  Finally, let's not forget the thud thud of those darn "sceaux" (stamps).  Somehow the tellers don't feel good until they whack it down on the receipt and add their super complicated signature on it!  If anyone one of you has had to make a transaction in Haiti or even go through the airport you'll know what I mean.  But once again, this is Haiti, so I'll keep you posted!

Christian's corner
A couple of days ago my teacher told me to write two paragraphs about Halloween.  I just wanted to share what I wrote.  It will be at the end of the post.  What I was for Halloween was a teenage mutant ninja turtle.  Ralph, the one in red.  If there was no Ralph, I would have been a cowboy or Indiana Jones.  

 












We, as in me and my mom, made cupcakes for the Halloween party at school.  They were chocolate with orange frosting that tasted like lemon.  I even got to choose the sprinkles!  Halloween in Haiti was similar to what we did in my old school except that there was a haunted house.  It was a little scary.  One of the kids that went with me got too scared and had to leave before he got to the end.   Below is my Halloween story.

Halloween
On Halloween you might go to a haunted house or turn into a vampire from Dracula's bite!  Well I'm a witch so Zap! Ha ha ha.  I turned you into a frog.  I love zapping people on Halloween and flying in the air giving people a fright.  That's one of the stuff you do on Halloween.  

I love zombies, creepy potions, Dracula, he's my boyfriend, and Frankenstein.  I like bringing dead people alive to murder people.  Bloody ghost, bloody Mary, the huntsman with no head and bringing monsters alive by making potions.  Ding dong, Ding dong, DING DONG ... I'm coming!  I hope it's Dracula.  I want to kiss his bloody lips. Sigh,  trick or treaters.  I'm going to turn them into fish!  Ha ha ha ha, and cook them into sushi. Ha ha ha ha. Wait, I forgot.  My name is Mary.  Mary Witchenton.  My cousin is Bloody Mary.  Splash!  I turned the trick or treaters into fish.  Sizzle.  I cooked them and ate them.  Bye bye or you're dead!

The end.

Back to school!

Hello Friends!

I started this post a while back about school but took a while to post because I wanted to include some pictures.  So here goes, enjoy!

School has started and the adventure continues. Actually school is in session only for the international schools as the department of education postponed the beginning of the school year to October. A lot of private schools started functioning this week which is the previous official opening. There is a lot of grumbling about but this is Haiti and it is what it is.

So, about a month ago when the school contacted us for Christian's acceptance letter we were immediately invited to visit the accounting office to settle his tuition bill (of course!). When I asked about the uniforms they told me to go to Acra and I would just ask for Union School uniform and they would take care of me. Acra was right across from the hotel, so one Saturday we went. For those of you who remember the good old days, I was in line at least a dozen long patiently waiting to purchase the fabric. I had no clue who or where I would get the pants made, but I recall someone mentioning they can take care of it at the store. It was nice seeing all the different shades and patterns of fabric being sold and trying to identify which one went with what school. We finally made it to the clerk only to be told that if we wanted ready made uniforms we needed to go to the top floor, but if instead we needed the fabric we could come back down and not wait in line to get it. So up we went on the wooden staircase leading to the kids department.

As a side note, we were in Acra Department store in Pétion-Ville, and it was located in a nice big older house and I was always curious to know exactly how they fit a department store in a house! Well, I got my answer. Without tearing down any walls, they simply used each room of the house for a different department. So the kids department was in a room, the men's in another and the women's in the next,and since the house has really high ceilings merchandise is displayed all the way up the walls. I thought that was pretty clever. Each of the departments has a clerk and to my surprise, ours actually spoke English! Not only that, but he is also a tailor and when none of the sizes fit Christian he just had me place the order with him to make the pants. So two weeks, five phone calls, and 3 postponements later, I received them freshly pressed and dry cleaned.

So now, I had to hunt for the shirts or so I thought until I was reminded that they were sold at the school. Got there placed my order, the PE shirts wouldn't be available until after school started, and they only accept checks! Of course, I did not yet have my checkbooks from Sogebank so I just wrote them a Bank of America check and they were happy with it. Next, the school supplies. Well, since the container was still stuck at the shipping yard along with all of Christian's school supplies I had to repurchase everything. Luckily, we had packed his new backpack, pocket folders, flute and school shoes in the suitcases, so the extra accessories were purchased at Giant supermarket and L'Abeille office supplies. Shopping in Haiti is such an interesting experience! At L'Abeille, which was a small store probably the size of an ice cream parlor, there were at least 6 employees and the merchandise was neatly arranged. However, it probably would have taken me hours to figure out where everything was because nothing was labeled and I didn't know the layout. I was saved by one of the employees who just had me tell her what I was looking for and she got the items for me and even recommended some others I wouldn't have thought about. She was like my own personal shopper! Now, I understand why there were so many employees!

So all in all, Christian was ready for school. I dropped him off the first day and within 5 minutes he was already too busy with some other students to wave goodbye. That was a great sign! So far, he loves his new school. He has made many new friends, has already been invited to two birthday parties (yeah my social life is coming back!), attended a back to school barbecue, completed his first project on the life cycle of frogs, enjoyed the first bake sale of the year, and started his karate lessons. I'm just super happy about the lunch being served at school (full Haitian meal) since I still don't have a maid yet.

By the way, did I mention the government decided to change the traffic patterns all over Port-au-Prince and Petion-Ville to alleviate traffic during school but of course did not put any signs anywhere? Well as you can imagine, yesterday morning was a traffic nightmare. Even the policemen posted at the different intersections did not know where exactly traffic needed to go until someone with a map (because the ciy of PetionVille actually published a map with the changes) showed it to him. Only in Haiti!

Christian's Corner

The first day of school was fun and kind of scary,but my mom signed me up for karate. I made a lot of friends at school, and my best friend's name is Conrad.  Everybody at school thinks we're brothers, even the teachers think we're brothers.  Trust me if you saw him you would think we're brothers.  It's crazy at school.  In karate there is my friend Max, in second grade, Leon,in fifth grade, Jack but he quit, and two preschoolers(twin boys) Ryan and Ethan.  Jack is a green belt, Max is a a blue belt and so is Leon, the twins and I are white belts and sensai  is a black belt.  I have 20 kids in my class and one only speaks french,but she is learning English.  I'm in french class, beginners french class.  That's all from Christian's Corner. :)

The meat and potatoes!

Hello again friends,

Let me start with a peculiar observation from this afternoon.  After work we decided to stop by La Coquille for take out dinner.  As we waited for our meal to arrive, I observed the "guardien" from the restaurant chatting with the guardien of the neighboring business.  What was interesting was the fact that they were both wearing designer shirts! Now, whether or not they were knock offs I couldn't say, but one of them had a light blue big pony polo shirt and the other had a Gucci shirt. 

Since so much has happened since the last post, I decided to group them by subject to give you a better rundown.  So, speaking of restaurants,  we went to View, La Reserve, Quartier Latin, Barak, and Kenscoff.  View is located on the top floor of the Belvedere building in Pétion-Ville.  It was a hot spot for a while about a year ago but now I guess it's not as fashionable.  In any case, it's definitely a must see.  The view from so high is breathtaking as you can see the whole capital at your feet!  The service was exemplary with very well trained servers who anticipated your every whim, and took care of you while being unnoticeable.  The food itself, or whatever we tried was scrumptious.  Instead of bread or rolls, we received a sample dish with a hot roll, a tomato bruschetta, some kind of beef ragout on a tiny spoon, and a banane pesée with pikliz.  For the main dish, we ordered a mixed grill plate with white rice.  It had sausage, chicken, beef, lamb and pork grilled to perfection.  We also ordered the Mediterranean sample which included tabouleh, flat bread, two kinds of hummus, kibby, kefta, beef and chicken kabobs, and another cheesy pastry whose name escapes me.  The tabouleh was so perfectly juicy and lemony that I dipped everything in it and nearly licked my fingers at the fancy restaurant!

La Reserve was beautiful and had a nice vibe.  Located in Berthé, Pétion-Ville, it is a gem in the middle of a lush tropical garden.  The night we went there, in the rear garden, there was an event.  A couple was celebrating their ten year anniversary.  The set up would rival any event in the U.S. with table linens, chair covers and sash, gorgeous tropical centerpiece bouquets, a sophisticated buffet set up, and my favorite, a live jazz band!  The music was awesome!  At some point, the husband went on stage and sang a song to his wife.  It was all so romantic!  The restaurant itself lived up to my expectations.  It seemed to be a little bit of everything with something for everyone.  I saw foreign expats with t-shirts and shorts, young early twenty somethings with fashionable casual wear, a local family dressed to the nine, several couples ranging from young to old in casual to semi-formal clothing, and everyone seemed to fit in perfectly. 

My mango margarita came in a martini glass with a garnish of lemon and tasted fine though I was in the mood for huge margarita glass complete with salt.  I ordered a mixed seafood platter with fried calamari, shrimp and fish, and a garden salad, and Christian had the fillet of beef brochettes with white rice.  It was all delicious and I will definitely return to sample some of the nice sandwiches from the menu.

Quartier Latin Brasserie, located in Place Boyer is a nice casual dining restaurant with an assortment of french dishes and extensive wine list.  It seems to be a favorite spot for expats,and it sometimes has live bands.  The food was good, and the bill what you would expect but what I like most about it is the structure itself.  It's an old style Haitian gingerbread house complete with the wood floors and beams and tall windows.  In contrast, Barak is more of a bar/disco than a restaurant with a huge bar, and at least 4 or 5 big flat screen televisions, a small dance floor and an urban feel.  It's definitely a place to meet with friends or indulge in happy hour, so stick to finger foods for nibbling as they taste the best.

As many of you know, August 15th was the patron saints day of Les Cayes, Petit-Goave, Cap-Haitien and some other cities around the country.  While most people headed out to their favorite province to celebrate, we headed out to Kenscoff for a nice relaxing day in the mountains.  What was supposed to be a day outing actually started at 3pm since we slept in and procrastinated all day.  The plan was originally to stop by Boutilliers, Fort Jacques, Fermathe then Kenscoff but given our late departure we just stopped by Fermathe for our first plate of griot and continued to Kenscoff for some more and of course the pièce de résistance: café du soir!  For those of you familiar with the stuff, you know that the only place to get it is "kay Sovè".  When we got there, it was closed (bummer!) but right next door bright and inviting was "Kay Sovè Fils, West Indies". 

His son informed us that Sovè is so old he could no longer run the business so he passed on the recipe to his son who is following in his footsteps.  The small cup of cafe du soir is 25gdes, it's about 4oz.  If you don't know what cafe du soir is, the best way to describe it is a slightly sweet concoction of steeped herbs and spices and maybe some fruit in local kleren.  No one knows the recipe but it looks like coke and tastes great!  As we sat on the business's steps enjoying our drinks and the cool temperature we nibbled on some mais boukanen, and some kann anana while watching the activity around us.  The place has been updated and now has a designated area built for the machann griot, a structure that looks like an overgrown gazeebo and doubles as a round about, and motorcycles all around since there is also a station for taxi moto.  So we spent a few hours entertained by the going ons of a moun fou poet equipped with a megaphone and spouting poetry in perfectly good french, and a guy named blan, who kept wanting to take pictures with us.  He told us about a club called Rustik further up in the mountains where "mulat al pran plezi yo".  His words exactly.  I thought he was making it up until I confirmed with a friend of mine that it's a cool club with an exclusive loyal clientele.  All in all, it was a really nice afternoon and we were so stuffed that we did not even need to eat dinner.

Now that we have moved out of the hotel, we'll probably not go to restaurants so often, but there are still tons to discover.  So whenever I hit a new spot I'll keep you posted!

Christian's Corner
Hello it's my turn now.  We went to lots of restaurants and tasted lots of food.  But my favorite restaurant is Mr.Grill and my favorite food at Mr.Grill are chicken kebabs.  My favorite dessert is from the hotel, it's so hard to choose which dessert is the best.  I went  to some restaurants that had water bags hanging from trees or the roof so my mom asked the waiter what they were and he said the water bags keeps the bugs away.  That's all from Christian Corner.

Carnaval and more!

Carnaval des fleurs took place the last weekend in July, and being such a huge fan of course Christian and I were there.  I just couldn't wait to see him experience carnaval in Haiti for the first time.  Everything went well as far as we were concerned.  I was impressed with the organization of the event.  The side streets leading to Champ de Mars were closed to vehicles, pedestrian access only.  Parking was available in the near vicinity, the stands were very colorful, and at 4:55pm the siren sounded to announce the beginning of the parade which was scheduled to start at 5pm.  I was really pleased to see so many squads of public safety and security teams patrolling the streets, there were policemen on bicycles and roller blades, first response red cross teams, boy/girl scouts troops, security teams from city hall, and posted in strategic places were trucks of specialized police.  We hung out on the "Flesh Kann" stand (a brand of sugar).  It was located right across from Sakapfet, Bongu, and TNH stands. 

The parade was wonderful!  Christian's favorites were the "boeufs" which he called "whip crackers", and the bands.  Mine were the all female rara bands playing as well as any male group, and Boukman Eksperyans with "Pawol Tafia".  But the song on everyone's lips and played by virtually every rara was Team Lobey's "Lobey sou lobey".  By the end of the night Christian could sing the popular chorus.  Everyone had a great time and even a freak thunderstorm did not dampen anyone's enthusiasm, if anything it allowed people to dance in the rain and entertain others!

In other news, I was recommended a barber shop for Christian who needed a haircut badly.  The place is called Milano Hair Styling and located on the fourth floor of complexe Belvedere.  When we got there I was shocked to see that this is not your average barbershop, this was more like a ritzy salon in L.A.! First of all it was a full service hair salon decorated all in white with bright orange accents and uniformed workers.  One side of the wall was lined with tables and women having their mani/pedis, half of them with drop down hair dryers drying their hair.  The barber was tucked in his corner and the waiting room had swinky white leather sofas.  The clientele was a mix of locals and expats, white, yellow, brown you name it. The haircut cost $US15,  a wash and set is $US 15, a relaxer is $US 70 and I think the mani/pedi is around $US20.  

Restaurants - So we sampled more food from various restaurants.  The taboule from Fior di Latte was ridiculously good, pizza from Muncheez was awesome, and their chicken wings were finger licking good.  They have various flavors and it's worth the cost if you're in the mood for good chicken wings.  I also lunched at Chicken Fiesta that sells chicken wings and chinese food.  Their full menu is on facebook and they deliver.  At Mr. Grill I tried their "gesiers grilles" appetizer and Christian loved it. (I don't translate everything!).  We also discovered Belfwi, a new frozen yogurt/sweet crepes/fresco/smoothies place.  They have fancy fresco with fruit in it.  And one of my favorite places so far is Rebo Espresso, Haiti's answer to Starbucks.  Besides all the yummy coffee confections including an alcoholic coffee on the menu, they offer amazing sandwiches and paninis, pastries, and items "du terroir", packages of assorted tablettes, cassave and mamba, papita veritab, and more.  One word of caution...do look at your bill closely.  In addition to the 10% TCA (tax), most places charge a service fee between 10-15%.  wouldn't want anyone to double tip!

Random remarks - A day at the pool of Hotel Montana is still a nice activity.  In addition to the wonderful view and the great pool, you can also partake of the breakfast or dinner buffet for $US 18, or you can opt to just buy something and hangout pool side for free, if not just spring for the $US 4 to use the pool.  I think Karibe hotel and a few more around town offer similar deals.  There is a new road going from Petion-ville to route Freres near the Police academy, at the beginning of Tabarre.  It's a great time saver because you skip the traffic on Rte de freres, however it is tight in some spots with ravines on the side of the road and no guard rails.  Think of the road to Jacmel, if you can manage that you'll have no problems.  There is a great Roots program this weekend Ram/Boukman Eksperyans at Karibe, although I'd love to go the $US40 price tag is just a tad unreasonable.  When people complain about "la vi che" they are not lying.  Things are not cheap in Haiti and depending on your lifestyle it gets more and more expensive.  I remember the days when a brand new 500 gourdes bill would buy you so much.  Today, it's barely enough for dinner for two at a modest restaurant.  I had a handful of the 5 gourdes coin "adoken" and was told that I should use it for a tap tap or at a gas station because people no longer want to accept them.  Ala koze!  On a positive note, the container with my car and personal effects arrived on monday.  Now I just have to see how long it will take to actually get it cleared and delivered.  I'll keep you posted.

Christian's corner

The wedding cake from Marie Beliard (it was not served!)

Hi again and welcome back to Christian's corner!  Today I'm going to talk about Carnaval and much more.  At Carnaval there was singing in the rain, dancing in the rain, and my favorite part was the whip crackers.  They were so cool and amazing :o .!  My mom bought me two lolly pops, bags of popcorn, and one pack of gum.(oh yeah, Alex if you're reading this, at Carnaval I was with your dad.) ;) So my mom and I went to this frozen yogurt place and they had delicious frozen yogurt, snow-cones, and ices. They were so good.  I went to this new barber and every single boy that is reading this should go there because the man that's doing it makes it feel like a cloud and they wash your hair too!  That day my mom and I went to a wedding and at the wedding my mom and her friend reunited while I had to reunite with her daughter Adrianna.  On Sunday I went to the pool with Adrianna at some fancy hotel.  Well that's it from Christian's corner 

First week in Haiti

Good morning from sunny Petion-ville!

This is officially our first week in Haiti since embarking on this multiple year journey.  We are adjusting as well as we can and taking in the sites and sounds of our new environment.  We have lots of tidbits to share as well as pictures.  Christian will be posting a few lines later.

First off, we traveled Business class on American Airlines and this is definitely the way to travel! In addition to the extra leg room and large comfortable seats, the service was top notch!  We were offered these cute little egg roll looking hot towels after take off to clean up.  As I was unrolling my towel, I noticed a guy a few seats ahead of me take his towel and put it in his mouth LOL.  I guess it was his first time on business class and he thought that was the appetizer.!  The rest of arrival was fine though we were greeted with a short blackout while in customs...Welcome to Haiti! As for Christian, he was thrilled with business class. He took everything in stride, and I was proud of my little guy when he recognized the word "rue" on all the street signs.  I was even more impressed that he didn't mention anything about the dust, and bad roads we encountered on our shortcut to the hotel.  He did see a rooster and a big fat pig, and wondered if we could take home any stray rooster we found.  Of course I had to tell him all stray animals actually have masters.LOL (wi yo gen met)!

The hotel - Best Western is a really nice hotel in the heart of Petion-Ville.  It is two blocks from Place Boyer and close to several restaurants and other shops.  The decor is gorgeous, there is a pool, spa, restaurant and a few bars.  The staff is very courteous, and the restaurant although a bit expensive has great food.  Of course, this being Haiti,  the first morning when I tried to brush my teeth there was no water in the faucet.  I used bottled water and spit in the sink and splash!  the water fell on the floor.  When I took a peak under the cabinet, I noticed there was a piece of pipe missing, i guess it was never installed.  I called the front desk and it was fixed when I returned that afternoon.

 Restaurants - Since we are living out of the hotel for now, we're forced to eat out every day.  We usually order room service for breakfast, and for dinner we go to different restaurants.  We've been to Fior di latte, Mr Grill, and La Coquille, and Le Michel (the hotel restaurant) so far.  The average cost of dinner has been $US 50-65 for 2 with or without dessert.  We would return to all of them as the food was good.  The first night at the hotel, Christian had ordered a ribeye steak that ended up being bigger than his head LOL.  That's when we found out the hotel portions are huge so we should order accordingly, it also took us 6 days before we realized that there was a kids menu.  You live and learn I guess.

Summer camp - Camp Satigny is just awesome and I'm so glad I enrolled Christian even if it's only for two weeks.  The grounds are beautiful, the staff is nice and includes the owner, her husband and her daughter, they feed the children well and there are plenty of activities for them to do.  As soon as Christian came the first day he joined his age group in playing tennis.  For about $200/week including meals, and transportation to and from Petion-ville, it's a great value.  A large percentage of the campers are kids from the states on summer vacation so Christian had no problems integrating and making friends.

Housing - There is not much to report on this front as I'm still looking around for a place to stay.  One of my new co-workers referred me to a few places as he has also been looking for a place to stay with his wife.  So I visited some apartments in Pelerin 6 that were nice and spacious, fully furnished with balconies and great views.  The price was very reasonable too ($1200-$1500).  He also referred me to a hairdresser (she doesn't advertise, her clients are referral only) and the hairdresser referred me to a couple of her friends who lined up two houses for me to visit within my price range in Laboule 10, and Berthe.   Both properties were really ideal, but the best one for us is the one in Berthe.  It is 3 bedrooms 3 baths with dependance, terraces, a pool, huge yard big enough for plenty of cats and dogs.  To give you an idea of the location, imagine Turgeau from the 1980's transported to Petion-Ville.  I hope I am able to secure the lease on the property.  I'll keep you posted.

Christian's Corner
So my mom and I went on first class and the person that served us was really nice.When I asked for another chocolate cookie they didn't have any more :( .  When we got to the airport in Haiti there was a humungous blackout but the computers were still working.  We're staying at a hotel called Best Western Premier. On the second floor there's a restaurant.  My mom and I are on the fourth floor but I'm not going to tell you what the room number is.  I made lots of friends at camp and the hotel.  At the camp I got a 2nd place medal because I almost won a ping pong tournament.  I was so close to winning. It was 9 to 10.  If I got the point it would've been a deuce but the ball went too fast for me to hit it.  Bye because that's it from Christian's Corner!