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.
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.
