Continuing on the theme of last post I will continue on the many things I love, find entertaining or just makes me smile about Haiti. Here goes!
Tap taps: not the most comfortable ride, but these vehicles are a country in themselves. Stick out your hand, one magically appears and you hop inside. Maximum capacity is 21 people, although I’ve seen some with much more. And that’s not including the goods and belongings packed on top. And I should mention that these vehicles are 1980s Toyotas… Tap taps are the cheap public (though privately owned) transportation. They’re everywhere and can get you anywhere. I love that each one is decorated differently. They’re all painted – usually bright red or yellow but you see blue and green too (my favorite). On the sides will be flowers, birds, trees as well. My personal favorite touch – without fail – is the prayers that are written all over the front. Most even have prayer stickers over the better part of the windshield so that the driver can barely see. These prayers, sayings, phrases and what have you vary greatly in their content and what they’re asking and it is always fun to read them while traveling around OCap. A few of my favorites; God help me, deliverance, grace of God, trust me, sexy love, sexy baby, psalms 90, Christ capable, thank you mother, good God good. Another bonus – music is always playing the tap taps so you get updated with the latest kompa hits. It’s basically a traveling top forty radio show.
Baby animals: Yes, my obsession with goats has continued from Haiti to Senegal, but seriously, if you looked out your window and saw baby goats jumping and kicking around, you’re cold cold heart would melt too. I love the baby animals here. I mean, everything from the people to the goats, dogs, chickens, horses are stunted here to begin with. Sometimes I feel like I’m in Lilliput. But that’s what happens when you are chronically malnourished for generations; you become shorter and never reach your genetic potential. Anyways, I digress.
Baby animals. So fun to watch. And there are so many here. Baby goats will always be my favorite. But the puppies here are also something to behold. And often, I get the two confused from far away. They look exactly the same; shaky legs, floppy ears, noncommittal directional walking. Baby cows are another favorite, mostly for the eyelashes and the over-developed sense of dependency to their mothers. Chickens are okay, but so many chickens live right next to the road and so watching a mother with sevens babies slowly lose them to road kill is kind of depressing. Baby pigs are a newfound favorite. These didn’t exist in Senegal, for obvious reasons, and they are everywhere here. Given Haiti’s history with pigs (I’m not explaining here – if you’re curious, look it up, it’s a great example of horrible development ideas) I’m even more fascinated. The little guys move in a pack and they move fast – who knew pigs were like the marathoners of the farm? Little ears flopping, curly tails wagging they are so fun to watch.
And watch them often I do. My office has windows that look right out to a beautiful field. There is a huge mango tree and lots of grass. Pigs, cows and goats roam free and there have been lots of baby animals prancing around to distract me.
Tropical fruit: When was the last time you bought fresh mangoes, pineapple, or coconut water? When was the last time you bought all that for less than a dollar? Now I am not a fruit person, I don’t like to eat it, and rarely do back home. Fruit is often just too acidic or sweet. I prefer to eat like a rabbit – the more veggies the better. But here I love the fruit and right now is one of my favorite times of the year – mango season! There are dozens of varieties here but I have a few favorites; Rosalie – perfect for juice making, Two Duc – super sweet and juicy, Fransique – Really big and kind of tart, Baptiste – Lots of fruit, sweet and hardly any strings. These days I can get six mangoes for 25 Gourd – about 70 cents. It’s great. Another favorite to buy off the street – coconut water. It being the Caribbean, there are coconuts everywhere. For 10 Gourd – about 26 cents and entire coconut is mine. Each coconut has between a half liter to three fourths of water. Super cheap, super refresher, and so much better than the expensive processed coconut water the health nuts buy in the states.
And finally, mountains; There is a famous Haitian proverb – dye mon, gen mon – beyond mountains there are mountains. It really means there is more to Haiti that meets the eye. And the mountains here are perfect examples of this. OCap is surrounded by them and each one brings its own little surprise. Climb one and bam! There’s the ocean. Climb another and you are at the Citadelle still standing guard to invaders after hundreds of years. Drive over another are there is a little village shaded by mango trees with vendors selling mangos and yams on the side of the road. Pass many more and the plateau opens up. The mountains here are beautiful. The rise literally right out of the ocean, the clouds always hang close. They’re protecting and silent, yet imposing and unforgiving. And they offer a wonderful view from my balcony.
So that’s just a sampling of a few tidbits I encounter in my daily life that make it so fun to be here. Hope you’ve enjoyed!
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