We (some of the team members that have been here this past week) and I went out last night. We had planned to go hear some jazz music at Presse Cafe but because two of the guys had on shorts, we weren't allowed in. So we went to Bar Del`air to dance to some kompas music of Coupe Cloue. The name of the place didn't mean much to me at the time but when we pulled up to park, I had a spark of deja vous~ I had been here back in 2003 on my first trip. A flood of memories came back to me. Some of us wanted to go out to a bar and Belamy who was working for HHH took us out that first Saturday night of our arrival. By the time he arrived to pick us up in a jeep it was raining pretty hard. Because there were 6 of us wanting to go, we had to go in two trips. The jeep had broken side windows so the rain came in on us. Haitians always beep the horn when they get to an intersection or corner as the many high cement walls prevent the driver from seeing a car coming and every time Bellamy beeped the horn, the headlights would go off, every time he turned on the wipers, the headlights would go off which made for an interesting ride. We made it to the bar as the rain stopped, we had a few beers and as we had told Matt, our team leader we would be home by 11 we started watching for our driver....and it started to rain again even harder. Now you have to know Haitians do not like to be out in the rain, even in a car so we had to wait...and wait....and wait some more but finally at midnight, he came for us. The first 3 of us piled in the jeep and started on the road to home. With the rain still pounding down, the streets were filled with inches of water like a river and no less exciting with the lights going out when the wipers were turned on. Of course there was no traffic but also a pretty powerless jeep that could not make it up the hills. Every time we turned a corner up, we would go backwards with the water forcing us to find a way to climb laterally then make our way down and over if that makes sense. Just as we pulled in after a 30 minute drive that should take 5 minutes, the jeep died. Matt was happy to see us until he realized we had left 3 people still at the bar. Belamy left to find another car. The girls at the bar didn't know what happened to us but didn't want to allow the bar owner take them home, if Belamy was returning to get them and they weren't there so they waited and waited some more- laying on the tables sleeping because they were the only people left. In the end they made it home just after one...just one of the reasons Matt does not want to be the team leader any more.
Back to last night...by 11 pm the place was packed with Haitians~ some of them even thanking us for coming to Haiti to help their people. One of them had been living in Seattle and Portland but because the music was so very loud, I couldn't really get his story. There was no rain but we were as wet with sweat as if we had been in the rain. The bar is on the second floor and open all around with a thatched roof. A little bit Tiki~ and a very rare bit of air would move through the people but not enough so by midnight everyone was pretty much ready to leave. Our van does not have the problem of the headlights going off when the wipers come on and all the windows are intact but it wasn't an issue since there was any rain. In fact, its only rained a little this past week. Once good downpour that thankfully didn't last long.
World Cup has been the main focus of all Haitians this past week- with the early morning game, traffic is a breeze. Its a fine time to make trips to the bank, the store, the airport. I only had to stand in line at the bank for about 30 minutes, maybe a little less. On Delmas the median cement in one area is painted blue (Argentina) and above hundreds of bottles are hanging over the street all painted yellow and green for Brazil.
When Brazil won on tuesday, you could actually hear the cheers.
Yep, Haiti loves futbol and World Cup!
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