Smiles

On to my second blog of the day.  My series of un-related, but lovely moments of humor and cultural surprises.

Rebar.  It's the innards of almost every building in Haiti and is often poking out of walls at seemingly treacherous and random angles.  Today when we visited the grave of Mialta Miracle, we were surprised to see that the gravesite was covered with a concrete slab that was punctuated at each corner by jutting rebar carefully decorated with dried flowers, branches, bows and finery.

Posing with the corpse.  Mialta Miracle's family showed us many photos of his funeral.  I was shocked by how large it was.  The procession, led by the coffin and many musicians, stretched as far as the eye could see in the photos I looked at.  There were many photos of Mialta in his coffin. And many / all of the family members had taken turns posing with the corpse.  This is not a practice I have ever seen in the US, and a fascinating contrast of cultures.

Dresses.  Today we passed out dresses and shorts at Reiser Heights hand-sewn by a talented group from Roseville, MN.  The dresses were adorable and colorful and very feminine.  With minimal encouragement one of the male teachers and another exceedingly tall and thin male staff member agreed to try the dresses on over their clothing.  Much giggling ensued.

Suitcase.  I have a "Haiti suitcase" that I have a sentimental attachment to.  Today when we were driving down the mountain from Reiser Heights we had traveled quite a distance when I was surprised to see a Reiser Heights teacher and student still walking home.  We stopped and offered them a ride in the back of our pickup (one of the delightful things, to me, about Haiti is the lack of rules and regulations and the ability to do wild things like give kids rides in the back of pick ups).  Anyway, my old Haiti suitcase was empty and in the back of the pick up.  When the student and teacher got to their destination, the girl asked, very sweetly and politely, looking into the depths of my eyes, if she could have the suitcase.  I have a fantastic memory of seeing her walk away carrying it with a huge smile on her face.

Familiar faces.  One of the fun things about coming to Haiti multiple times is that I now get to see people that I "know" when I return.  My favorite is the old lady at the Baptist Mission who cleans / monitors / supervises the two very small toilets there.  For the service of her flushing BEFORE I go, pointing out where I can locate the toilet paper, and turning on the sink for me to wash my hands, she always gets a $1 tip.  I also get a kick out of the street vendors who sit on same little piece of asphalt year after year praising the beauty of the same products over and over.  Hello again!  Sorry, I still don't want to buy that statue.  But do keep asking me.  One of these times I'll break down and barter.

Coffee.  Today we stopped at a bakery on our way back to the guest house to pick up a birthday cake.  My sister, Ann, decided to buy a cup of coffee there.  I watched with great amusement as she first tried to order at the wrong counter (they only take cake orders there, not coffee), then ordered at another counter, paid in another area where her receipt was stamped, and then picked up her coffee in a third area where her receipt was stamped again.  Are we applying for 10 year visas or buying a cup of coffee?  Hard to tell!

Donkeys.  Did you know that donkeys can haul everything from kindling to rebar?  Yes, we're back to the rebar again.  Full circle.

Smiles,
Joyce