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Sunday, November 11, 2012

We have to open one post here dedicated solely to Potoprens, among other things. I don't know why but I feel such enthusiasm when I think of Potoprens..As I am remembering my former lives...lol

Yeah, getting on the Tap-tap in carrefour, going down to Bizoton, to Lalue, to "Lavil" :)
I lived in Carrefour. I remember my first trip to "lavil" downtown PAP to La Presse Evangelique to buy Christians books like "Plus Pure Que le Diamant" and then I was off to look for comic strips such as Les Aventures de Tintin, Zambla, Blek, and Kiwi.
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14 comments:

  1. awwww This I was talking about, your first anba lavil adventure....we gotta talk about this more....Do you remember boulanjri Sen Mak from Gran Ri, night club Roxy from port area (it wasn't place for ladies..I mean not for decent ones lol), caffe bar Napoli which was on Channmas and it was ran by one old italian lady....

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    1. Now I know why I hadn't heard of Club Roxy... There was more talk about this Club in Marianni called Le Lambi, which people were complaining about (people from church, that is).
      Well I can safely say that Haiti from twenty even ten years ago is not the same as today's Haiti. There were a lot of negative changes. But i will focus on a few of the positive changes:
      The #1 positive change is the availability of phone communication (via cell phones). I remember what it was like to go to TELECO and wait for a phone call from the USA. Not everyone had phone in their homes. Now.... the other day I was in a very remote area of South of Haiti and had at least 3 bars on my cell phone.

      The other positive change is that Haitians who have lived abroad are coming back home and setting the living standard in some neighborhood. More homes are with indoor plumbing.

      Also, many companies are going to Haiti instead of India to create more jobs.
      So a better economy means Haitians will start having fun again :)
      PAP will be a beautiful tourist city again

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  2. Club Roxy was typical port bar and it was also venue for Tonton Makoutes..shady place, that's for sure.. It's closed long time ago
    I didn't know Le Lanmbi was situated in Mariani..I have thought it was somewhere in Kafou area, closer to town...
    Le lanmbi, el Caribeno, places of wild lust

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    1. yeah you're right. Marianni is a little locality near Carrefour. I believe it is west on the tail of Carrefour as you head toward Leogane.

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  3. yes,it's where Max Beauvoir has his voodoo temple
    Where is el Caribeno than?

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    1. I have no idea.
      I didn't even know of its existence.

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  4. Was Bisantne(part of town between anba lavil and Matisan) there since you were kid and what was there before it turned to slum?

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    1. Bisantnè WAS a nice town square in the heart of Port-Au-Prince, not too far from the legislative bureau. It seemed to have turned into a marketplace with merchants bringing their merchandises to sell there. After the earthquake, I think some people had set their tents there - This place is not what it used to be.

      But I do have hope for the beautification of Port-Au-Prince. I did find a blueprint, online, abut the reconstruction of the city. Based on that blueprint, part of Port-Au-Prince will be turned into a business district, completely rebuilt and ready to receive tourists again.

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  5. Pap lost so many people in the earthquake..I just hope it won't lost it's soul, it's unique spirit and that they won't turn that business district into some cold, tasteless copy of north-american town

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    1. Haiti will always remain a tropical caribbean island
      Haiti will always retain its title because they're only changing the building, not the people.

      Haitians carry Haiti in their hearts. That's is why, its culture, traditions, and creed cannot be robbed.

      The only change that will happen is a "modified" and better way of life.

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  6. I hoped for such passionate and sincere answer...I know you are right.. I just hope and pray for that...haitians deserve that, at least

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  7. No, Manda..when I mentioned Bisantne i meant of bidonvil situated along the avni truman, on exit from anba lavil, bo kote Bollose

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  8. *Bolosse
    Area more known as Marche aux poissons, you can see it on that map od PaP I have sent you

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    1. Yes I see what you are saying.
      I was familiar with PLAS BISANTNÈ.
      To me it was a landmark just like Channmas.

      Yes, I am familiar with Bòlòs area.
      You know, I lived in Kafou, Mon Repos 42 and Rue Mathon... about 30 to 45 minute drive from downtown PAP depending on traffic.

      My father built our house in Carrefour in the mid 1960s.

      My father was in the Haitian Marines and did travel back and forth on big boats to other countries during Papa Doc time.

      I spent a lot of times at my Uncle's house in Bizoton. He was a very old guy who had retired from the haitian marines and was living on his pension.
      I ran a lot of errands for him in downtown PAP. He used to get these specially made unsalted bread from boulanje Sen Mak.

      My father also had a cousin who had a really beautiful house in Delma. So we spent some time there too.

      I visited these areas in March 2010. It was unrecognizable. You are right they've become slums because people from the provinces have come down to PAP in search for a better life, and they started building piles of little houses wherever they could.

      I have no doubt that these places will be as vibrant as they were once they remove the bidonvilles.

      I really cannot wait to see those places rebuilt.

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