Saturday, August 6, 2011

May I ask what are some of your fondest memoriesof Haiti?

Ah yes!
I remember leaving the capital every summer to go stay in the countryside of Arcahaie. There we went by the ocean and had a feast on coconuts, avocados, mangos and guava from my grandmother's garden. We did that almost everyday of our summer vacation.

I loved to listen to tales in the moonlight every night. We had such an open and large backyard. it seems that every kid in the neighborhood was there.

I loved market days. It was on wednesdays and Saturdays. My grandmother hosted most farmers coming from the hills to sell their goods in town at the market. They stayed overnight and "parked" their donkeys and horses in our front yard and backyard. They talked all night!

During Mardi-Gras time, it was tradition, men dressed with straw skirts and covered in dark thick molasses paraded the streets of Arcahaie early Sunday mornings often dispersing the crowds that have gathered for mass at St. Pierre church as they try to lay their sticky hands esspecially on people wearing whites. These men were called asasen.  I wonder if they still do that.  Se te bèl lavi!

I mostly loved the long, long walk to school with my best friend, Carline, whom I lost contact with. I'm hoping to find her again one day.

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