Saturday, June 2, 2012

the tap-tap touch..

Today was fully day 5 here in Haiti on my fifth trip to this island nation. Aside from a bad bout of bed bugs, which were eradicated today with much adieu,  I have settled in fairly well.

Each morning and evening I ride a "tap-tap", which is the Haitian equivalent to public transport. Tap-taps can take pretty much any form from mini-buses down to the back of a pick-up in varying states of disrepair. I take these rides with my new found friend, Jeremy, a 19 year old kid from North Carolina who is also helping out Megan at the hospital. These rides have proven to be interesting in many ways and I just have to chuckle to myself that most north american's would consider this form of transport too and from work each day as a form of torture. Imagine if you will, a morning that is already hot (30+) and still, a mini-bus filled beyond capacity by about 5+ individuals,  all trying to maintain an air of disconnectedness while practically sitting on each others laps..all the while listening to multiple cell phone conversations and if your lucky, a sales pitch from the, quite literally,a travelling salesman...

Today's rides were extra special in that not only did we get to hear the sales pitch about how Amoxiacillin was the cure for whatever ails you and if that didn't work well Zantac would surely be the winner. But next we moved onto the gentleman who hitched a ride for a few blocks quite clearly focusing in on the "blancs" at the back of the bus, welcoming us to his country now could we please give him some money so he could get something to eat for breakfast..which of course we did and all went well... So much entertainment for the bargain price of 0.45 American each way. Tonight's ride home proved to be slightly uneventful unless you count the fact that I was sitting next to the wide open door as the tap-tap careened through mud puddles and down roads at what felts like breakneck speed in a machine quite clearly not meant to travel at such speeds (sorry Danielle..your voice was ringing clearly inside my head but there was no where to go...)

And that is only what is inside the tap-tap... the sights, sounds and smells are indescribable and need to be experienced to be valued.. Children off to school in pristine uniforms, men pushing wheelbarrows full of construction supplies down the middle of the road, smells of sewage on one block only to be replaced by the smell of fresh baked bread or frying banana's on the next...

I must admit I was a little apprehensive about riding the public transport system here in Haiti but I think it's opened my eyes to a little more of what life is like on a daily basis for many Haitians. And it has shown me how in many ways I am disconnected from my fellow Canadians when I am at home. I see now that I come from a world where we barely even look at each other, we ride in cars alone too and from work, many wouldn't dream of touching a stranger let alone be squished in a car for 45 mins in +30 heat unable to escape, we value our space from one another but after the past few days of travel I can't help but wonder if in some small way I am missing out....that although during our rides in these tap-taps we are not engaging with people on any really deep levels maybe in some small ways I am becoming more connected to the city, to it's people and to the reality of a life I have only stood on the fringe of and will never fully appreciate... but maybe in my own way I can once again become more engaged with my life back home in Canada and more further from the fringe and more into the core...

Just where I'm at tonight....

Night all...

Love Lise

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