Still more trip tales

Despite the poverty and primitive lifestyles of most Haitians, around the cities it seemed that most haitians had cell phones! You could be watching a lady sitting in her yard next to a thatched roof hut cooking rice over a fire, then hear an american ring-tone and watch her whip out a cell phone and say hello! They have limited electrical power and it is undependable, few land line telephones and they are undependable, so cell phones are the best way to communicate. The cell companies just have to build one tower in the middle of town, give everyone a free(outdated or used american) cellphone, and then sell prepaid phone cards to activate them. The Haitians buy minutes as they can afford them; no billing, no collections, no contracts. It couldn't be simpler for the phone companies, and the Haitians now have a way to communicate.

When you hear horns honking in the U.S., it usually is associated with road rage. Not in Haiti. They use their horns constantly for every reason. They honk to warn pedestrians, bikers, scooters, donkeys that they are being overtaken. They honk to get livestock off the road. They honk to pass, honk before turning, honk before going over hills, and they honk before going around curves and corners. They honk to say "hi" to their friends. It can be very noisy on a busy road! There are no lines painted on their roads, they drive wherever it is most convenient. I saw a motorcycle passing a pedestrian while a truck was passing the motorcycle while a car was passing the truck! I can go all year here in the U.S. and not honk my horn - I would need some training to drive down there.

It was amazing to watch the church ladies cooking us an eight course Sunday noon meal over a small wood fire behind the church. We need pretty elaborate kitchens just to serve donuts!

They have a strange custom (to me) of out-loud group prayer. A leader would start praying out-loud, then after a while everyone else would join in, all praying an individual prayer out-loud at the same time! Even if you could understand the language, I don't know how you would get much out of it. It wasn't speaking in tongues, but it was pretty confusing. I still don't know how they all knew when to stop at the same time!