Orientation:

If you were to have walked up to me on the sidewalks of Cambridge and asked me if I was entitled, the answer would have been easy: "No."

And yet, my first full day in Haiti was filled with all sorts of things I take for granted and became more work, just to do the basics of living in Haiti.  Allow me to explain.  

We began by having breakfast.  Pretty easy, cereal, eggs, coffee.  The coffee, though it tasted good, was a little more work than normal.  Find the clicker, turn on the gas, heat up the water, put grinds in the bodum, pour, find out you didn't boil enough water, boil some more, wait, press the bodum, wait, and pour.  I'll save you the details on the eggs and cereal.  

Once ready to go, there is a little mental checklist to go through:  turn everything in the house off (electricity goes off every morning and we don't want to drink up battery power), grab keys, grab wallet, grab "dummy" wallet for muggers, fill water bottle, grab phone, think about bug spray and sun screen and where I am going to be for the day, and then grab a fist-full of keys and lock the door, unlock the inner gate, go out in the yard and lock the inner gate, then go out to the outer gate (no, I am not reading to you from Leviticus), and undo the padlock and then the deadbolt, and go out the outer gate and relock the deadbolt.  

Sharon King picked us up this morning and we toured a host of stores, the FWD SUV earning its keep as we dodged people, animals, ruts, hills, rocks, and open sewer-grates on our way to Delmas and Petionville where we did some shopping.  Inside me, I was aching for regular old paved roads with rules where storm-sewer covers simply provided a blip to an otherwise smooth ride.   I found myself missing a place where traffic lights, street signs, dotted yellow lines, speed limits, helmet laws, and the virtual absence of stray dogs fail to interupt my trip to the drive-thru for my morning coffee.  

We started at the hardware store, to pick up a splitter so that the water being used to wash floors could be diverted before going through the water filtration system so that the filters could last longer.  You know, the kind of normal Saturday morning run to Home Hardware many guys like to make.  Except this was different.  The hardware store had three parking spaces, all full.  Though there was a risk of being towed by parking across the street, we were going to be quick so we parked straddling the sidewalk, manually locked all six doors, and headed into the store.  Asking for help is important.  Clerk 1 smiled and brought us to Clerk 2 who smiled and brought us to Clerk 3 who brought us to the part.  Like the Saturday morning Home Hardware run, we took the part to the cashier, who determined its value and passed us on to the person whom we paid while the cashier passed the part to the security people who received it and then after we paid dutifully looked into the one-item bag to confirm we weren't stealing anything extra, handed it to us, and we were on our way.  We got to our un-towed (phew!) car and a smiling Haitian entreated us for a tip since he had taken it upon himself to watch our car while we were in the store.  Sharon waved him off and gave us a lesson on when to tip and when not to tip as we drove away.  I found myself missing my last trip to Home Depot where I could go to the shelf, grab the item, wave it over the scanner at self-check-out, wave my pay-pass Mastercard and never miss a beat as I sauntered out to my car in the sprawling and free parking lot.  The things we take for granted.  

Next stop was the Compas Market, a great little spot to pick up some dry goods and such.  We looked at prices and learned the difference between Haitian gourdes and American dollars and when to pay what and how to pay it.  We loaded our cart with about 2800 HTG (Haitian Gourdes) worth of product, which wasn't a lot - maybe half a cart worth - but, wow, does "2800.00" on the LED display at the cash register ever catch your attention!  We determined that 2800 HTG was $62.00 US and paid cash, considering the risks of flashing that kind of wealth and the risks of using a credit card in a smaller establishment.  Next was a roadside stand where we literally parked the SUV beside the stand and hung out the window showing the smiling entrepreneurs which fruits and vegetables we would like to buy, all the while trying to get used to the fact that in Haiti you don't buy, for example, 8 potatoes, but rather you ask for 50 gourdes worth of potatoes and hope it is 8 potatoes.  Our last stop was the upscale Caribbean Market, with a guarded parking lot, air conditioning, a deli, and LOTS of selection.  We bought lunch and some groceries and this time paid with credit card, again about $62.00 but for a lot less groceries.  As we did all this, I wondered to myself just how often in the last ten years our family has run out to Zehrs and, while incredibly accessible and convenient, and safe, never once thought how much of a luxury it was to simply do that.  

So, last night, I was thinking, even though if you would have asked me if I was entitled on the streets of Cambridge, I would have said "No", I actually was.  And still am.  And am learning and becoming, already, a little more grateful.  

Till next time, 

John