The Smell...

This past Monday Shelley and I started walking in the mornings. I have always liked walking in the morning, secretly always liking the idea of being a runner. Now I hang out with Beth who will run the Boston Marathon next month. I am the kind of person who can only stay in the house just so long with out getting cabin fever, so walking has always been good for me. It helps me clear my head and gives me a regular prayer time. While we lived in Florida I had gotten out of the habit of walking, so now I am really paying the price since I am so out of shape and Shelley's legs are twice as long as mine, I am enjoying myself none the less.

I was thinking it would be a good idea to try and explain what it is like to walk on the streets here. It is so far from walking in my nice quite neighborhood in the States that I don't really know where to start. This picture really needs something like "smell-o-vision", if there is such a thing.

Here I go:

1. TAP TAPS: Dozens of them going up and down the road making many stops along the way picking up people just starting their day. Tap-taps line the side of the road so you have to make the choice to weave in and out or go around. Going around puts you in the middle of the street dodging what is coming in front of you. Weaving in slows you down some and puts you on the edge of the car catcher.

2. CAR CATCHER: After my walk on Wednesday I have come to the understanding that cleaning the car catcher is the one job I could never do here in Haiti. I used to think I couldn't be the street butcher, but I have changed my mind. The car catcher is a cement ditch on the side of the road that is about waist deep. It not only catches cars if you get too close, it catches water, trash, food, mud and of course it is also where all the pee-pee ends up. For months on end all of these things collect in the car catcher creating a wicked nasty black slim/trash mixture that you can smell for blocks - as seen in the picture. (When Caleb Hojara was a little boy he asked me if you could die from the smell? I am thinking it could happen.) A group of guys get together with shovels and stand in the car catcher scooping out this stuff on to the road. Now logic tells you that a big dump truck will be right behind them to pick it up and take it away. Sorry, this is not always what happens. It sits on the streets for a few weeks while it all ends up back in, you guessed it, the car catcher!! Leaving behind the smell. I don't really know why they dig it out and don't take it away - job security? I have no idea.

3. Food Vendors: Breakfast, lunch or dinner. You name it you can buy it!! Rice, beans, chicken, meat pockets, fruits, veggies, goat, the list goes on and on!!

4. Anything and Everything Vendor: This is what I would call walking in the middle of a flea market. The street is full of people selling anything and everything you will need. If you are white it is best to spot what you are looking for and send a Haitian back for you so you don't have to pay what is often called "white boy tax"! If I had to sit on the street all day I would call it "give me a break tax"!

5. Creek Beds: What you would call a road here can often look more like a dried up creek bed. This makes walking quickly a real challange. At times I am convinced this is why so many people do in fact walk here. They don't really want to drive because they can make better time on foot than you can in a vechile.

I am guessing you are thinking why on earth would you walk in all of that. My answer is - I really am enjoying myself. It was like when I learned to ride a motorcycle and saw things I had never seen on roads I had driven day after day. You loose track of how many times people yell "blan" at you and move in to a whole differnt place and can enjoy the culture and people. I can say that now that I don't need Advil every four hours for the pain in my legs and feet.