Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Mwen La


It's Tuesday, or so the calendar says. Sometimes living here gives you no sense of date, time, day of week, month of year ... etc, etc. When I went in to wake Britt up today she said "What day is it?" The only way to know is to watch your calendar closely. If it where not for the blog dating posts I might not even know.
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This is nap-time blogging. I need to make it quick.
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The team is handing out Love Bundles today -- Love Bundles with non-Salmonella Peanut butter. I think I am jaded and cynical, (and practical) -- I have a hard time understanding how the small possibility of the peanut butter causing illness is anywhere near as dangerous as -- oh, say ... how lots of people eat meat from the market that sat in the hot sun with flies all over it for a day, or how some people drink canal water.
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It seems contradictory to be flipping out over peanut butter when everything around here has a risk of carrying plenty O' bacteria.
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Oh well. Like I said, I am far too logical for the system of thought that says we ought to burn perfectly good food. The people here are as tough as nails. (Tenacious) Salmonella would be like a little indigestion to them. I am not the Peanut Butter decision maker so for all those who laid awake worrying, you'll be thrilled to know we are throwing away hundreds of jars of PB.
And, before you call me a racist or classist for wanting to pass bad Peanut Butter on ... we did not throw our jar away. I just had a delicious bacteria filled spoon-full this morning.
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Enough about that.
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Yesterday when I brought Dad to the airport I had this bright idea that taking Jack AND Phoebe would be do-able. I needed to drop Dad and then grocery shop. Often times the logistics of doing something don't translate when I make my plans.
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I held Phoebe and put Jack in the front of the tiny little cart .(no Super-Target sized Super-Cart here) I maneuvered my way around pushing with one hand around the stock boys and through the thin little aisles. The deli was actually in business and selling meat - a bonus. Jack sort of cooperated and we got through it. I managed to do the math right when paying for my goods. (Multiply times five to get Haitian Dollars transferred into Gourdes.) I was pleased with myself in spite of the dumb choice I made.
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The little grocery-bagger-kid helped me get stuff in the back of the truck. I loaded the kids in and got our beverages out and ready. A kind looking Haitian man sitting in his truck in the parking lot watched us closely the entire time. At times that might make me nervous but not yesterday. As I started the truck he honked at me and waved. I looked up to see him motioning for me to lock the doors. I share this for no particular reason ... except to say that I thought it was pretty nice that the guy wanted us to be safe and took the time to look out for us. There is not always a feeling that our presence here is accepted, (or appreciated) so to have that happen was nice. Sometimes it is the little things that give me a boost.
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Speaking of feeling appreciated... ;-)
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Troy got his court papers today ... or at least something that resembled court papers. His first, middle and last name were handwritten on the outer envelope. All spelled correctly, which is not a frequent occurrence. It says "Premiere Convocation" ( translates to first or beginning summoning) at the top and has two very circa-1952 hand stamps on it. An official type guy handed them over and said some official sounding thing when he did.
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"Premiere Convocation" sounds like a jewelry party to me. Maybe it is. Maybe Troy is going to buy me a really nice pair of earrings.
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Troy is to appear at the first summoning on March 12 at 10am.
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When he (Troy) was getting diesel the other day he saw the cop that was involved in the initial report-taking way back when this stuff started. The cop called to him and told him he would be getting papers and even had the date right -- then he told Troy to appear alone. Troy said "Uh, no, I won't appear alone. An attorney will appear for me." The cop is a buddy of the accuser so he seemed bummed to know that Troy is not as idiotic as they think he is. I'm pretty sure showing up to court by yourself in a foreign land is not advisable.
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The saga continues.