Tonight we were kind of sick of the carbs and looking for a decent piece of meat.
The silly way you go about procuring basic goods becomes normal after a couple years - until you step back and think about it ... then you remember life here is odd ... so you document a small portion of today's oddness.
This is the place we go every once in a while to buy imported meat - not your typical meat-buying experience...
This is how it works:You ask them if they have what you are looking for and then you wait (and wait) in an office like this while they try to locate the item you desire.
Then if you are lucky they bring you your chicken breasts (not easy to come by in Haiti) and you pay about double for them because they came here on a boat or airplane from Florida - but you are so happy to have white-meat chicken for a change that you don't even care.Then you run another errand to fill your new grill propane tank. As you sit waiting you thinkto yourself - huh ... that guy there managed to drive in here with a ginormous propane tank on a tiny motorcycle. That is truly impressive. Dangerous ... not all that bright --- but impressive.
Then you go home and fire up the new grill that Zach put on his container for you. (Thanks Zo bo pe!) And even though the entire family is SO SO excited to have chicken on the grill -- one guy refuses and opts for rice and beans. He informs you that he is Haitian and rice and beans are all he needs.
When you point out to him that he is not Haitian, he looks at you like you are insane and says "Yes I AM Haitian!" You know better than to argue with a four year old. You hand him the pot of rice and figure this is good news - it means more chicken for the rest of the tribe.
