Friday, November 7, 2008
A Few Steps into Haiti....
I have decided to stop apologizing for the lack of consistency in my blogging beacuse I would have to apologize like every time, so we all just have to accept thats the way it is (cough cough aun candy..hehehe but actually you inspired me to write again :) Ok so the other day i had the opportunity to go to a little market town on the western border of the DR called Dajabon, For those of you who didnt pay attention in geography class, the Dominican Republic shares the island of Hispanola with the poorest country in Latin America Haiti. French and Creole are the languages spoken, languages often heard in the streets here in the Dominican Republic, because of the many Hatian people tha have migrated over the border legally and illegaly. The border into Haiti: its like crossing over from paradise into hell. The dominican side lush with beautiful green grass trees plants and life, and immediealty as you see the border to Haiti its brown and dusty, its hotter, and a lack of anyting green or beautiful, there is extreme poverty and it is obvious even just standing on the outside looking in, its hard to even believe your eyes. The border town Dajabon, there is a bridge to cross connecting the two countries, on mondays and fridays the Haitians have until one o'clock pm, to run over with their fares and sell whatever they can in the Dominican market and run back before one. To give you a picture of this situation, a street so crowded with people with huge bags of potatoes on their heads or shoulders, huge carts of stuff i had never seen before, women with bowls of fruit on their heads and people just running and pushing so that every three seconds you got hit by a sack of something or pushed by a motorcyle and jabbed by a cart, or stepped on by someone. The smell was sometimes spicy and interesting or sometimes horrible and vile. Everyone was sweaty, with ragged clothes , and just piled on the streets displaying thier goods, some times being old soaps and toothpaste , or underwear, basically the most random stuff, things no one would want to buy. we made it across the bridge into Haiti, it was an incredible feeling and experience, we werent allowed to venture in too far for "securtiy reasons" but its been my experience that every country has a diffrent feeling, and Haiti's is hopelesness. I am really glad I got the chance to see and feel it, and save those pictures in my head , ones that i will never forget. There is so much culture and history to learn yet, and when i get home hopefully I will have learned it all to share in detail.
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2 comments:
wow that's amazing... i'm sure that was some experience.. that's really sad how different the two countries are and how much desperation there is in haiti... i hope i get to hear more about your entire time on this trip when you come back..
tots
Amanda,
This is cough, cough Aunt Candy!
I check your blog all the time for news of your fun and well-being. Remember when I used to drive by your house on the way to work and throw bags of candy on your front lawn for you?? Well, I like getting news of you thrown my way now and then!! How's THAT for playing the guilt card!
Anyway, thanks for the update. It must be weird to stand in beauty while looking across the way to desolation. It makes you appreciate all the beauty God has surrounded you with every day doesn't it?!
The market scene reminds me of the open market in Cairo, Egypt, less the bad smells. Lots of people moving this way and that, vying for your attention to buy their goods. It's kind of fun to stand back and watch, "stand back" being the operative words here.
I'm glad you're enjoying your stay in the DR and especially glad that you're on the side of the DR and not Haiti.
See you soon. Oh, Kenny asked when you were going to come home and I said not until around Christmas. "Christmas!" he exclaimed, "that's a long time."
Love ya,
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