Wednesday, October 16th. This morning Denise and I are going to Gros Morne, we are also taking the Jeanette and Mdm.Fritznell to the market to do our shopping for the week. Today is market day. While John Louie and I are going about preparing to leave, a man walks up carrying a cage covered with fabric. John Louie goes to talk to him and peers in. My curiosity is picked and I go over to see what is going on. It is a cage full of parrots. John Louie catches my eye, and I give him a very slight nod, and he starts looking at the birds. The man with the parrots reaches in and remove one and hands it to John Louie, it is obviously not healthy. I make a show of examining it and say “malad”, Creole for sick. The man shakes his head and returns the bird to the cage. I peer in and spot young female who is giving me a steady gaze and I point her out. John Louie puts his hand in the cage but is unable to grasp her. The man reaches in, and grasps a string tied around her foot and brings her out, squawking and flailing about. He sets her down and she struts around. Her wings are clipped so there is no danger of her flying off. After a few moments, the man picks up a large twig, catches her string and places the twig in front of her claws. She jumps on the twig and he moves her to the opening of the cage. She eagerly returns to her nest mates. John Louie’s eyes and mine meet, and I again give him a discreet affirmative sign. Now begins the bargaining process between the two of them. At the moment of impasse, John Louie looks to me and nods towards the apartment. When I tell Denise of the proceedings she is enthusiastic. John Louie tells us the price will be 1500 gordes, or about $35. Denise and I agree and she goes down to check it all out. When she peers in the cage she picks out the same parrot as I did. And the transaction is completed. John Louie and I go to the store room and retrieve the cage I had built for our “rescue bird” several weeks ago. We introduce our new feathered friend to her new home and take her up to our apartment. When Jeanette and Mdm. Fritznell see our newest addition big smiles shine forth. The word “parrot” in Creole is “Jacko”. Our new Jacko does not have a name yet, but everyone is calling her Jacko. Jacko is accepted as a full-fledged member of our household. As we head down the mountain we are greeted by many people headed into town. The day is starting off well until we are just about to town and the engine stops. As we roll to a stop I pull off in the shade, just past some vendors set up under makeshift shelter alongside the road. I try to crank the engine but nothing but a slow turn. Sounds like it has overheated, but Denise has not noticed anything, and her seat is hinged right over the radiator. After she disembarks I flip her seat up and gingerly touch the radiator, its cold. I open it and it is full. Next my passengers climb out of the bed and I tip the bed up to reveal the engine. I can feel the heat radiating off of the engine. Both upper and lower radiator hoses are empty. I let the engine cool off enough to take off the thermostat housing and it appears that the engine is completely dry. As the engine cools I add a very small amount of water, starting with a teaspoon or so at a time. Very slowly the engine cools enough for me to fill the block. This takes about 30 minutes. When it is full, I also fill the upper radiator hose until the water starts overflowing the thermostat housing opening. Then I reassemble everything, crank and the engine starts right up. We are almost to town and the market where are going to drop off the ladies to do our shopping. As we head there, we stop at the egg restaurant and tell Jeanette and Mdm. Friztnel to meet us back there around 1:00. We then continue on and drop them off at the market. From there we are supposed to meet up with Sr. Pat, we need to make arrangements for a trip to Port au Prince to send the parishes cashier check back to the US. On the way I pull off to give her a call to make sure where she is at. I just happen to be around the corner from Tiden’s mechanic shop and he walks up to give greetings and to see if everything is ok. We tell him that we are going to meet with Sr. Pat. And he asks if the Gator is running ok. We tell him what happened and he directs us back to his “garage”, which is just a space along the edge of the road that he has claimed as his own. I call Sr. Pat to let her know our situation, she is just now leaving to go to another meeting at the school and we plan to connect when she is finished. While we are waiting for Tiden to check out the Gator, we take the seat cushions to a shady spot in the shade. We are soon joined by two young lads who just want to stare at us, smile, touch my arm hairs and check out Sadie; all with children’s innocence. They are especially fascinated with our seats. After a little while, one of them gets my attention and pointing to my seat, offers me five gourdes so he can buy it. That’s about 13 cents US. It is a nice change from the children who constantly say in broken English, “give me”, and point to whatever catches their eye. They are pleasant company and are easily entertained by just watching us. When Tiden finishes with the Gator, he calls me over and explains that the head is cracked. So much for a break from problems. He tells me he can get a used head in Port au Prince. So this is good timing because we are planning a trip tomorrow. But somehow that seems unlikely that we would really find what we need here in Haiti. It just doesn’t usually work out that way. But it does give us some hope. He has reassembled everything and instructs me to take it over to sister’s house where it can be locked in their compound. He will take the head off there so that he can take it with us when we go. And off we go. When we get to Sisters house, it is 11:45. This is good, because Sr. Pat is not back from her meeting yet and the housekeeper is leaving at noon. It is not long before Sr. Pat returns, she is with Barak. Our monthly internet plan is due to expire, so I ask Barak if he will take me to Natcom, the provider, and help me with updating my service. It should be a simple affair, but I have learned that it will not be, and with my lack of Creole, well…. When we return to sister’s house, Sr. Pat has Barak change out her propane tank. She has some leftovers to heat up for lunch. Over lunch we discuss this newest problem. She had originally planned on sending Barak to Port au Prince on a bus to deliver the parish check to the group leaving for the States, and to get his Visa so that he could drive us to Santa Domingo for the conference. But now we will also need to send Tiden so that he can pick up the parts for the Gator. After some more discussion she realizes that tomorrow, Thursday, is a national holiday and the Government offices will be closed. So Barak will not be able to get his Visa until Friday. So plans are changed again to accommodate this. Our final plan is for Denise and I to come back down and spend the night tomorrow, so that we can get an early start on Friday. Denise and I want to go along because we need to stop in Gonaives at the bishops to get the grant request signed. This is will be our third attempt. The bishop is not very organized; he does not have a secretary, and over books himself. Our last attempt was a scheduled meeting and he had booked something else at the same time and was out when we arrived. This is typical of most of Haiti. It is one of most significant blockages to progress here. It is not corruption or malevolence; it is this lack of organization that will have to be overcome first, to make significant changes towards progress. Those working within the system here do not see the problem. Most suggestions for solutions are received with unspoken accusations of arrogance. I can understand that, is unfortunate that those of us who are really trying to help, are judged by the actions of those who do treat others from their own self-serving and arrogant attitudes. Denise and I also would like to go to Deli-Mart for a few hard to find grocery items and to Eko Depot for some hard to find hardware items. It’s a rough trip to Port au Prince but, then again, when we go to Matthew 25, the guest house, we will be able to share company with Americans for a few hours. Once we have finished with our plans, we ask Sr. Pat if Barak can take us home. We have to stop and get Ice, and it is difficult to take on the moto with me. I have done it, but it’s not pretty. She tries to call Barak but he does not answer, so she calls Tiden. Tiden has also been working on her car today and is due back soon. He agrees and we are so very grateful. Just another day in paradise. Bob
Posted on: Sat, 19 Oct 2013 12:16:49 +0000
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