An introduction to Haiti

Before things actually begin, due to sketchy internet connections, I am actually back in Santo Domingo, having had a wonderful few days in Port au Prince. There are going to be more than one article on this part of my trip - there is simply too much say, and too much that needs to be said for only one post. As well - I've had some trouble putting my thoughts into words, so there will be some time in coming. That said, let me begin.

As many of you know, one of the major things about my trip down was the time I was going to be spending with an American NGO called the Batey Relief Alliance (more on this in a later post) and members of Haiti's government - partly playing journalist (in a rather ironic twist to life, I was the photographer for the meetings), and partly taking the opportunity to see the diplomatic process in action, and learn something about a part of the world about which I know very little. But in order to get to the meetings, we first had to get to Haiti. 

Now, there are several ways to get from Santo Domingo to Haiti. You can fly, rent a car and drive yourself, or take the bus. In the name of conserving cash, we decided to take the bus. In the name of conserving what little of our sanity may, speculatively, remain, next time, we're flying. The trip from Santo Domingo to Port au Prince was about seven hours long, on an air conditioned bus, through some of the most beautiful scenery you can ever imagine.

People have long seen this island as paradise, and I can clearly see why. That being said, it's also a seven hour bus trip. The trip from Santo Domingo begins at roughly 11:00 AM (EST), and is a pretty straightforward bus trip, all things considered - they even fed us, and the food was excellent. You arrive in a suburb of Port au Prince (Petion-ville) at about 6:00 PM (CST), and then have the adventure of trying to find a cabbie. The government of Canada's travel advisories strongly suggest that travellers not use random cabbies in Haiti, but only reputable, known companies. We, however, completely ignored that advice, and picked the first cabbie who offered his services - a local named Rodrick. Here, we decidedly lucked out, as he was not only a safe cabbie with a reasonable fare, but we also found him exceptionally helpful in getting funds exchanged, giving advice on general tourist-y information as well as some commentary on the political state of the nation. He was also a thoroughly engaging conversationalist over dinner (he recommended a restaurant in Petion-ville called Coin des Artistes, and we invited him along - speaking of which, the food here is excellent, and I highly recommend dining here if you have the opportunity). Side note - for the beer drinkers amongst you - if you ever get an opportunity to try the Haitian beer Prestige, I suggest you take it. 

Haiti is a nation of great natural beauty and terrible poverty. Because of the latter fact, it tends to receive a terrible rep from world media as a tourist destination. So let me take a few minutes to go through things. First of all, Rodrick had some excellent advice. The country is perfectly safe for tourists - however know where you're going, and ideally have a local or someone familiar with the city to ensure you get where you're going. There are two reasons for this - the first is that, quite frankly, the city streets are thoroughly confusing - very windy, and very hilly. The second reason is that there is an extant risk of kidnappings in some regions. Rodrick explained that the kidnappings are no longer political in nature, but rather economic. With 70-80% of the population unemployed, some will turn to kidnapping as a means of trying to make some money. That being said, it is EXCEEDINGLY rare, and the same common sense and awareness that would be recommended in any unfamiliar location is equally recommended here, and should be sufficient to keep you safe. 

"Haiti is a destroyed country - everything has to be rebuilt." Rodrick's chilling words outline the most basic problem in the country. Decades of corruption, mismanagement, and war take time to undo. Sadly, the marks of past sins still lie heavy on Port au Prince, marring its beauty. Even so, there is hope. Through the actions of the current government, and with the assistance of numerous NGOs acting in the region, the nation is slowly but surely rebuilding, and will assuredly regain the stature that comes along with the beauty so inherent in the land itself, and in the city. There are numerous challenges ahead, but nothing that cannot be overcome. More on that next time.

... and after yesterday’s advice about not being a tourist...

I really must recant: sometimes, being a tourist can be fun - although as one who hates wearing shorts and sandals with a passion, I have a slightly easier time blending in than most tourists do - there is something to be said for wandering around a strange city seeing "the sights" with friends, a camera, and a couple bottles of water where necessary.

After spending the last post on Boca Chica beach, this post was spent wandering around Ye Olde Citye (ok, this Olde Englishe spelling of things is getting a little ridiculous now) of Santo Domingo with Alex and a friend of ours from her J-school, Julie.  After getting Julie from the bus station in the late morning, we decided to take a walk down the Conde and into the Colonial district of Santo Domingo. There are certain historical sights that are not to be missed in this region - not the least of which is Diego Columbus' house.

For the uninformed, Deigo Columbus was (we think) Christopher Columbus' son. A note of caution here, for the lack of an historical guide (offered, but declined for reasons of cost efficiency), some of the historical data posted here is the result of studious thought and discussion between Alex, Julie, and myself. This being said, daiquiris and pina coladas go very well on hot days in the tropics, so who really knows how accurate our "studious thought and discussion" actually was. Anyhow, Diego Columbus had it pretty good, all things considered - some people get a car for their sweet 16, he got a country. This as a secondary benefit to being able to respond to "my daddy's a fireman" with "yeah, well MY daddy's a conquistador". 

After seeing Columbus Jr.'s house, we went up to this nice little restaurant nearby for lunch. Another word of advice about not being a tourist - don't eat at "tourist" restaurants. The food is generally overpriced. The row of restaurants out front of Columbus' house are such a selection of restaurants. Their food was good, if overpriced. Anyhow, after lunch, we continued strolling around the city, taking in an ancient ruin of a cathedral, and noting with distinction the sheer capacity it had for housing pigeons.

It almost reminded me of Nathan Phillips Square - except that the pigeons exist for naught except for shitting on Christopher Columbus, who, having realized his mistake points eternally towards India with a look of "Oh shit!" etched permanently on his stony face. Another kilometer and another bottle of water, we came to our last destination of the afternoon's excursion - Mercado Modelo (market). This is a huge place full of little shops, selling essentially the same thing, at between 2x and 4x what it's actually worth to dumb tourists who don't know how to haggle, and at approximately what it is worth to locals, and smart tourists who do. We were, apparently somewhere in the latter group, as the only person who bought anything was Julie, who got earrings of some kind for about 1/5 of their tag price. 

So no trip to Latin America would be complete without a couple of random guys playing classical guitar and singing to you over dinner on a windy terrace - at least if the movies are to be believed. Little did we know, the movies were actually telling the truth about that one. After our afternoon's exploration, we decided to visit this neat little pizza joint on the Conde called Segafredo. As a side note, I will happily recommend this place to anyone who is curious - doubly so with Monday night happy hour. The food was excellent, reasonably priced, and even entertainment in the form of two random guys playing classical guitar and singing in Spanish over dinner on a windy patio. We even had a mangy (but very, very cute) stray dog lying at our feet listening whimsically to the music along with us. Actually, the music was beautiful, and suited the ambience quite nicely as well. To top this off, we created a new drinking game. Short version: take turns reading something aloud - we used the drinks menu for a certain sense of irony - but use only long vowel sounds (ie: "Vodka Martini" becomes Vohdkeh Mehrteyeneye, and "Strawberry Daiquiri" becomes something utterly and completely unpronounceable). Whenever someone screws up, they take a drink.

"Oh shit" list for visiting the Dominican Republic:

1) Oh shit, this isn't India.

2) (looking up in the sky at pigeons) - Oh shit.

3) Oh shit, I hijacked a public car.

4) Oh shit, I'm a tostone. (never mind)

5) Oh shit. I haven't got 4 grand to spend on anything never mind dinner. Oh. Wait. That's in pesos.

Notes on being a tourist in Santo Domingo:

Calle el Conde - a kilometer-long street just outside the Colonial District full of merchants, restaurants, and the like. There are great bargains to be had here for the enterprising tourist; however, just for the record, the $33 (USD) Rolex watches are counterfeit.

Current exchange rates from American to Dominican currency: $1 USD = 33 Pesos. There are a lot of people who will change your money. Know what the current exchange rate is before going into the street and using this particular service.

Public cars are the local equivalent of public transportation - a combination of all the worst qualities of a taxi, a bus, and the TTC subway during rush hour, in your friends 1984 Toyota Corolla. The good news is that they're exceptionally cheap (12 Pesos), and relatively efficient.

There is also a small Chinatown in downtown Santo Domingo. This small region serves no noticeably useful purpose, but does serve as a nod to the ever-expanding Asian population here.

If you've managed to lose your towel in the crowd, you can purchase attractive counterfeit wrap skirts roughly half-way down the Conde on a side that isn't east.* While not the same as a towel, it can, for the purposes of most sensible hitchhikers, serve many of the same functions as one, and looks very nice if you are/are traveling with an attractive female companion. If you are lacking an attractive female companion, I would recommend not engaging in the services of those available for hire in this particular city.

*I can't actually tell you what side of the Conde the above store is on, unfortunately, Alex is directionally challenged. Fortunately, you will probably be able to find a counterfeit compass for $5(USD) to go along with your equally counterfeit Rolex, and counterfeit wrap skirt for yourself or your (hopefully not counterfeit) attractive female companion mentioned above. You can assuredly take that whatever direction the needle on the fake compass points is non-North.

Thus ends the lesson. By this time next post, I'll be in Haiti. I'll put up pictures whenever I have internet access that's fast enough to upload them. Cheers.

Santo Domingo in two days - how to avoid being an obvious tourist in 5 easy steps.

Step number one: don't be white. Yes, I mean that if you are white, you will be assumed to be a tourist. This is one area that I can't really change except by getting a tan - more on that later.

Step number two: don't wear shorts unless you're on the beach. I have yet to see a local here wear shorts except on the beach, and if you're caught in public anywhere except a beach in shorts or sandals, you're a tourist.

Step number three: Oh, fuck it. The rest is pretty straightforward - all summed up in not asking stupid questions, and not acting like Americans.

To be fair, there are certain advantages to acting like a tourist - namely, when locals ask you for money for no obviously acceptable reason, "no habla Espanol" is a perfectly acceptable response.


On the flip side, not attracting the "hey look, it's a tourist" sort of attention is definitely not a bad thing.

Other interesting things - spent yesterday at the Boca Chica beach, outside Santo Domingo. Fairly stereotypical Caribbean beach - lots of people, hotels, salesmen, etc. That being said, we also had our own, personal bus-boy, beach chairs, etc. We also managed to rent a peddle-boat, and headed out to some off-shore mangrove groves, and did some snorkeling. Saw some fish - some even colourful - lots of wildlife, and a random local acting as the "flagman" on one of the other peddle-boats. Note to self - random guys wandering with their dicks hanging out is equally disturbing when abroad as it is at home.

One Night in New York

This is probably the only time I'm going to complain about the plane taking off on time. First leg of the flight goes Buffalo, NY to JFK, leaves at 5:00 PM, and gets in at whatever time it's supposed to. I get to Buffalo - my flight is cancelled, and the one they put me on is delayed until 6:45 PM. Alright, that's cool. I go to the bar near my gate around 5:00 to get some food and drink - fuel for my trip - sit down, and just as the waitress leaves with my order, for some reason, they called my flight. No dinner yet. Fortunately, it's a relatively short hop to JFK, and there are lots of options once I get there.

So you have one evening in New York City - what do you do? Obviously, something entertaining, and something involving dinner. So, when I got offered a ticket to The Laugh Factory (of Comedy Network fame) for ten bucks, I figured I'd go with it. Lesson learned - anyplace that has a two-drink minimum, generally charges far more than would normally be reasonable for drinks. Fortunately, the food was excellent, and the comedy was quite funny. I also saw Times Square, and the Virgin Records store. Sadly, as I don't own a digital camera, I was unable to take any photos. Back at JFK, I learned one other important thing - when you're storing baggage - make sure that you store said bags someplace with 24 hour service. However, everything worked out alright, as I got off the ground on time, and hit the ground in Santo Domingo as expected. Sadly, Alex is sick, so the trip into Haiti will be being postponed by a couple of days to give her time to recover. Also, for anyone visiting Santo Domingo, the Vesuvio Tiradentes - somewhere downtown - was absolutely excellent

It was a dark, and stormy night...

in Saint John town. No one noticed. The odd dog barked. Actually, it was a damp, and foggy afternoon in Saint John town. Plane's couldn't land (and therefore, couldn't take off). Everyone noticed. The odd dog still barked. Thus began the first leg of my journey to warmer climes - and with it the concept of why running any kind of air-based transportation out of Saint John is a rather bad idea. Ideally, the airport authority should hire someone to continually perform sun-dances out near the main windsock, to counteract the city's naturally bad weather. The dog, it turned out, was a pug puppy, and was very odd indeed.

Bus to Saint John airport. Another bus to Moncton airport, and a quick flight to Toronto, albeit a few hours later than originally anticipated, and the first leg of my journey was complete. Stage next - New York City.

By way of introduction

So for the most part, this is going to be a somewhat political travel-blog. I spend a lot of time on the road - enough of it so that the road is sometimes more home than home itself is. On Wednesday, I leave for yet another adventure - a three week gig in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Any really good stories I find, will be here. Hopefully you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed living them out. Cheers.