Cap-Haitien Tour, Bargaining, and the Twelfth

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Today we went on a tour of downtown Cap-Hatien. Amy, Wadner, Laura, Evan, and I drove over to Enoch's house and walked around the city from there. Enoch is a Haitian ergonomist who deals with agriculture and works with an organization called Hope Seed. He plays piano at the English Bible Fellowship on Sundays. He was our tour guide for the day.

First we went to the city square (see it on Google Maps), which is between the Notre Dame Cathedral and the city hall. We went inside the cathedral and looked around for a bit. Then we visited a few private catholic schools. I guess it's no surprise that schools and buildings funded by the richest church in the world are the prettiest attractions in this city.

We also visited the Justinian Hospital (Google Maps), which is the biggest hospital in Cap-Haitien and the one we usually send patients to in case of emergencies. At hospitals in Haiti, patients have to pay for every single equipment that is used for them, even gloves. With the food crisis, less and less people can afford healthcare, and more and more people are becoming sicker. Just when you thought the US healthcare system was bad...

After that, we walked through the Iron Market, which is probably the biggest market in Cap-Haitien. If you look up Cap-Haitien on Google Earth (or Google Maps), you will see a big brown square the size of 4 blocks put together. It was so crowded, smelly, and dirty that we were busy just trying to get through, so we couldn't see much of it when we were inside. Watch out for pickpockets!

Then we went to the Boat Market (Google Maps), where you will find a number of tourists. There is one long row of shops that sell paintings, sculptures, jewelries, dresses, and all sorts of souvenir items. I wanted to buy some paintings, so I went scouting down the entire row, then went back to the shops that had ones that I liked.

As usual, I had to bargain like no other. The first seller offered me three paintings for 3000 gourds ($80), but I bargained it down to 1100grds ($30). I probably could have got them for less, but at least it was quick. The second seller offered three paintings for $300US(!), claiming that one of the pieces was done by a famous painter, which is total bull crap, but I didn't want to offend him by calling him a liar (not good for bargaining) After a long negotiation he offered them for 2000gds ($53), but I only had 1600gds ($42), so he just took that. I probably could have paid less if I had been carrying less money... Bargaining takes so much energy out of you.

Then we walked over to La Kay restaurant (where we ate yesterday) and had lunch. I got chicken spaghetti this time, but it was very salty... I still ate it though. I should have gotten cheeseburger again.

In the afternoon, Amy, Evan, Laura, and I went over to Gavin's house to celebrate the Twelfth of July (an Irish tradition). We tossed around a rugby ball for a while, then ate food prepared by Gavin. For dessert we had caramel ice cream, which was probably the best ice cream I've ever had in Haiti.