Friday, August 1, 2008

to market, to market

Over the next couple days I'll try to get the posts posted that the ailing internet connection kept me from posting my last week in Haiti. On Sat, July 19 I accompanied Michael, Kaydence and their friend Jack to the market in Petionville, where they live. The market is open every day, and you can buy just about everything there (as you'll see in the photos!). The Broyles sometimes shop at the market and sometimes shop at Caribbean, a supermarket-style store in town where you can buy just about any of the major foodstuffs you can get in the U.S. except that they're more expensive in Haiti.

This market building is fairly new and much bigger than the old market. People had spilled out of the old market to fill the street around it with wares. Now police patrol the area periodically to keep people from setting up along/on the street. In other parts of Petionville/Port-au-Prince, it seems to be okay for people to sell things along the sidewalks.


Looking down into the market.



As in Ghana, people carried lots of things on their heads in Haiti. I still haven't perfected the technique yet, but it's on my list of things to do in life.




Michael negotiating prices with the merchant lady. Kaydence and Jack.











Houses outside at the edge of the market.

Those black spots are flies (there were lots of flies around). Yum! ;-)

This was where we got our meat for supper. Michael said he told the butcher guy he need a pound, and the guy cut off a piece of meat and had pretty much exactly the right amount when he weighed it on the scale behind him. That guy has apparently cut off a few pieces of meat in his life. There was something close to a whole cow laying there around him.








These are voodoo dolls and some of the powders used in voodoo ceremonies. Apparently after we walked by, the lady running this stall said, in Creole of course, something to the effect of, "Those are the people who've run the evil spirits out of Haiti." Cool.


Back at the car parked across the street from the market.