Downtown
Looking down at the busy street, it’s so crowded and loud, people running up and down like wild animals I could only smile thinking how incredible it all looks. Its about ten o’clock and they are all going nuts, men women and children walking rapidly to their daily activities time’s wasting they can’t avoid to waste the day. On the street corner, two frumpy women with their long dusty skirts, one with a rather large straw hat and the other with a very bright red bandana tightly wrapped around her head; were sitting with their products laid out for people to buy. They were selling all kinds of interesting things such as delicious Haitian fruits like fresh mangos and tangerines, all kind of snacks like chocolate, saltines, hard candies and peanuts, large pots, pans and other kitchen utensils, nail polishes, lip sticks, soap, shampoo and even condoms; all their merchandise nicely displayed on the sidewalk while the two peasant merchant women loudly advertised them by screaming and shoving the goods in people’s faces. There was also a scrawny looking man standing on this corner; he was wearing brown wools pants, a long sleeve button down cotton shirt, with dark sunglasses and a white handkerchief in his head that he used to wipe his forehead since he was sweating percussively. The poor guy was burning up in that heat but he stood there next to a big radio with three full-size speakers blasting some “Djakout Mizik” for the whole world to hear, he was a salesman, and his product of choice was music, he would play songs all day for his customers from gospel, to rap, to hip hop, to jazz, to “compa” he had just about everything to satisfy everyone. He had all types of different tapes laid out on a wooden table with used speakers and cell phones, tape recorders, cell phone cases and battery chargers so the people walking by could take a look and purchase his products from what you could call an electronic store. As I keep watching I notice a little boy; who you think is probably on his way to school, but he actually wasn’t this little guy was walking along with a small box under one arm and ringing a tiny bell with one hand. One man called him over and from what I could see; the kid ran right up to the man, sat there flat on the fitly ground and opened his precious box. He grabbed a lot of stuff out of it and placed them next to him, he placed the man’s foot on top of the crate and started wiping it a dirty piece of cloth, he then took his brush and his polishes and began to clean the man’s shoes vigorously as if he was trying to turn a dull old rock into a sparkling diamond. When the little kid finished the job and the shoes were glowing, the man tossed a couple of coins at him and went on his way, the boy swiftly picked up the money dumped all his gear back into the box got on his feet, and began walking and ringing his bell again.
In the street there was only chaos, no order, no rules at all; cars were practically crashing into one another. I guess you could say that since the sidewalk was mostly used for personal business that people used the street to walk which was dangerous thing to watch. With no signs or lights to control the situation, the crazy drivers would attempt to go from one destination to another. I mostly noticed a lot of “tap taps” which are pickup trucks that have two wooden benches in the roofed back so that passengers could be seated and used as a taxi. People were just pilled up into them like sardines, but those taxis were painted with such bright colors that they reminded me of big clown cars taking passengers all over the place. They would stop in the middle of the street to drop people off and this would cause a great deal of traffic and more commotion, because while the driver was collecting money from the passengers. Other drivers pissed off for waiting like that the middle of the danm street would honk their horns violently and curse loudly in the middle of the street.
The downtown streets are always packed with action, people say that every day is a new experience and a new challenge; well in the streets of Haiti one could seriously say that every minute, well not even, every second is priceless. It's a conquest where each person has to stand for his or her self in order to make it another day.
Looking down at the busy street, it’s so crowded and loud, people running up and down like wild animals I could only smile thinking how incredible it all looks. Its about ten o’clock and they are all going nuts, men women and children walking rapidly to their daily activities time’s wasting they can’t avoid to waste the day. On the street corner, two frumpy women with their long dusty skirts, one with a rather large straw hat and the other with a very bright red bandana tightly wrapped around her head; were sitting with their products laid out for people to buy. They were selling all kinds of interesting things such as delicious Haitian fruits like fresh mangos and tangerines, all kind of snacks like chocolate, saltines, hard candies and peanuts, large pots, pans and other kitchen utensils, nail polishes, lip sticks, soap, shampoo and even condoms; all their merchandise nicely displayed on the sidewalk while the two peasant merchant women loudly advertised them by screaming and shoving the goods in people’s faces. There was also a scrawny looking man standing on this corner; he was wearing brown wools pants, a long sleeve button down cotton shirt, with dark sunglasses and a white handkerchief in his head that he used to wipe his forehead since he was sweating percussively. The poor guy was burning up in that heat but he stood there next to a big radio with three full-size speakers blasting some “Djakout Mizik” for the whole world to hear, he was a salesman, and his product of choice was music, he would play songs all day for his customers from gospel, to rap, to hip hop, to jazz, to “compa” he had just about everything to satisfy everyone. He had all types of different tapes laid out on a wooden table with used speakers and cell phones, tape recorders, cell phone cases and battery chargers so the people walking by could take a look and purchase his products from what you could call an electronic store. As I keep watching I notice a little boy; who you think is probably on his way to school, but he actually wasn’t this little guy was walking along with a small box under one arm and ringing a tiny bell with one hand. One man called him over and from what I could see; the kid ran right up to the man, sat there flat on the fitly ground and opened his precious box. He grabbed a lot of stuff out of it and placed them next to him, he placed the man’s foot on top of the crate and started wiping it a dirty piece of cloth, he then took his brush and his polishes and began to clean the man’s shoes vigorously as if he was trying to turn a dull old rock into a sparkling diamond. When the little kid finished the job and the shoes were glowing, the man tossed a couple of coins at him and went on his way, the boy swiftly picked up the money dumped all his gear back into the box got on his feet, and began walking and ringing his bell again.
In the street there was only chaos, no order, no rules at all; cars were practically crashing into one another. I guess you could say that since the sidewalk was mostly used for personal business that people used the street to walk which was dangerous thing to watch. With no signs or lights to control the situation, the crazy drivers would attempt to go from one destination to another. I mostly noticed a lot of “tap taps” which are pickup trucks that have two wooden benches in the roofed back so that passengers could be seated and used as a taxi. People were just pilled up into them like sardines, but those taxis were painted with such bright colors that they reminded me of big clown cars taking passengers all over the place. They would stop in the middle of the street to drop people off and this would cause a great deal of traffic and more commotion, because while the driver was collecting money from the passengers. Other drivers pissed off for waiting like that the middle of the danm street would honk their horns violently and curse loudly in the middle of the street.
The downtown streets are always packed with action, people say that every day is a new experience and a new challenge; well in the streets of Haiti one could seriously say that every minute, well not even, every second is priceless. It's a conquest where each person has to stand for his or her self in order to make it another day.
Short story by Fabiola Sperduto
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