This morning as I was fighting desperately to stay in bed, a strange breeze came through the room...a warm, sweet breeze. I thought of those mornings waking up in Petionville, looking at the coconuts that had fallen to the ground in the yard after the evening rain - and power outage(s), watching Rosalind cook up an evening meal for her family as she tried to convince me that I must meet her handsome son, walking to the corner grocery store by Dad's office, alone, just so I could try my mangled french/kreyol and talk with people...I thought of that day I went for a drive with Dad and a few Mexicans to visit a cell tower and the tire went in the middle of nowhere so we hung out in 40 degree weather chatting and changing the tire...and the day Marie needed to run some errands, and she knew how badly I wanted to go to the market in Port-au-Prince for some bandanas...so we detoured and she took me...Eric zoomed through the heavy traffic flow like a pro...tap tap after tap tap...I read the painted trucks with religious fervor as Marie told me stories of how no one would dare mess with her on a tap tap or they'd regret it...and that's the damn truth!
I then thought of that one friday I was headed to a beach outside of Port-au-Prince with a friend, whose status on the island I was unaware of, that is... until the police pulled us over for no real reason and then checked the registration on the large gun that was offered up from beneath the driver's seat. "Protection"...It was election time...not a good day for traveling...the police warned us to come back to town before dark...or at least that was the translation I was given. Along the shore we ate salted green mango that we'd picked up at a local stand on the way...and then of course my mind traveled to that night I went out with the son and daughter of my Dad's boss...big mistake...HUGE...not only did we wind up at the Crystal Palace where, yes, they were playing merengue and salsa, but everyone neglected to tell me that it was the local watering hole for the prostitutes/scummy men looking for prostitutes, NO...I figured that out ALL on my own as I entered into conversation with a lovely Dominican girl whose Dominican pimp asked me how much it would cost him to HAVE ME FOR THE NIGHT...I ordered another drink and promptly left the bar area without so much as an Adios...
I have so many other memories...but these are the ones that came reeling through my mind this morning as that breeze passed through the room. I'm sure I smiled and maybe even laughed before I got up and started the day.