Now, they say, I am Haitian

    My scooter is in the shop again (for the 3rd or 4th time) so, to get around, I have been taking Tap-Taps. A Tap-Tap is a converted pickup truck with wooden bench seats and a metal or fiberglass roof. You flag one down, pointing in the direction you want to go or are urged to use one by the "barker" that tells you where his particular Tap-Tap is going.      It is a very cheap way to travel, hence they are also very crowded. The saying is "How many people can you fit on a Tap-Tap?.... Just one more." So they are not comfortable. The trip from my home in Petionville to the Orphanage near the Airport takes 3 Tap-Taps and costs 45 Haitian Gourde (about $1) roundtrip. 

They really aren't that uncomfortable depending on the size of the people that try to squeeze in. I usually try to get the seat on the outside back, partly because it is open to the air and I can see a lot. I am probably the only one who experiences a Tap-Tap like a tour bus. I also sometimes hang out on the back, rather like I liked to do on Cable Cars in San Francisco. 

     The great thing for me about this (apart from it being cheap) is that I am surrounded by Haitians. I have never seen another "blan" on my rides. I hear the other passengers speaking (understanding some of it - more perhaps then the other riders think) and it helps me learn my Kreyol. I get some curious looks, and hardly anyone speaks to me - but they don't speak much to each other either, they are mostly on their cellphones. 

     It can be very hot inside, especially when the Tap-Tap is stuck in traffic, which is most of the time riding up Rue de Delmas, one of the main roads from Downtown Port au Prince to Petionville. But, when we are moving, there is a breeze through the windows and the decorative cuttings in the metal, and the breeze gets cooler as we ascend the maybe 1000 ft of elevation to Petionville.

    This is how most Haitians travel, so now I feel more like one of them.

I'm becoming REALLY Haitian

     The Chikungunya Virus has hit Haiti pretty hard. Originally from China (hence the strange name which first sounded to me to be something about chickens) is spread by mosquitoes. The official count, last I checked, seemed somewhat low because virtually everyone I knew has it or has had it. It begins with high fever and very painful aching in all the joints, especially hands and feet. The fever often lasts a week and the pain can last a lot longer. It is rarely fatal but can be for the elderly, the very young, and those who are already frail.

    Well, not to be left out, I contracted the fever Wednesday, despite copious, if not regular, applications of insect repellent. After one of my trips down to the orphanage on a Tap-Tap, I started to feel feverish. I had already had some pains in my right wrist (where I have some arthritis anyway) and my lower back (which I chalked up to the bad mattress I sleep on.) But as the fever grew (spiking at 101.5) and with an increasing amount of pain in my hands and all my joints (it seemed), I knew what was happening. 

    There is no cure for this virus, only symptom relief which means acetaminophen or ibuprofen or, the drug of choice here, paracetamol. And lots of water. The fever can last a week, mine lasted only 2 days. The pain can last a lot longer - up to a year. In my case, most of the pain subsided today with the fever. 

    So, now I have more of the Haitian Experience - the worst form of public transportation and the Haitian Virus du jour. And I already am a big fan of "Diri e sos pwa" (rice in bean sauce). So now, they say, I am Haitian! 

    The Adventure continues.