Quite a Day

I am officially 100% Haitian now. I received money from the sponsorship program I started last month. I decided to use some of it to buy clothes for a few of the kids. I figured if I buy for a few of them every month then eventually everyone will get something. I went to the Market in Ti Goave with Kenzy who, by the way, doesn't speak English at all. The Market is outside. It looks like a giant flee market. You can find just about anything you want there but I have never been able to go. When they see me they automatically think I'm rich because I'm American and the prices always go up, but yesterday I was determined! I picked out a stack of clothes and asked the Haitian woman, in Creole, what she wanted for them. She said 800 goudes. I said, in Creole, all I have is 500 goudes. Do you wan it or not? She said she did. Ha! I payed about $12 for everything. Please don't be alarmed by that. I wasn't trying to rip the lady off. After living here for a while and watching how things work I realized that they throw a high price at you expecting you to come back with a lower one. However, most Americans that come don't get that concept or they can't speak Creole and the Haitians take advantage of that. I mean I don't blame them. If an American is willing to pay twice as much for something why shouldn't a Haitian be willing to take it? But this American's budget is a little smaller then most Americans. Plus, this American has 70 children that she's responsible for. That's a lot of clothes to buy!
I was so excited about my purchases on the drive home. I kept telling Kenzy that I was Haitian now. We were laughing as we rode the motorcycle home until the engine started to sputter and then completely stopped. I said," Umm Kenzy, Eske ou te mete gaz nan moto a?" (Did you put gas in the motorcycle?) He just smiled. "Crap" I said. We had to call someone to get gas and bring it to us. We were stuck there for over an hour. I kept telling him he was fired but he just laughed.
Finally we made it home. I sorted through all the clothes and decided which kid was in the most need. They all need clothes, but some more then others. We got back on the motorcycle and headed towards the land. We drove onto the main road when all of a sudden Kenzy slammed on his breaks. I looked over his shoulder and could see a huge bus blocking the road about a mile away. They were rioting again. This has been going on for the past week. Apparently they are angry at the mayor. There is UN officers everywhere but they don't seem to be doing much good. Haitian men are stealing buses and blocking off the roads with them. Then they are setting them on fire! They will throw rocks at anyone that tries to pass. All this was happening right beside our land. Needless to say I couldn't deliver anything to my kids. We had to turn around and go back home. Hopefully today I can get over there to make sure everyone is okay.
It was quite a day yesterday. There is never a dull moment working in this country. I don't know how I could ever go back to "normal" after this.