Outings

With the vets in town, there’s finally been enough people around to justify putting together some entertainment. After three weeks as the lone guest of the rectory, I was surely ready for it.

            Last Saturday, Father Gaby piled us all into his old pickup and took us to the beach. “Piled” is exactly the right word—there were 5 people in cab with Father Gaby, and 7 of us crammed in the truck bed with a cooler and a spare tire. It was not a particularly comfortable ride, but the manpower came in handy when we forded (or Toyota-ed, I guess) a small river and couldn’t quite make it up the bank on the opposite side.

            The beach we went to was about an hour drive north of the rectory. We pulled up to a small beach club, a cluster of empty buildings along a crumbly concrete promenade on the water. No one else was there—the place is in a town too small to attract any tourists, and despite living on a tropical island, Haitians are not big beach-goers.

            To us, though, it was awesome. The water was perfect, and an attendant found us some beach chairs to set out under the palm trees on the promenade. Late in the afternoon, the owner of the place, a friend of Father Gaby’s, made us fish and fried plantains for lunch. Just about everyone got sunburned, but it was generally regarded as worth it.

            The next day, we checked out a very popular form of local entertainment—primary school soccer matches. We saw the championship game between Holy Cross, a nun-run school around the corner from the rectory, and another local primary school.

            This game was clearly a big deal. There were hundreds of people there to watch, crowding thickly around every inch of the field. The field is located about midway between the two schools, and both sides were equally well supported. Before the game, there was a performance by a marching band and a dance squad, (both making up in enthusiasm what they lacked in precision). A famous announcer had come down to do the commentary, and there were all kinds of speeches and recognitions before the game began. It was weird and delightful to see all this pomp and circumstance for teams of 6^th graders. Youth soccer must be the high school football of Haiti.

            Eventually the game began. We could see pretty well over the crowd from our perch in Father Gaby’s truck, but despite the excited atmosphere I could not really get into the game. I spent most of the time watching what was going on in the crowd---Women setting up stands to sell bits of fritay, or walking through the sidelines selling lollipops and bottles of liquor from the same basket. Guys in their twenties arriving 3 at a time on the backs of motorcycles. Teenage girls standing with their arms around each other, surveying the scene imperiously. Young people dressed to the nines, guys and girls both, ready to flirt. Kids everywhere, sucking on sweets, playing with hula hoops, and shouting and laughing at the blans in the truck.

            In the end, the hometown team did not do so well, though I admit to losing track of the final score. The winning team had a massive on-field celebration, but the trickle of fans leading back in the direction of Holy Cross was noticeably subdued. Still, it was nice to see such a strong showing of community support, and I bet playing in that game has been the highlight of those kids’ young lives.