Market Day

Today I was roused out of a deep sleep because today is market day. On Wednesday and Saturday an open air market is held in Vialet, a small community about 4 miles from our home. Madame Jordanny leaves early in the morning on a tap-tap to do the shopping for the home and I had to get up to give her the funds she will need. Our market is not like the big supermarkets you are used to in the States. You will not see a frozen foods department, no meats and poultry section for the cows, goats, and chickens are alive. They kill a cow at the beginning of the day and chop up the carcass with a machete. The chunks of meat are then spread out on a table and remain there until they are sold. The hot tropical sun, the flies, and the dust work their magic on it but it doesn’t seem to change anything. By the end of the day it is all gone. It never ceases to amaze me that meat bought by these people on Saturday and not cooked until Sunday has not spoiled since they have no way of keeping it cold. They have their means though and nothing goes to waste. So when you are pushing your shopping basket down the isles of Piggly Wiggly you can remember us here in Haiti. Oh, by the way, pick up a half gallon of good ice cream and enjoy it. As for me I haven’t seen ice cream for the past 2 ½ years but I assume it still exists.