Port au Prince Dec 20th.Moshe

Another three show day. Quite a strong day. Experiencing the intensities of Port-au-Prince through the air-conditioned windows of the Unicef Land Rover is definitely a voyeuristic experience. One can barely believe let along describe the experience, the density of humanity on the streets, the constant activity, and the chaos of the traffic. People are selling everything and everywhere’s on the side of the street. There is trash everywhere, piles of it on street corners. Some streets are paved, some are not. There are sudden unexplained breaks and dips in the road that cause all vehicles to slow to a crawl, to twist sideways to navigate past mounds of trash. Broken down vehicles in the middle of the street being repaired right there. If there are traffic laws, it is unclear if they are ever followed. We were caught in a crawling traffic jam on the main 4 lane road that curves around the port. I glance across the concrete barrier to see a line of cars traveling in our direction, they have just taken over one of the opposing lanes. Cars then meet head on and somehow navigate around each other. Other cars hump the sidewalk to create another line of traffic. Pedestrians are constantly darting in and out of the gigantic mess. One of the traffic jams is caused because one of the lanes has been shut down by a huge mound of trash that has been dumped on a street corner, for who knows how long. Of course, car horns are constantly pumping up the cacaphony. These words don’t even start to do the scene justice. Unfortunately the security norms don’t allow me to roll down the window to photograph, but it is perhaps better this way.

The shows are again Christmas celebrations that have gathered the kids together. The first show this morning was at the Gheskio clinic, a large hospital setup that was quite full of people, waiting rooms full of folks, hallways full of people. Of the children I performed for, some 100, plus numerous parents, 1/3 were Aids patients, the rest were in situations of domestic servitude. Like most of the places I am performing this week, the clinic is a partner with Unicef’s child protection services, and today is a very special day. Some of the kids are dressed in their Sunday best. I perform on a shaded lawn that has been decorated with clusters of balloons. The children have a great time, there is plenty of laughter. The doctors and attendants are just as thrilled to see the children so happy. After the show, I pull out my bubble bear to blow bubbles for them. They have never seen bubbles, and any mystification is quickly overcome by the desire to pop them. As there are some mothers with infants on their laps, I don’t let the situation get out of hand, instead offering them an opportunity to blow bubbles. I only get submerged by the kids, until a doctor comes in and helps to organize the scene.

The second show is at a hospital way out on the outskirts of Haiti, in what seems no man’s land, there is really little built around there. Except for this huge huge building complex, which is the new American embassy.  I can’t really figure out why they are building it, since there is already a huge building down by the port…

The third show is at the Foyer Maurice Sixto where I arrive a good hour late due to the traffic jam. It is in the Carrefour area which is quite a dense neighborhood and quite large.  When I walk onto the stage, I am amazed by all the screaming.  The audience is mostly adolescent girls and they treat me like the Beatles at Shea stadium, some 250 of them all in Blue uniforms.  Needless to say, it is a great show full of laughter, and screaming, and applause. wonder of wonders.  Photos to follow but it is dinner time, so I must sign off…Tim will be writing hopefully later this evening, and I will go through my photos and try to post some.  A bientot….