Seatbelt not recommended

Strangely enough, almost ever time I reach down to put on my seat belt my driver willem says “no, no seat belt” like it’s going to kill me or something. So I have obliged his request to not wear a seat belt, though I don’t understand it. “In Haiti, no” he says, even though I’ve already almost gotten killed twice. Also, I went on a realtor meeting with a guy who has lived between Haiti, France, and NYC, USA his whole life and he also said “you really don’t need to put your seatbelt on here”. This is quite a difference from Gambia, where there is a seat belt requirement, and there are roadblocks everywhere so that police can catch you and make you pay money. Here, the roads are windy, sometimes steep and otherwise absolutely horrible, you can’t get around unless you have a SUV of some type. They drive like maniacs here, too. No stop lights anywhere. No stop signs, or none that are actually taken seriously anyways. They are always passing each other, like who can drive faster on a street that’s going to ruin your car if you do. I held my breath as we climbed up the mountains today so that I could go check it out, especially when passing cars around a windy bend where you couldn’t see if someone was coming on the other side, while he’s on his cell phone. In general, my driver is alright. If I give him an inch, he takes a mile so I’m trying to be careful about that. And often I’ll go in a place and come out to the car and I have absolutely no idea where he is. Then he’ll show up from somewhere across the street like 2 minutes later. He’s always pointing to people and saying “my friend”. This is a very small city.

The “my… endless love” song which is sang by a man and a woman in English is very, very popular here – it plays over and over in my driver’s car and at the hotel. I’m not sure why, it must be from the 80’s. I don’t remember who it’s by, unfortunately. But, I do find it very bizarre. I think that Jamaican music/island music suits this place very well. If it wasn’t so poor, it certainly would feel like a vacation destination for me.

Doing all this traveling really make me realize how unique the USA is as a nation. Our need for each individual person to find their own way and be different really creates a system of promotion and growth, which is not seen in most of the countries. I have a bit of an admiration for it, and even for my own desire to be different. If only everyone was like this, and competition/being unique was actually desired everywhere – the world might be a much better place.
I like Haitian food. I especially like Haitian food because it tastes a bit like Mrs. Salas’ cooking (though in reality, that can’t really be topped) – but it’s the salad with the simple vinegrette which is really good, with fish, and special rice, and of course, plantains – yum yum. Busy day tomorrow, time for bed. Goodnight!