[ Excerpt from the travel journal. Cross-posted to *Urban Tongue. ]


17 Mai 2009


For all my complaints about bitchy family members and mosquitos of the previous evening, today's excursion to Kaliko Beach definitely made up for it. We had friends over, like Sergeant Fischer (our liaison to the US Embassy) and Viktoria, a spunky young blonde woman from Austria who reminds me of what I may be like in my forties. She somehow managed to catch on that I spoke German rather well, and so I rode with her and her son (my brother was there too) on the hour an a half journey through the mountains to the coast, chatting auf Deutsch about where we've been and where we'd like to go.

So once again, the language barrier was broken.

When we got to the beach, I admit I was initially unimpressed, as the place was heavily sequestered from the locals by a natural jungle. This is where the bourgeois Haitians go to relax, and so I was apprehensive at first, but when I saw the cove, I fell in love. Our spot was strategically positioned under the coconut trees, and the water was only a hop, skip, and a jump away. I immediately stripped down to dive in, keeping a vigilant eye out for sea urchins...and sharp rocks. The water was clear, though, so you could see everything.

I took pictures, which are posted both in MySpace and Facebook albums respectively. On the plus side, I had this great dish they call lambi which is essentially just the meat from the conch shells, seasoned and grilled. And we got to go out in the boat and watch them catch the stuff so the food was extra fresh. Doubtless my stomach will be paying for it for the next two weeks. My mother and Fischer didn't like it, but Viktoria and I loved the stuff, and that, coupled with rumsauer, it made for a good snack until lunchtime.

After that, I pretty much set up my chair in the surf and slept while waves washed over me up to my waist. Then I went to doxe under the coconut tree. It was a good day, so I have to say Haiti isn't as bad as people make it out to be. xD