Day 6

Things were a little slow getting going this morning. There was nothing planned except to continue the picnic table and shower projects. I headed out between 9 and 930 with G and Mark to find the proper police station and hopefully get a police report for the lost passport. It took nearly thirty minutes to get to it. Parked out front were three water tender/pumper fire engines and one rough looking ladder truck. It turns out these are the only fire protection vehicles for the entire city of 3.5 million people. G told the front guard what we needed who then pointed to a room win a line of people outside and a female in a uniform writing police reports sitting on one of those old chair/desks from school. Inside the room the walls were lined with benches that we're nearly full of people. It didn't look very promising. We sat in the corner of the room next to a pathway that led to a room filled with trash and smelling of urine. We waited for about ten minutes until G informed us hat his cousin did indeed work at this very same station. He made a few phone calls and tolls he'd be right back, then disappeared. Five minutes later he came back and motioned for us to follow him. He led us through a courtyard filled with cars, up some stairs to another waiting room that actually had air conditioning! We waited here for 15 minutes because his cousin was busy. Finally our turn arrived. We walk into the office consisting of a desk with two chairs in front, another desk with a large tv on top on the side of he room next to a file cabinet and chair. The officers desk had a laptop on he side, two cell phones and a small stack of papers in the middle and a larger stack of papers on the other side topped by two Bibles and a clip full of ammo. Along the front of his desk were typical desktop items besides the neatly lined up row of ammo in defending order. I set up this scene because it has been one of the best so far. Thankfully he spoke English and I explained to him the situation and what I needed. He obliged and made a phone call. While we were waiting he continued his work making various phone calls and filling out paperwork all the while refreshing his facebook page every 60 seconds. He must have been important because he had a lot of visitors. When someone would knock he wouldn't look up but ring a bell and they would enter and state their business. Long story short another man came in a.d filled out the report with no problem and we were on our way. On the way back we stopped at a photo studio to get my passport photos. It was located in the same kind of dilapidated concrete block building as the rest of Haiti but what lay in the back was truly amazing. After paying 200gdes or 5 bucks the photographer took me to the back where their studio was. What took place next was Uncle Ricos photo session from Napolian Dynamite. Walking into the studio was no different than your typical mall picture place just a little more run down. Here were various backgrounds, toys for the kids and props. The photographer hung a semiclean whit sheet up for a background and placed a nice white Romanesque bench there for me to sit on. Before sitting he offered me a vest to wear because I just had a plain t shirt on. I declined because it was just a head shot and took a seat. He came up to me folded my hands across my lap and put his hands on either side of my face and tilted my head just where he wanted it. He snapped a few shots making sure to use the big umbrella flash behind him. We walked out he printed the photos and we left for home. This is way too long and I'm tired so i'll finish later.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7