Walking through the shadow.

This morning Gwenn and I got to spend some 'girl' time together. First we dropped off the kids at school and went to visit at Pye's house. We pulled out of the Pye's driveway and I looked at the clock on the dash.Yes, it really was only 7:30 in the morning and we had already been visiting. We went to the store for a few groceries, went to team housing to buy vanilla and coffee, picked up the kids from school and returned home. By this time it was 9:30! (it was exam week so the kids got out early) It felt like the day was long underway and it was only 9:30. What a time warp Haiti is. Like who would ever go visiting at 7:30 in the morning???
After dropping off the kids Gwenn and I became tourists. First stop the cemetrey in Jacmel. Yes, the cemetery.It's a family thing. When I was a little girl we would pack pinic lunches and spead our blankets out at the cemetery and have a nice quiet lunch. Afterward we would walk around and read the epitaphs.It was in no way disrespectful. We would wonder about these people's lives and familiers and deaths. Seeing a plot with multiple tiny head stones was always very sad and we would wonder how it felt to be a parent with such grief. As an adult I would still go with my mom to visit old cemeteries. I remember one epitahp in Salem,NY that read "All you who read without a care, who walk away and leave me here, must not forget that you will die and be entombed as well as I." So far my most memorable cemetaires have been in Southport, NC.Salem,NY, and Penscola, Fl and now, Jacmel, Haiti.
We traveled down the narrow streets past vendors and motos( motorbikes),tap-taps and chickens. We pulled over in front of the cemetery chapel. We passed the man gathered at the gate and proceeded throught the rows and rows of mausoleums. We had not gone far when a man approached Gwenn and asked her a question in Kryole. I think it was "Are you looking for the grave of a family member?" or something like that. She explained to him (I think) that we were just looking around. He started to guide us through this maze of burial vaults showing the more promenent family sites. All of this was very interesting but as I looked back I realized we were being followed,by one, then two,then three men. One carried a shovel, the second a pick and the third a mechete. Now in my mind I know that they are just workers in the cemetery and are curious about these white woman walking around. The other part of my brain is saying
"What are you nuts??? This man is going to led you into some remote area and his friends are going to use these tools for other than the intended manufacturers purpose." Of course the leader led us back out to the front gate. But if he hadn't...
But actually, it was a lot of fun~
After that we did the normal tourist things. We checked out the fancy hotels,(yes there are some) we looked at the really pretty beaches, we took pictures of fishing boats and a vodo temple.You know, the normal stuff. We ended our moring with a nice lunch at a facny hotel. We appeared to be the only people in the hotel except for the staff. We stopped by the Pye's house again looked at the dash board clock..it was 12:36 PM! Remember, this is Narnia time.