Well, Petion-ville, that is.
The streets late at night seems like they have chilled out recently. Especially tonight, March 17, St.Patrick’s Day. People are out walking around like it is New York City. The hilly streets are full of people.
And at a fairly new spot I frequent – O Brasiliero – the atmosphere was incredible. There was an Irish band that came to Port-au-Prince to put on one heck of a show. They played classics – American, European, and Haitian – appealing to the entire crowd of a at least a couple hundred.
My friends in the wait-staff were having trouble keeping up, the crowd was so huge.
After midnight, the NGO/UN crowd began to thin – they have a curfew – and the locals remained. At least, people like me who have no time imposed. Many journalists and professional wanderers like myself blend with the locals.
At Brasiliero, there is an inside part and an open-air part. Usually, the inside is solid foreign, the open-air part stays fairly mixed. After all the foreign service people left, it was all mixed, and the festivities continued.
I left around 2am when things began to slow. But the streets were calm, nothing aggressive, and made my way home.
Nevertheless, I got locked out, so I slept in the back of the truck. It was a good night for it. Quiet, peaceful… and low on mosquitoes.
Stay tuned,
-Noah D.
