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Like nearly every other country in the world right now, Haiti has got World Cup fever. Even in a town without electricity 90% of the time, you can always find a place to watch the game. Here I am watching in the local night club (more on that in another post) on televisions powered by a gas generator. The satellite feed they picked up was from the Dominican so they turned off the sound and had radios blasting play-by-play in Creole from the local radio stations, which they eventually gave up on after the crowd expressed irritation with the 10 second delay on the call.

It was 10 Goudes to enter (about 25 cents US) and there was no shortage of cold beer available (often difficult to obtain in Pignon – not beer, but cold beer). The night club is outside (definitely the best option in a town where air conditioning does not exist) with two large tents with a couple televisions under each. In case you’re wondering, Haitians tend to support Brazil (Brazilian flags everywhere).

UPDATE: There is also a strong contingency of Argentina supporters here. I would guess the split is 70/30 Brazil. I have not come across a single local who is cheering for a team outside of those two.

As some of you may know, I am a bit of a shoe fiend. However, in packing up to come here, I decided I would only bring one pair of shoes (and a pair of flip-flops). After some deliberation, I decided on the pair of New Balances below that I’ve owned since 3rd year university based on the fact that they were comfortable, inconspicuous  and I don’t mind destroying them.

They have turned out to be an excellent choice as even in the most rural parts of Haiti I’ve visited, my footwear is immediately scanned in an effort to size me up, particularly by the young men, who are quick to categorize foreigners based on their footwear (one guy indicated that he thought I was too young to be a missionary, but my shoes said otherwise). Other than the missionary comment, these shoes have not attracted any attention (the opposite of what I typically aim for with my footwear).

As a bonus, they look great when caked with red mud (not pictured).