Shopping in Haiti

Dear Readers,
Thank you for signing into my blog. I hope you have something special to do today that nurishes your soul.
One half of a suitcase doesn't afford space for a lot of things to take on a 10 day trip to Haiti. Plus I am good at forgetting things, so I found myself without a towel in a compound outside of a village in Haiti and I did not appreciate the value of a towel until I tried to do without one. I was fortunate enough to be able to break rank with our group and go with our Haitian cook to the market to buy one. I was hoping for a beach towel, but what I found was a dinky bath towel with blue and white flowers on it. I didn't speak Creole and the woman with the towel didn't speak English, except to say, "Eight dollars." I had a ten dollar bill and of course she didn't have change so I paid ten for the towel, then found our cook and we walked back to our camp.
When I told my savvy colleagues how much I paid for the towel, they laughed at me. They said that merchants give a price that is four times what they expect to be paid and then the buyer is supposed to dicker with them until they arrive at a price. Buyers are not supposed to ask for a price on something unless they intend to buy it or they will insult the seller.
I argued that the woman was poor and I didn't mind paying the price she asked and they laughed again. They said that it was just not the way things were done.
Despite the laughter, I found that my towel was perfect! When I took my shower with cold water under the mango tree, I looked up and felt like I was in paradise. I dried myself inside of the skimpy four walls with provided a little bit of privacy and put on clean clothes and felt refreshed!
After my snorkeling adventure I used my towel to remove the salty water and wrap it around me for the chilly boat ride back to shore. I loved that towel.
I kept my towel for years and years until it finally turned into a rag. It was a reminder of special moments in the tropics, like showering under the canopy of a mango tree.
I'm glad I paid ten dollars for that towel. Perhaps a family got to fill their stomachs that night, rather than go hungry. Plus I got a keepsake to treasure!