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Midnight, Give or Take an Hour


It’s been a wild and crazy weekend at our house here in Haiti, a weekend in the US when clocks have surreally sprung ahead an hour, dizzying me even at a time-bending distance in Port-au-Prince.

We’ve gotten 66 boxes of everything from fans to folding screens, pots and pans to patio furniture, shipped on a slow boat from Port-au-Prince to Baltimore, a boat so slow we’re hoping to have our lawn furniture in Lexington before the first snow falls next November and clocks again fall back an hour.

Saturday we spent at the beach, and Saturday evening I literally had a long talk with Baby Doc.  Even I find it hard to believe, but I have what may indeed be the worst photo taken this side of the 19th century to prove it.  For now the story will have to wait until we’re settled safely in Kentucky.

Kate, Jean Claude Duvalier, Fito, and me

Early in the morning we indeed leave on a day long trip from Haiti to home-sweet-home, one that will take us from Port-au-Prince to Miami, Miami to Dallas, and Dallas to Lexington, where we are scheduled to arrive an hour this side of midnight.

But in the meantime, I promise–

Sitting across the table talking to “Baby Doc” Duvalier, felt like an hour on the far side of midnight, an event horizon at my back.

(If you’d like to read a post about my past “adventures” at the Port-au-Prince airport, circumstances we are likely to encounter again on our way home from Haiti, click here.)

34 thoughts on “Midnight, Give or Take an Hour”

  6. Safe travels!! 🙂 I know you’ll miss Haiti, but I’m sure your family and friends will be happy to have you back stateside. 🙂 And, also…I’d like to echo 2summers’ comment. Looking forward to more on your surreal experience with Baby Doc, lol.

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  7. What? My mouth is on the floor and not for my normal, furocious eating rituals. Have a safe journey to Kentucky, and can not WAIT to hear how your conversation with Baby Doc went!

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  9. Kathy! My jaw has now joined Tori’s in a place on the floor. Was it very difficult to resist the urge to give Baby Doc a stern talking to? Whenever you find yourself in these positions, please feel free to preface certain statements with, “Well, my friend, Jean, says that you’ve got some ‘splainin’ to do!” I cannot wait to hear the back story to the pic. Hurry home, my friend.

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  13. That’s a cliffhanger if I’ve ever heard one! 🙂 Safe travels, and I’ll look forward to you checking back in when you’re back in Kentucky!

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    • I know it’s a cliff-hanger and I wasn’t sure it was fair to mention it without elaborating. But Sara and I were afraid that not saying something might make the story even harder to believe down the road.

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  16. I hope your travels were safe and smooth, and that you’re getting all settled in now.

    That’s not fair you know — leaving us with that kind of cliffhanger. lol!!

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    • You know, all joking aside, I don’t think it’s fair either, at all–but to not mention it, would make it feell all the more surreal. Such a strange expereince! I just can’t wrap my brain around it!

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  17. You know this picture has the essence of an oil painting, which gives it the strength of endurance. History is recorded in such images.

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