Wednesday, January 30, 2008

No thanks, I prefer Toll House cookies

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - It was lunchtime in one of Haiti's worst slums, and Charlene Dumas was eating mud.

With food prices rising, Haiti's poorest can't afford even a daily plate of rice, and some take desperate measures to fill their bellies.

Charlene, 16 with a 1-month-old son, has come to rely on a traditional Haitian remedy for hunger pangs: cookies made of dried yellow dirt from the country's central plateau.

The mud has long been prized by pregnant women and children here as an antacid and source of calcium. But in places such as Cité Soleil, the oceanside slum where Charlene shares a two-room house with her baby, five siblings and two unemployed parents, cookies made of dirt, salt and vegetable shortening have become a regular meal.

Though she likes their buttery, salty taste, Charlene said the cookies also give her stomach pains.

Is it just me, or is something wrong with a country where the people think nothing of eating dirt?

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We've been getting hit with snowstorms around here; had a half a foot yesterday, couple of inches last night, and we are getting predictions from the weather oracles that we may get storms Friday and Sunday. Hurray for global warming!

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Looks like I need to get into my heart doctor soon; the edema in my legs seems to have increased a bit, and my feet are looking somewhat large if I don't prop them up quite a bit during the day.

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My playlist today seems to have a lot of oldies in it; half of the top ten is from my later teen years. Can't seem to get interested in the newer rock music; I prefer old rock, old country, blues and jazz. If I'm doing a lot of reading or studying, I usually put on baroque music, nothing like Bach or Vivaldi to stimulate the mind.
Any thoughts or interesting comments on this batch?


"(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet" by Blues Magoos
"All My Life" by Howlin' Wolf
"In the Mood" by Glenn Miller
"3 O'Clock in the Morning Blues" by Ike & Tina Turner
"Seceret Agent Man" by Johnny Rivers
"Cruisin' With the Duece" by Quarterflash
"Fresh Garbage" by Spirit
"I Know You're Out There Somewhere" by The Moody Blues
"Tube Snake Boogie" by ZZ Top
"Highwayman" by The Highwaymen

8 comments:

Erica said...

I tell ya, bro...one thing is for sure...we have VERY similar tastes in music...Glenn Miller, the Highwaymen, Howlin' Wolf, Tina Turner...good stuff you're listening to there, my man. Very, very good stuff. I don't suppose you'd also be into Beethoven, would you?

:-)

BobG said...

I like some of his, depending on what I'm doing at the time. I also like listening to Mussorgsky. I'm surprised someone as young as you (from my viewpoint) listens to the old stuff.

none said...

Every colony that has thrown out their imperialist overseers has gone into the crapper. I wonder why they can't stabilize.

BobG said...

The problem is that the majority of them are organized by people who are only interested in replacing their overlords, not eliminating them. That is one of the things that is unique about this country; the original founders weren't trying to set themselves up as rulers. That was left to the later generations, such as the current bunch of assholes.
Just my opinion.

James Higham said...

We've been getting hit with snowstorms around here; had a half a foot yesterday

Yep, we're up to our waists in it too.

Anonymous said...

thats TERRIBLE....

I with you...Toll House all the way.

LBJ said...

in college I was so broke I ate an oatmeal sandwich. . but dirt.. my god.

It's amazing what we have here. I sponsor this little girl in Africa. I can give a monetary gift not to exceed $300 a year, in addition to the monthly sponsorship which pays for school and one hot meal a day. The money is earmarked for what it should be spent on, and they make sure the family gets it.

I got these letters back from she and her sisters. They built a HOUSE for the $300. A real walls, metal roof, floor three room little house for that. Her Mom cried and cried. A widow, she made $25 a month as a sustenance farmer. The girls drew me little pictures of them playing around it.

I have women friends that spend that on a pair of shoes.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like the problem might be closer related to phuking at 15, don't it?

Naw such is but a symptom, but contributes immensely to the real problem, which was pointed out,

"...people who are only interested in replacing their overlords, "

Sending money to an address in wherever is most likely not supporting anybody in real need. But imagine what 3k a month can do for anybody out there. Not trying to burst any body's bubble, giving and sharing what we have is a good thing, But beware, it most likely is not going where you think it is.

Could be just a twist on an old Nigerian scam.

But what do I know?