What a Circus!

Oh, Haiti. The longer we're here, the more perplexing things seem to get.

A rumor that a ti machann (merchant) selling street food in the Delmas 33 area was arrested for having killed and cooked up an 8-year old child has turned our stomachs.

But, wait... how could she have been arrested when the national police are on strike?

Wait, wait... why would the police choose to go on strike precisely when paramilitary wannabes are occupying camps around the country and just last week forced entry to the grounds of the national palace? 

Strike or no strike, at the end of the Haiti Diaspora Marathon yesterday (which was actually a half marathon with only a few diaspora), a police officer performed chest compressions and full-on mouth to mouth resuscitation on two still-breathing but collapsed runners. I imagine this was for the benefit of the TV cameras trained on him. Apparently our cop, who was outfitted in a lab coat and stethoscope, is also a doctor.  

Speaking of doctors, President Martelly has just been discharged from a Miami hospital. Word on the street is that he was cursed by black magic and plop! landed in the hospital. Word in the news is that he had a pulmonary embolism. He hasn't mentioned yet when he'll be back in country.

Meanwhile, Haiti has been without a functional government since the prime minister resigned on February 24th, and elections have yet to be organized for municipal authorities or for the 1/3 of the Senate whose terms are about to expire. 

If you told me there were elephants and zebras parading down Route Delmas right now, I would believe you (and probably just chalk it up to a Clowns Without Borders PR event).