22166: (Hermantin)Miami-Herald-Exploring the riches of Haitian culture (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Sun, May. 30, 2004



LITTLE HAITI | LOCAL TREASURES


Exploring the riches of Haitian culture

A tour that aims to turn culturally rich Little Haiti into a tourist
destination like Little Havana earns rave reviews on its first fun.

BY ELAINE DE VALLE

edevalle@herald.com


Sherry Bluestein normally haunts the shops and bakeries in Aventura.

But Saturday morning she found herself in Little Haiti, a place that seemed
exotic to her -- and fascinating. She tasted Haitian-style codfish pastries
and coconut ice cream and washed it down with Couronne Fruit Champagne, a
tropical flavored soft drink.

The 80-year-old travel agent was among about 20 people who took the first of
a series of free tours presented by a city of Miami group overseeing the
commemoration of Haiti's bicentennial. The aim is to turn the neighborhood
into a tourist destination -- much like Little Havana has become.

''Little Haiti is one of the cultural gems in our area,'' said David Brown,
whose Urban Tour Host company last year launched Miami's Cultural Community
Tours. He takes people deep into some of South Florida's culturally vibrant
neighborhoods.

Saturday's bus and walking tour began at Libreri Mapou, the first U.S.
bookstore to specialize in Haitian Creole publications. Owner Jan Mapou gave
everyone samples of his Kremas Mapou, the store's signature sweet, milky
drink made from coconut, caramel, some other secret ingredients and a touch
of rum ''to make you warm up,'' Mapou says.

''It's good, but it's rich,'' said Carlene Jacobson, of Brickell Key. ``I
taste some vanilla and some banana.''

ONCE SUPPRESSED

Mapou -- who fled Haiti after he was jailed for promoting and encouraging
education among the country's poor masses -- also offered a quick lesson on
Haitian history.

''We have been through a lot,'' he said after he led the group to an
upstairs gallery where different Haitian artists are showcased. ``Our
paintings, our culture, express our problems, our misery and our day to day
activities.''

Other stops included the Halouba Botanica on Northwest 54th Street, where
the owner's niece led visitors through two hallways to the back room that
serves as a Vodou temple -- the only one of its kind in Florida, Brown said.
They asked Gina Bazile about the drawings on the walls that represented
different saints or Vodou gods and the altars. They bought Soussi and basil
plants to wash themselves with at home -- for good luck.

The group then crossed the street to the LeKay Tropical Ice Cream and Bakery
and the adjacent Classic Sound Record shop where they heard four types of
Haitian music: Compas, Zouk, Toubadou and Racine.

In between stops, Brown pointed out notable sites: Notre Dame d'Haiti
Catholic Church -- which draws Haitian worshipers from as far away as Palm
Beach; and Place Kamoken, a corner lot where new arrivals from Haiti were
traditionally taken to meet with friends and relatives that is now being
turned into a city park.

As the bus turned off 54th Street, he reminded visitors that it was there
where protesters staged major demonstrations against U.S. immigration policy
in the 1980s.

A TASTY INTERLUDE

The tour ended with lunch at La Vraie Difference Restaurant across from the
bookstore.

''Delicious! I love this,'' said Olga Hutchingson of Kendall as she bit into
another piece of acra, a kind of malanga or potato indigenous to Haiti,
mashed and mixed with flour and then deep-fried. Her husband James, a
professor at Florida International University, warned her not to try the
pickles spicy sauce.

The two-hour trek was much more than Olga Garcia, 50, expected.

''I am impressed. I thought we were going to just look around and have
things pointed out to us,'' said the Miami Beach resident. ``I didn't know
it would be so deep.''

BACKYARD TRAVEL

Pepper Prigal, a mortgage banker from Aventura agreed.

''More things like this are needed,'' said Prigal. ``I'm a traveler, but I
think we have so much to learn about in our own backyard. We have so many
different cultures and people right here. We don't have to go to other
countries.''

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