27577: Durban (reminisence): On Marmalade...

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Lance Durban <lpdurban@yahoo.com>

Craig (Corbett 27563) asks about Preval's hometown of Marmalade.  On
the drive to Cap Haitien on the last really high point before you start
to descend is a grimy little crossroads called Marmalade.  Back in my
first year in Haiti (1979), my folks came down to visit and my wife and
I made that drive to Cap on the then "new road".  At Marmalade, we
stopped to buy some fruit and were inundated by super aggressive market
women who literally pushed their produce onto our laps.  We bought
some, but were finding it impossible to leave until finally, with some
annoyance, I insisted we all roll up our windows while I stepped on the
gas to gradually make our exit.  My dear mother (God rest her soul) was
mortified that we had driven off without paying for one bunch of
bananas, and I have never been able to drive through that little town
since without a pang of guilt.

L. Durban