7370: Ramblings from Richard Morse

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: OLOFFSONRAM@aol.com

My computer spell checker refuses to acknowledge "vodou" and insists on 
"voodoo" 
    
...The Oloffson Explorers Club made its inaugural trek this past weekend.
We 
took the road to Seguin and used the Auberge La Visite as a base camp. It
was 
the first time I had taken this new road. Its not for the faint of heart,
its 
not to be taken during rains, don't do it at night and don't take it by
car 
unless you have a good four wheel drive. The route is, however, scenic and 
exhilarating. The Auberge La Visite was a wonderful, informal stay and 
provided us with horses and a guide for the ride up to La Visite which is
a 
national park/mountain. We did an exploratory trip to MaRouge(sp?) by car
but 
will eventually organize walking and horseback tours. The origination of
the 
creole proverb "deye mon gen mon" is in full evidence here. Mountains, 
gardens, caves, waterfalls and some remaining Pine Forest. Absolutely 
spectacular. Time travel to another century. It really puts Port-au-Prince
in 
perspective. 
   RAM will be touring England and Denmark (mostly England) for six weeks 
this Summer (about 35 shows). We'll be playing festivals and theatres from 
early June to mid-July, (one stop in Guadeloupe at the end of May). Its 
always good to see folks you know from Haiti when you're so far away. The
new 
album will be out this Spring. It will be simply titled "RAM lll". It
saves a 
lot of time on explaining what the title means. 
  This was the first time since FRAPH '94 that RAM hasn't recorded a 
carnaval song. 
Sometimes silence is louder than noise. When they decide to take things 
seriously perhaps we'll consider participation, until then.... 
   "Carnaval des Sous Sous" seems do be an appropriate title for what I 
witnessed. If you like cacophony, Champ Mars is the place for you during 
carnaval. One of the floats was dismantled by low electrical wires. Its 
mandatory to have 10-12 people on a float just to lift electrical wires
out 
of the way. Some of these wires are lifted by hand and some with sticks. 
   Sounds like someone wants Mme Lauture's job, otherwise we would be 
getting details about all the others. There are a lot of them out there.
I've 
noticed that Haitians don't necessarily want change, they often just want
to 
replace. 
    I'ld love to get some details on the first family's rise to economic 
power. Did we ever get that audit after the first term or before the
second? 
    Some people think that if you like don't like Lavalas, then you like
the 
opposition. Isn't there another option out there? It gets back to that 
replacement theory. Back in July of '85 Jean Claude had a referendum and
only 
ONE person voted against him. Now in 2001, with "the people's party" fully
in 
control, we have a parliamentary election and it's the same old s***. You 
mean to tell me there isn't ONE anti-Lavalas enclave in the whole country? 
Not one? How about Thomazeau? How about Papaye? 
  A major soft drink maker in Haiti recently told me that sales were down 
60%! Other businesses seem to be having slowdowns also. 
  There were two demonstrations yesterday. An opposition and a 
counter-opposition. I hope everyone was satisfied with the results. It was
in 
the local news and everything! The investors ought to come flooding in any 
day now. 
We're still getting occasional "bombs", though some of them don't make the 
news. 
There was even an attack on an embassy official. 
   We're coming to the one year anniversary of Jean Dominique's
assasination. 
     To those of you who are afraid of being killed because of something
you 
say, what happens if you get killed anyway? You'll die wishing you had
said 
something. 

Richard Morse