11/27/09 Eggs and a Taxi

This afternoon, I was planning on going downtown with Marc and Brooke. I needed to get a few things from the market. One of which was eggs. My roommate and I have eggs each morning for breakfast. I don't cook too many (two each every morning). We buy a flat which is 30 eggs for 40 Haitian dollars...about 5 dollars US. Well, the flats that we have in the states have a covering. it is cardboard and yes, it isn't terribly sturdy, but still, it is better than nothing. Well, here, you only get the flat...no covering. The eggs are exposed, so you have to be careful carrying them. Going downtown is walkable, but it would take at least 20 minutes, so we always take taxis. This is normally a quick trip, but the roads are torn up because of construction. It looks like they are putting in drainage and a new road (a paved one at that!). Well, the crazy part is that the drains are not covered, so when the taxi driver speeds by within inches you just hope you don't fall in. On the way back, the other side of the road isn't paved yet. It is still gravel/dirt. It also has a little bit of a steep drop to the right. Not that you could fall off...not a cliff or anything. It's just about a two foot steep drop to the edge of the road (where a sidewalk would be). Well, we were going along and my taxi driver slid down a bit and came to a sudden stop at which one egg plopped out. I don't know why he didn't slow down before veering to the right, but then, I am not driving the taxi, nor do I know how easy it is to stop when the road is gravel/dirt. I was holding the flat with one hand....like a waiter would bring food out to a table. I didn't know how else to hold it... I mean, I am on the back of a moped! Not like I have a seat to set it on next to me. I had a good grip and needed to cushion the eggs when we hit bumps. I was doing pretty good considering. Well, a truck was coming toward us so my driver sped to the right again, but a little too fast and we slid again a bit uncontrollably and slammed into what seemed like a plastic playpen/crib. I have no idea why it was on the side of the road. For all I know, it was for sale. It was empty, but still, we hit it pretty good.....four more eggs plopped out and hit the ground. Still not bad for a wreck. I shouted at the guy to go and then Marc came up behind him on his taxi and started yelling at him. My driver was telling him, "Boss, I have to protect my passenger." As in, he has to watch out for my safety first before he takes the smoothest road in care of my eggs; which makes sense. Who cares if the eggs are in great shape if I am not around to eat them. We didn't crash too hard...I mean, I was holding onto my eggs with one hand and holding onto the taxi with the other and only lost four more eggs. Though I wasn't happy about losing the eggs, all in all, it was a funny experience.