Rock Star

Children hanging out on a rubble pile over-looking the street below

I spent much of the day riding around looking at neighborhoods that I hadn't seen before.  I bought a case of Coca-Cola in cool, old-style bottles for $14, and a couple of bottles of Argentine wine for $8 apiece, all of which I thought was reasonable.  Weeks ago a case of bottled water ran me $32! 

Again, some homes are rubble piles while others are untouched.  The locals say that it's because people wanted to have the largest and most ostentatious house at the lowest price, and as a result they skimped on construction materials.  I'd like to say that it's karma, but I believe that stupidity, greed, and ego would be a better explanation.

Another common occurrence was that someone would build a two-story dwelling and open a small store on the ground floor while living on the second floor.  As the store became more prosperous the family began to add floors to the building, many more than the structure was designed for. It was not uncommon for these buildings to rise seven or even eight floors and house generations of the family.

 This shot was just naturally perfect.  I loved it the second I took it.

In my travels yesterday I visited a children's mission where I was witness to hundreds of pre-school and school-aged Haitian children sitting in wooden classrooms doing their assignments with stubby pencils.  I walked in and was greeted by a thunderous roar from the kids.  I asked if I could take a few pictures and broke out my flash.  As I snapped the first shot and the flash fired the kids erupted in a thunderclap of glee. It was not long before I felt like a rock star with all of the cheering and shouting on my behalf.  So this is what its like to be Sting.