Ti Sony, Aristide, and the Earthquake
Here’s a photo in my possession of Sony Telusma, then a child (boy on right with flowers). On this day, October 15, 1994, Ti Sony, as he was called, was waiting at Haiti’s international airport for ousted president Jean-Bertrand Aristide to be returned to Haiti and the presidency by the Clinton Administration. Note: Sony is looking at the camera.
I thought this photograph, from the homepage of The New York Times today, was of Port-au-Prince after the earthquake in 2010. But it’s not of Port-au-Prince at all: this is, reportedly, Binsh, Syria, after an air attack by the Syrian Air Force on Wednesday.
New Year’s: Soup, Cornmeal, and Bean Sauce
Final fixings for a Haitian New Year’s celebration in Los Angeles, as promised. Soup joumon, or pumpkin soup, top left. Sòs pwa, or bean sauce, bottom left. Mayi moule, or corn meal mash, right.
And a happy time was had by all.
Apye Nou Ye!
Butternut squash primed for Soup Joumou, or New Year’s Day pumpkin soup
Apye nou ye is the Haitian Creole expression for Happy New Year! Say it fast and you’ll see that, although literally translated from Creole it seems to mean “We go on foot,” it actually sounds very much like the English words “Happy New Year.” And that’s not surprising, because it supposedly came into fashion as a Haitian New Year’s greeting during the U.S. Occupation of Haiti (1915 – 1934), when marines would greet Haitian passersby with those words.
Marassa Twa, the triplets who are revered in Vodou. Painting by Gérard.
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