I know that you may have thought of traveling to Haiti, and actually may have some negative perceptions of the country. In reality the country is rich with history, beauty, and wonderful people. Native Haitians were pre-Columbian Amerindians called Taíno, “the good people.” The Taíno named their land “Ayiti,” meaning “Land of Mountains”—a term that evolved into “Haiti.”
Haiti is a small country with a population of about 11 million people on land about the size Maryland (10,714 square miles) making it the mostly densely populated country in the Western Hemisphere and the third-largest country in the Caribbean. It also has the most mountains of any Caribbean nation. As well as the second longest coastline, 1,100 miles, in the Caribbean. And I don't know if you knew this, but Haiti was the first landing place of Christopher Columbus' 1492 voyage and he is buried in the Cathedral of Santa Maria. And unlike a lot of other nations in the world, 79% of the Haitian population lives in country. Also, Haiti's official language is French and Haitian Creole and is the only other nation, aside from Canada, in the Amricas to have French as its official language.
January 1, 1804 marks the date that Haiti gained independence and is the second oldest nation in the Western Hemisphere after the United States. One thing you can expect to see in Haiti is the resilience of its people. As you know Haiti has a difficult history. It has had many dictators, a devastating earthquake, hurricaines, hunger crises, and infectious diseases, but this has never caused its people to dispair and instead they always come out stronger than ever. They also have what is considered the best food in the Caribbean. The food has a blend of French, Spanish, Taino, and African influences. However, Haiti maintains an independently unique flavor including strong pepper flavoring in many dishes setting Haitian food apart from the other islands.
Aside from the rich history and land I would like to mention the strong rivalry that exist amongst all caribbean nations, but especially between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Because the caribbean is so small a lot of cultural things are shared, but of course there has to be an orginal this is were a lot of tension comes from. I guess you
describe their relationship like twins. They look the same and generally are the same, but there are key defining features that they want others to know and not confuse one with the other. I think that this is why the arguement between whether or not Haitians are latino or not is a contestable question because the fact that Domincans speak Spanish makes them latino and thus Haiti must be excluded from this (along with other racial implications) and thus they identify more with being African. Though the nation is part of latin america it means the people are latino, thus making the african and latinos: afro-latinos.
There is also the well known Carnival. An amazing festival that is held over several weekd each year leading up to Mardi Gras with the largest event being Defile Kanaval. There are a lot of elaborate floats, outfits, music, and dance. There is also flag day where Haitians, and more broadly Caribbeans, wear an outfit that looks like their flag.
I hope this makes you both want to learn more about Haitian culture and Haiti!
Have more questions aski it in the comment section
carnival looks amazing. it's cool that the countries that celebrate carnival really make it their own. I too would like to try Haitian food.
Wow, both you and Naoni did a lot of research for these posts, I learned a lot :0 I didn't know it was the most densely populated country in the Americas ! Really into the images of the mountains.
Also very curious about Haitian food; a little Haitian restaurant opened in Norwood recently but I haven't been able to go of course... I don't know if I've ever had Caribbean food to be honest. I'd like to fix that at some point.
I started reading a book about Haiti recently actually, I'll lyk if I come up with some questions :0
Yeah it’s mostly fish, but meat isn’t rare. Just not too common for every meal everyday you know. Anyway some fact check Columbus died in Spain :/
what's jalousie??
this is very informative indeed! Haiti seems wonderful :-)
I didn't know that about Columbus; I wonder how Haitians regard him. Like obviously we have Columbus day here but a lot of Americans hate him so I wonder the perception there?
Interesting thoughts on the Afro-latino argument. based on what you've said, I agree. And I liked the twin analogy.
in general you said that Haitians don't eat a lot of meat didn't you?? In any case, the food there looks scrumptious ;)
Interesting! I learned some more about Haiti, but for fact check for everyone : Haiti isn’t the most dense country in the Western Hemisphere it’s just amongst the most populated countries out on this side of the pond :)). I can’t wait to go to Haiti tho and try all the food they have to offer and to see Jalousie!