It all started on Monday night. I wanted to get at least 7 hours of sleep so I went to bed at 10.30pm. The music outside our window was a bit louder than usual. You see, we live close to what looks like a shack with a small stereo and some really really big speakers. We are not really sure if there is space for dancing, and it’s possible they don’t even sell alcohol. They just play music, mostly loud music. Though it can get a bit noisy on the weekends, it’s never kept me awake. My 50 or so roommates over the past 10 years can attest to the fact that I sleep through anything: music, lights, dancing all around me…when I’m tired I sleep whenever, wherever. On Monday night that was not the case.
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| Ti Sourit on the dark streets of Petion-ville |
An hour after we went to bed, whistles and loud cheering woke me up. The music had gotten louder, and it was now coming from more than one source. To make things even worse our nice and quiet fan had stopped working and there was no AC. So there we were... 1am, it was extremely hot, I had to get up in 4 hours, and the music just wouldn’t stop. Finally we decided to bring in a really old and loud fan into our room to cool us down, but mostly to drawn out the music. It kind of worked and we were able to get some sleep.
The next morning Graham asked the house staff about the noise. Was it a party? Or a soccer game perhaps? "Championat" -a championship! They said. We figured they were having a soccer tournament and the previous night had been the final game.
Alas, when we got back from dinner last night a big crowd had once again transformed the street into a soccer field. Obviously the car could not get through so we got off and walked. Graham’s bodyguard was unimpressed. However, instead of having to avoid being hit by a soccer ball we found ourselves surrounded by a happy crowd that was just hanging out and dancing. Apparently much more than a football championship has been keeping awake us this week. We now know this kind of street party is called "Ti Sourit" translated as "little smile" or "you smile" or "everybody smiles" according to my co-workers. It is an end of summer celebration, an invitation to do whatever you want on the street. There’s drinking and partying but mostly dancing and playing soccer all in the same space (!)
I have been told it will last all week. If only we could remember where we packed the earplugs….
(by Tania)
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