Touristic Dreams: Jardin Botanique Des Cayes

I think most of my touristic dreams have been in the South.  There's just so many beautiful places... I can't help but want to be there for my next trip

The Jardin Botanique in Les Cayes is one of the places in my must see list.

Check out some pictures courtesy of Haiti Tourism Inc -  They have been doing such a good job of showing places in Haiti!z They make my Haiti Touristic Dreams so much easier (haha)

A little about the garden from their website.

• Cayes Botanic Garden was founded in September 3rd 2003 and has 8 hectares. This garden mainly focuses on: conservation, education and research. It is located between the two majors protected areas in Haiti: Pack Macaya and Park La Visite. On the Google map it is easy to find it on 18.234397, -73.755347. The establishment of this garden is rooted to the biodiversity loss and lack of long-term structures to conserve biodiversity in Haiti. In consequence the garden has been involved in helping the government to conserve Haitian biodiversity and encourage the parliament to elaborate laws for its management and the establishment others.

See more here http://www.haitigarden.org/index_.php

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Moso Manman

Grandma, Me, Mom, and my sis

In honor of Haitian Mother's Day today I wanted to post a couple of songs about mothers. These are some of my favorite songs to listen to because I love my beautiful manman cherie to pieces.
Mothers are so important. Especially in a country like Haiti where the mother is basically the heart of the family. Most Haitian mothers that I know are like super heroes.



 I appreciate fathers and give them props for taking care of their families but everybody that has had a mother, especially one who has made so many sacrifices for her children like mine knows that they are indispensable.
So to every mother out there I say Bonne Fete Manman!
Show love to the mothers in your life everyday and share some of these songs with them sometime. They will appreciate it.

The song that I know the best out of all of them is Emeline Michel's "Moso Manman"

Old School Manman-

 Tropicana

Herold Christophe

Some of my favorite newer manman Songs

Beethova Obas

Freedom- Manman

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: Our Haitian Plate: Grilled A l'Haitienne

 We haven't done a food post in a while so at the last minute I decided to share these pics from our impromptu grilling craze .



 No preparation or recipe for this one... just the pictures :/
It's only grilled beef ribs marinated with a mix of Haitian spices or "Epice" and  corn on the cobb.

Starting the fire A l'Haitienne...

Na being extra fanning the flame lol

Ready!!!!

Our huge Haitian plate lol

It was our first time but certainly wont be the last because it was YUMMY! We're gonna make a meal real Haitian meal out of it next time.
Thanks for reading :)

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Arcahaie Touristic Dreams and Flag Day

Haitian Heritage Month posts continue with pictures of Archaie, both touristic dreams and May 18th 2012 celebrations. Enjoy and share if you feel compelled to.

Every year on May 18th, there are wonderful parades and celebrations everywhere that has an Haitian population. Of course it is always big in Arcahaie where it all started. I watched some of the festivities on tv this year and I have to say that it was really nice! So here are some of my favorite pictures from the May 18th 2012 Fete Drapo in Archaie. Courtesy of the president's page :)

Some of the women ministers looking fly in white :)

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Haitian Heritage month feature: Catherine Flon

There are two different versions of the incidents leading to the creation of the Haitian flag. It really doesn't matter which version is more truth than folktale because in the end, the General Jean Jacques Dessalines ripped the white out of the red white and blue French flag (like the BOSS that he was) and handed the remaining red and blue bands to this awesome lady by the name of Catherine Flon.

 She was Dessalines's goddaughter and a nurse who gave her service to the rebellion and ultimately ended up sewing the Haitian flag. She is a reminder that all talents and willingness can be used for a good cause. Having her sew the first Haitian flag helped give the Haitians their identity in battle and showed their seriousness about fighting for their independence.

Here she is on the 10 gourdes Haitian banknote!

P.S. May is Haitian Heritage Month in the diaspora because there are a lot of celebrations during this month.  Haitian Flag on May 18 is the most celebrated with parades and all kinds of fun a l'Haitienne style. Stay tuned for the next posts and happy Haitian Heritage Month!

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Happy Haitian Flag Day!

It's May 18th, yeah!!!
 As an Haitian, I'm pretty excited whenever this day comes around, because it is Haitian Flag Day. Our flag is now 209 years old. It was created in 1803, adopted in 1820 and formalized in 1843.

That beautiful bi-color flag: blue and red that you are seeing was once the same color as France's: blue, white and red. The fact  that the Haitian nation was  carrying a French flag was presented by the press at the time as an independent nation. The great chiefs of the Haitian army, Alexandre Petion and Jean Jacques Dessalines ,were not happy about that. So, they decided to confront the French army which unfortunately lost the fight. Now, Dessalines ripped the white stripe of the previous flag and joined the blue and the the red together. This is how our beautiful flag was made. I am very proud of that and i think all Haitians feel the same. Happy Flag Day!!!

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Featured: Marvin Bien Aime

So far, I've only featured female Haitian models on here but I recently looked up some nice male models and I thought I would share...
I think Marvin Bien Aime is one of my favorite male models right now. He's young, sexy and an activist. He has a nonprofit called Smile4Haiti that seeks to help children stay in school in Haiti. A good start in my book!
Well then, here is Marvin

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Yohann Dore: Haitian Rock Star

I can't say that I'm a rock music fan but when I heard  the song "Let Go" by Yohann, I definitely ended up liking it . Yohann is Haiti's resident Rock Star. He's a unexpected discovery for me.
So who is Yohann?

Name: Yohann Dore
 Born:  Petion Ville Haiti February 12 1989
Story: Surrounded by music from an early age because of his father (Joe Dore)'s influence
Has been seriously making music since the age of 16
His preferred genre of music has always been Rock, hence why he has chosen to make "Rock Kreyol" music

There's something to be said about marching to the sound of your own music, which he definitely does. Added to the fact that he's fairly young and creative makes him cool in a "A l'Haitienne" way to me.
His album "Ayiti Men Rock"  is coming out at the end of this month. Support if you like it. It's definitely different. I'm looking forward to seeing where this movement goes!

Here's "Let Go" from 2009

Nou Fini from the 2012 

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