That Fire Smells Real Close

            For various numbers of reasons, people in Haiti like to set fires and burn stuff. One of the reasons is that there isn't many options for disposing trash in public places, or sometimes dumpsters get too full and there's nowhere else to put new garbage. If that's the case, a pile of garbage will be up in flames in no time. In other cases, craftsmen and curbside vendors need to keep small fires next to them for their businesses and the things they're building or cooking. The moral of the story is there's almost always the smell of smoke and fire in the air.

           The other day I was cooking lunch, and as usual was using a hand towel to help pick up hot items from the stove. Specifically, I had to dump some extra water out of a pot and place it back on the stove. No more than two seconds later I smelt something burning. Again, it's a common smell for Haiti, so I didn't think much of it as first. Then the smell got really strong like perhaps the neighbor's house next door was on fire. Then of all sudden my fingers felt really hot and I looked down and saw that half of the hand towel I was holding in my hand was up in flames. I reacted immediately by throwing the towel to the floor and stomping out the flame. For added measure, I even soaked the towel in the sink to make sure the fire was completely diminished. When I was picking up the pot from the stove with the towel, a piece hanging down must have caught the flame.

          So I guess I can add my cooking to reasons why Haiti smells like smoke...