Fantasy Island: Royal Caribbean parcels off a piece of Haiti - Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Labadee, Haiti

Progressive, The, August, 1997 by Catherine Orenstein

Bartoli says, "We should showcase our art. Haitians have a strong craft tradition, unlike anywhere else in the Caribbean, and Haiti is the source of most of the crafts sold from this region." Haiti is also the best seller at auctions of Latin American art in the United States. At a 1991 auction at Christie's, 93 out of 133 paintings in a showing of Latin American works came from Haiti.

Just beyond the Labadee peninsula in the small town of Milot stands a tremendous fortress built by Haiti's first king after the former slaves defeated the French. Moise Jean Charles, mayor of Milot. is struggling to build up tourism to local sites such as this. "We may not make as much money," he says. "but we can be sure that what we do make will go back into our own pockets."

Back on the beach. a horn sounds. Bathers collect themselves and head for the pier. The ship draws in its dinghies one after the other and moves away. On shore. the electric generators stop. and the Haitian staff begins to pick up the litter. check equipment, count tips, and prepare for a return across the water to their out-of-sight village. But first, one of them takes a moment to sort through the rubbish in hopes of some castaway bit of treasure from the blan -- a creole word that means both white and foreigner, and implies privilege.

The way he looks wistfully off into the distance makes me think of a line from Zora Neale Hurston, who traveled in Haiti in the 1930s. "Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board." I recite. "Well," he says, "do you know what we say in Haiti? -- `A goat knows it's his only when it's in the stomach."' He laughs and continues to dig through a plastic bag of discarded suntan oils and greasy hamburger buns as the cruise ship glides off into the horizon.