My Night as Haitian Pop Artist Arm Candy

Although the plan for my birthday was to go to Miami hospital, that ended up not working out due to transportation complications so instead we got the day to sleep which turned out fine by me because I needed the sleep! At our nightly meeting, one of the guys in the house announced to the entire group that it was my birthday and everyone sang to me. It was so sweet!

The next day we didn't go to Miami Hospital either. Instead the whole house was called to help unload a ship full of supplies that we got in. We were there for the entire day until we were finally able to take a Tap Tap (Haitian cab/bus) home. I was so exhausted that all I wanted to do was shower and sleep but my roommates had other plans.

They convinced me to go out and we got ready in a hurry. Yes, that's right, I GOT READY IN A HURRY AND DIDN'T MAKE PEOPLE WAIT (to my Mom, Nana, and anyone else who knows me well, I have been the cleanest roommate and I have always been on time which Doucette, Marie, and Oksana will all back me up in saying!) We were going to see a Haitian concert which is actually called a "ball". It's a little more fancy than a concert and slightly smaller, but not by much. This was a black and white party which meant everyone needed to be dressed in black and white, and it was the first ball or decent sized gathering of any kind since the earthquake hit so it was a very big deal. The main artist was a guy named Shabba who is very famous here in Haiti and, as it turns out, internationally. As it also turns out, Shabba is a good friend of Oksana's! Shabba showed up to the house and picked us up in his very nice car to drive us to his own concert...AWESOME!!!

Oksana insisted that I sit in the front so that I could talk to Shabba more and enjoy the air conditioning (also amazing)! As we neared the area where the concert was being held, there was a police check point. Shabba didn't want to be late so he used a Haitian driving solution to solve the problem, made his own lane and bipassed traffic. As we were about to get stopped by the checkpoint, Shabba turned on his light and the officer looked inside to see who it was..."SHABBA!!!" Thus began the mad frenzy and amateur paparazzi. People all around flocking to look inside the car, trying to run up and shake his hand through the driver's side window etc. Another girl came up to the window and was talking to him (he seemed to know her) and as she talked to Shabba, she inspected the four of us up and down and glared at each of us as if we were taking her man away from her haha.

We finally parked the car and made our way to the door with Shabba grabbing my hand and ushering me into the VIP area backstage. He had the four of us sit backstage where we could enjoy the show and beverage services (though to be honest, all of us were too tired to drink alcohol so we just ordered water to try to stay hydrated). In spite of the extreme heat and massive amounts of sweat pouring out of every pore, the concert was amazing. The music, the dancing, the vibe from all the people was just really amazing! On top of everything else, Shabba announced to the entire concert that he wanted to say "Happy Birthday Lee!" and mentioned me a few times it was incredible! I was standing right there when he said it too because the backstage area was basically listening and dancing on stage (I can't wait to upload my pictures so I can show you what I mean!)

At one point while we were taking a break and sitting under the fans to try and cool off a little bit, I heard a woman speaking English. I went over and struck up a conversation only to find out she was an American from California who is in Haiti to help work with an orphanage. I told her what we were doing here and she was very interested in connecting to try to help Dr. Joey make other connections to further promote Haitians helping other Haitians.

While she and I were having an in-depth conversation about the organization we have seen in this country, (or in many cases, the lack there of), a man came up to me to shake my hand. I shook his hand, smiled. introduced myself and asked his name. He told me his name was "T poosh" and I said "nice to meet you" in French and than turned back to continue my conversation. Everyone in the room started laughing including "T poosh". Apparently, he is a big deal and I had no idea haha! He was one of Shabba's co-artists and wrote all of the songs for the band as well...OOPS! My lack of knowledge of his identity didn't seem to phase him as he continued to talk to me. He then went up to Oksana (who he already knew) and told her, "I like your friend, she's amazing and beautiful". He told me to listen to the music that he would play something for me. The concert was amazing and the music was just what all of us needed to unwind.

As we left with Shabba at the end of the night T Poosh came up to me and told me, "You are my queen my beautiful queen, please go on a date with me!" Although it was probably one of the cheesier lines I've heard, I thought he was very sweet. I have not been able to go on a date with him due to extenuating circumstances in the house but that didn't stop the offer from being flattering. In all I would have to say this was probably one of the best birthdays of all time! What a great night!