Bones

“The longer you have those things on, the more they hurt. It makes you forget all that’s bothering you.” -NY Times (link below)

In Haiti we played all the time, everywhere and at the drop of the hat. The best games were away from the camp, on hot, music filled Caribbean nights with the locals.

Losers clip clothespins to various parts of their bodies. Winners get to remove pins from earlier losses. Everybody tells stories, drinks rum and laughs.  

After a couple hands AND drinks AND clothespins the game would start rolling. Cries of “WHISH” (ouch) and “OH LA LA” followed by deep belly laughs increased in frequency and volume, until someone couldn’t take the pain or the drunk any longer. 

It hurt to play but you missed out if you didn’t. That’s life in Haiti.

NY Times - For Haiti’s Jobless, No Cost to Play. But Losers Pay.