of the total economic pattern which we are gradually
getting used to.
 There are very few stores in Haiti which have a
 fixed price on their goods, and their prices are quite
 high. In Haiti it is just assumed that the seller
 doesn't hope to get the first price he asks and the
 buyer also doesn't hope to get the item for his first
 offer. Except for a stranger or tourist, both the buyer
 and seller know what the price should be, but it is
 a game to see which will hold out the longest or get
 the best of the bargain.
 Once you know what prices should be, it isn't
bad to bargain. I've tried it just for fun in the open
market and have gotten the price down to what it
should be with little trouble. When they say their
first price, I emphatically say, "Tropcher" (Creole
for "too much" or literally "too dear"). Then the
next stage comes when they ask what I'll give for
it. They refuse my price and I start to walk away-
their price comes down farther and farther as I go
farther away. When they hit my price, I turn around
and look interested and buy. But they usually have 2
prices, one for Haitians and one for Americans, so
it is better to have a servant buy for you since they
can always get things cheaper if they are good at
bargaining.
 We are thinking of getting a cook who can market
for us and save us money. We can get a good cook
for $8.00 or $10.00 a month, and then we wouldn't
have to get a gas stove immediately, since they cook
on charcoal. We just wish the culture pattern was
such that we could do it all ourselves, but here you
just can't. There are no vegetable markets, no 5 and
10 stores-each shop carries a different stock, in
many cases, and you have to "learn" each individual
store. We're not complaining-it's very interesting
to us.