Last night, I watched the premiere episode of No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain. I have been a fan of his show for years. Anything combining my two loves, travel and food, is must see tv.
I remember I was reading Mr. Bourdain’s first book during a flight to St. Maarten with Mr. 1969. When we landed in the airport, Mr. 1969 said “There goes your boy.” I looked at him like he was crazy. “What are you talking about?” “Over there, look, it’s the dude on the back cover of your book.” Sure enough, there was my crusty, Tony Bourdain, rocking a pair of shorts and a shirt, chain smoking in the St. Maarten airport. I always regret not getting him to sign my book but my years of hotel training will not allow me to disturb anyone on vacation. It’s rude! LOL
Last night’s episode took us to a post earthquake Haiti. The images of the devastation and poverty made me cry. In one scene, they stopped to sample a plate of food from a street vendor. The vendor was surrounded by hungry people and children hoping for a leftover meal. Bourdain and his crew couldn’t sit there and eat while all of the hungry children stood around them. They decided to purchase all of the food from the vendors in thehopes of feeding all of the children. Their good deed turned into a melee. As he said last night, you can’t be shocked when “hungry people act like hungry people”. The chaos that ensued as they all tried to make sure they got some food was heartbreaking.
The fact that I can walk into my kitchen and have food at my fingertips made me truly appreciate my blessings.
In addition, I had no idea that Sean Penn, the actor, was actually still in Haiti. He has been living surrounded by 50,000 displaced people in a tent city and working with them. He has been there for months. It’s one thing to write a check but he is there, living and working with the people with no fanfare.
I recommend watching this episode and seeing what is really going down in Haiti. The people are still fighting hard and have so much pride. They are trying to rebuild with no money, no food, no resources and no leadership. I know everyone has moved on to the next cause but there is so much work to do in this country and you will gain a better understanding of the situation.
Good job Bourdain.
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