If it's realistic for Zambia, Swaziland or Angola, it could be realistic for Haiti too. At least 38 sounds more realistic than 62.good catch, MA. i did think that 38 was low but it did not sound completely unrealistic...
i do not believe those stories of old timers living over 100 years old, all the time. i spoke to few dominicans and each of them says their grandparents lived well over 100. i call BS. back in those days they had few documents confirming date of birth, if any. and most folks, especially in the campo, had no clue as to what year they were born.
You could be right dv8. I'm thinking it's probably very true with campesinos, some of them were probably never even registered. I can tell you that there's a guy who lives near us in DR who is 62, and looks about 90, I can see how it can happen that people think they are a lot older than they are.
But I'm thinking that the families from the Canary Islands/Spain/Europe - like your in-laws and mine - are a different story, I bet their records are a lot more accurate.
My wife has 5 aunts, and one great aunt that are still alive. The youngest of those is 81.