Just a Few More Photos...

....and just a few more pictures I forgot to post. ENJOY!

When we ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere... was very pretty at least!

Cap Haitien

At the top of the Citadelle, right outside Milot, Haiti.

On the tap-tap back home... getting sleepy! And trying to drown out the horrible serenade we were getting!

On the tap-tap.

Shortly before running out of gas!

Time to brush them teeth!

Lulu's Superman shoes... on backwards!

The twins in their ONESIES!! Adorable!

The twins: Michael and Mason

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Posted by Abra

O-CAP O-CAP O-CAP!

Abra and I have been in Haiti for just over two months now, and it's finally started to show.

Our four students are really showing progress. The two girls can finally read at a first grade level, they're able to do basic math in their head, and carry-over addition/borrowing subtraction on paper. And they can read clocks! The boys can write the entire alphabet (both UPPER CASE and lower case), and have just started on basic addition and subtraction. I'm just starting to associate letters with their sounds. They pick up most of the concepts pretty quickly, and I hope to get the girls going on multiplication soon.

Progress is there, but it hasn't come without some serious neck-wringing along the way. It's been a frustrating undertaking, but the results are definitely rewarding. I've also began work on a first grade curriculum that Trisha can implement when we go away. I'm creating day-to-day lesson plans, along with some worksheets that she can print off. But so far I've only completed 8 of 52 weeks. It's slow progress, and I have little free time to work on it. I'm a strong believer in education for these kids, and it astounded me that they hadn't had any sort of consistent schooling before we arrived. I thought a laid out curriculum would give Trisha something to work off of, and would increase the chances of school.

Well, those chances took another boost when we learned a few weeks ago that a twenty-something-year-old is coming to work here 'indefinitely'. He's set to arrive January 5th. And he seemed at least remotely interested in teaching. I just hope Ray doesn't absorb him into the construction crew, giving him no time with the kids. God knows these kids need a lot more attention than Ray and Trisha can/have afforded them, so to deny them the full attention of a volunteer would be cruel. There's also another twenty-something-year-old who offered to work here for a few months, though we have not heard any confirmation yet for him.

In an (admittedly conniving) effort to push my education agenda, I talked Abra into staying in Haiti until just past January 5th so that we could meet the new guy. This way I can continue to work on my curriculum, further cement my Monday-Friday 10:30-4pm school schedule, and recruit Michael to take over as teacher. I'm hoping to get the kids disciplined enough by that time that it's less of daunting task to hand over.

In other news, the kids all got haircuts the other day. Three of the boys are now bald, while the rest (including the girls) have crew cuts. Can't say I'm a big fan!

There's little new news on the election front. Manigat and Celestin are heading for a January 16th run-off. The election board said they'd have a recount, since Celestin beat Martelly for the 2nd run-off spot by just a few thousand votes. The UN added some pressure saying they would leave Haiti if they didn't honor the vote.

Two weeks ago, Abra, Ray, Fernand, and I went hiking in the nearby hills. We trudged through river and mountain side, and met many 'mountain people' along the way. It was really quite pretty up there, and some of the views were stunning. It's crazy to think these people live so far from town, and make the 4 hour march twice a week to sell their crop and buy the necessities.

I know this portion is flat, but the portion before wasn't! (For those of you who notice the tongue!)

Taking the higher road!

Fernand in his flip flops... a true Haitian!

The boys... Hans, Fernand and Ray.

Someone's mountain home

Abra shooting away...

Someone's kitchen

Mountain woman

Someone's house in the mountains. Was 2 rooms, the one right inside that door, and another separated by a curtain.

More mountain living

Mountain family... 2 adults, 3 kids, all living in a 2 room house. They showed me one room, and it looked like it served both bedroom and kitchen. Was about 6x8 feet.

On our way back home, we saw people washing their cars in the river. Just drive it right in!

Also, this past weekend Abra and I took a break from this insanity with a trip to Cap-Haitien, Haiti's second largest city, for a couple days. We left Friday morning at 6am, and caught out first tap-tap (pick-up truck turned shared taxi) to Pont Sondi, where we caught another tap-tap to L'Estere, where we caught another tap-tap to Gonaives, where we caught another tap-tap over the mountains to Cap-Haitien. The guy working the tap-tap collecting money hung off the back yelling "O-CAP O-CAP O-CAP!" most of our ride out of town. The entire trip took 6 hours. And 6 hours in the back of a pick up on a hard bench, squeezed together with 12 other passengers and all their luggage (and a chicken!), on a winding, pot-hole-infested road, is not fun. Not to mention, four people threw up during the ride through the mountains. We arrived at noon, and after checking in to our budget hotel, walked around the city for a good couple hours.

Garbage, garbage and more garbage! Anyone heard of a garbage can? Or littering? If the government ticketed for littering, they'd be filthy rich!

Nice illustration for the men and women's bathrooms...

The things people carry on their heads...

So many of the graves were dug up... and so many bones just laying around. Not many skulls, but this one the most complete one!

Rapidite Banks are everywhere... kind of like Starbucks in Seattle. They're really just places to buy loto tickets. So, if you win, I guess that's some RAPID cash!

Some Nepalese UN Police we came across in Cap

Can I have one?! Please?!

So much market... and in the background there is the Iron Market. Smelled real nice in there.... (sarcasm!)

Chicken sale

Our room, with shared (but not) bathroom right outside. Not bad!

 

On the tap-tap back home. Waiting and waiting and waiting to leave!

On Saturday we were out of bed by 7am, and on our way (via tap-tap) to the nearby Sans Souci palace. It was built by Henri Christophe in 1804(ish), after he declared himself King of Northern Haiti after the country won independence from France. However, he committed suicide in 1820, and the abandoned palace was reclaimed by nature. After that, we hiked the mountain to visit the Citadelle, his mountain-top fortress, for defense of his newfound Kingdom. 

San Souci Palace

At first, we attempted the climb by foot, but about 30 minutes of unforgiving uphill, we were exhausted, and I was too stubborn to hire the horses that the locals were walking behind us. It was steep, and we had only gone a fraction of the 7 kilometers. Lucky for us, a mission family was also visiting the Citadelle that day, and were driving up in their car, so we hopped on the back for a very enjoyable ride up.

The Citadelle was definitely worth the trip. It was massive, and the views were astounding. You could see all the way to the coast, and as far as the mountain range that divided Haiti from the Dominican Republic. What a mountainous island! We were one of four groups of visitors that day, and as one of Haiti's main tourist attractions, that's pretty sad. The site was hardly built for tourism, and we could walk anywhere in the fortress. Besides a few handrails in possibly the least dangerous portions of the fortress, the place was hardly maintained, and full of hazards. While climbing down a set of moss-covered steps, Abra took a slide down half the flight, and her camera took a hard landing beside her. The body is fine, but the lens no longer zooms smoothly and the manual focus doesn't  work at all. Tourism has (apparently) taken a hit since the earthquake, and especially after the cholera outbreak. In reality, it was already low because of the political volatility, protests, and general poverty.

The Citadelle, with it's boat like point.

Some of the views on the way up.

Views from the top of the Citadelle.... gorgeous!

Top of the Citadelle... don't fall!

On the tap-tap back to town.

The country is in a lot of upheaval, though very little of it is violent. Sure, you should avoid protests and mob-scenes, which no-doubt have existed post-election. But in general, Haitians are very kind and jovial people. Despite Ray's warning that "it's a war zone out there!", Abra and I never felt the least bit in danger at any point of our trip.

On Sunday we walked around the market, and town for a few more hours, before heading back to Verrettes. We found our taptap (Gonaives! Gonaives! Gonaives!) easily enough, and the ride back was a cinch. Except for our taptap running out of gas, and later getting caught in the rain, it was mostly trouble free. Sure, we banged our heads against the canopy a few hundred times, and we hid from the rain under a tarp (very illegal-immigrant-esque), and sure we had to listen to some God-awful singing for a good portion of our O-Cap-to-Gonaives stretch, but it was a good time.

So we're back at Kay Konfo, and back into the old routine. School is going on right now, as Abra and I tag team with the kids (until one is too frustrated to continue). The internet at the house is out, so we'll only be online rarely when we walk down to the local internet cafe. Lets see how long our sanity lasts this time before we need an extended break to Port-au-Prince, and eventually the DR.

Setting up the Christmas tree!

Posted by Hans, Photos by Abra

Life Continues: Thanksgiving and the Works

Same old same old at Kay Konfo (the Comfort House). School continues. The website continues. Trisha and Ray are back now from a nice relaxing trip to the DR (Dominican Republic). Hans and I keep pushing back our leave date as there is so much we still want to do! Everything has been eating away our time. It's really amazing how fast it goes. We've been here for 7 weeks now! We've started looking at flights too for when we leave the DR for S. America. The holidays are getting a little in the way of nice prices, but I think we'll be able to get something decent.

The Kay Konfo House (Comfort House), taken from the front. Gate to get in is behind me. The generator which runs our electricity is in the shed on the left. We just recently got new batteries, and they're amazing! Charge for about 4 hours, and they last sooo long! We've got 8 of them, and they're the size of car batteries. For all I know, that's exactly what they are!

Thanksgiving was a success. I cooked 2 pumpkin pies which actually turned out decent being that we didn't have probably 75% of the spices it needed! The crust was good too, which I also made from scratch! I wasn't too sure about the crust… it was pretty sticky when I put them in the fridge! Wasn't the sweetest pie, but it did the job, and definitely was no Libby's! (You were sadly missed Libby!)

Mama busy at work. She had already done the turkey and stuffing, and it was finishing up in the oven. And those are my make shift pumpkin pies on the right...

I guess plantains add the Haitian touch to our American Thanksgiving! Everyone was busy in the kitchen at one point or another!

Hans and Vladimyr prepping the plantain for Dado. Cut and flatten... I guess it makes them look pretty?

Dado frying the plantains. Li gou (it's delicious!)

Hans hard at work.

Our 23.5 pound turkey went in the oven probably close to 2 or 2:30pm… it needed 5 hours, so dinner was a bit late….! But, it was delicious at that! We didn't even carve out half the turkey that night. So, the next night, we enjoyed some more turkey. It lasted us about 5 and a half meals! Turkey salad sandwiches, turkey noodle soup… etc! I got the pleasure of carving off all the meat. Then, after we made the broth for the soup, I continued the process with my fingers. Was a gooey job… And, I was probably pretty discriminatory with what meat got to stay! The bones and mess I wasn't about to eat got tossed into the latrine in the back (the outhouse no one really uses… except Marioli because that's probably what she's used to at home!).

The boys waiting patiently for their turkey dinner. It was getting late, so we had them bathe before dinner. Once they're bathed, they run around in their underwear as not to get anymore clothes dirty!

Dado carving the turkey

Guess who got to pick all the little morsels of meat off the bones?!

The day after Thanksgiving, we woke up, had some yummy breakfast and Hans and I set out for St. Marc. We hopped on a tap tap and were on our way, camera at hand. St. Marc is a fairly small town along the coast, about 40 minutes (by car) north of us. I say small, but it's actually much bigger than Verrettes, where we are, which is a little bigger than a dot on the main road. It was nice to get away for even just a day. Get some fresh air... literally! The tap tap did that job well. Even for just a few hours, we felt like we were on the road again. It was a nice feeling, shadow hopping and all! We walked around the town, through the market, and eventually found our way to the beach. 

The market seemed very similar to the one in Verrettes, just a lot bigger! Besides the hoards of people, and wheelbarrows, there were also motos (motorcycles) we had to share the narrow path with! I took some photos, got some mean looks, and continued on my way. 

I was amazed at the amount of garbage there was on the streets in St. Marc. Piles and piles... kind of like a big dump. There also weren't any garbage cans. Could maybe explain it. Then again, even if there were garbage cans, whose to say they'd actually use them! Hans and I got some waters (which, instead of a plastic bottle, came in a sealed plastic bag, about 3"x5"), and when we were through with them, even with all the garbage around, I still couldn't get myself to add to the mess with my little piece of plastic. So, I made sure all the water was out, and stuffed it into my pocket until we got home. 

Once we got to the beach, we took a nice little stroll. Not quite the Venice Beach type of stroll though! Instead of seagulls, there were pigs (small and big), and instead of nice soft sand, there was garbage. If you could see beyond the garbage, it was actually quite beautiful. The sky and the water were such rich blues and greens, and the boats on the water so picture perfect. We walked along, trying not to get wet, or swarmed by too many kids. The kids run around in their bare feet on the gross rubbage and yell "blanc, blanc!" We were swarmed a few times by both clothed and unclothed kids. 

Soon enough, we came upon an open building a little back from the water with a bunch of animals running around. I believe it was some sort of slaughter house. Some of the animals seemed tied down, and many others were just roaming around the area. The smell got really bad, and we noticed people squatting all over the place. Must have been a designated "poo" area as well. Lovely. 

 

 

Buy our water, its Cholera FREE! 

 

 

 

The designated "poo" zone with butcher's off frame to the right.

 

Back at home, life continued. We finished all the cereal from Food For the Poor a while back, and have been making tasty warm breakfasts ever since! Oatmeal, cream of wheat, sweet rice (with milk, vanilla, sugar and cinnamon), "porrage," corn meal something or other. It's all been really good! I look forward to the day though, when I don't have to pick bugs out of everything I eat. We've consumed plenty of "meat without bones" as they call them here, since we've arrived. I'm sure my protein levels are high!

Usually we'll just pick the bugs out from the pot, as they rise to the top. But, sometimes, like with oatmeal, its hard to get them with the oats floating all over the place. So, we spread the oats out fairly thin on trays so that the bugs can walk away. It's kind of amazing how that works. You'd think it would attract just as many bugs as might leave, right?! Well... I guess they like the challenge of squeezing themselves into the bags or boxes of food to get in, and then they somehow can't get out anymore. So, laying it all out lets them go home. And, it works! You just have to leave it out for a long time! We usually end up cooking them up and after adding spices and what not, many times you don't even see them! It's just like they're not there! That's what we keep telling ourselves!

Hans inspecting the oatmeal for bugs.

We even found bugs in the popcorn the other day. I thought to make popcorn for movie day on Saturday, and was sure I wouldn't find bugs in the thick plastic bottle they were in. Then I remembered I was in Haiti. Everything has bugs. So, after picking through the corn kernels, I believe we made vegetarian popcorn. Vladimyr explained that the kernels themselves sometimes have bug eggs, and if not frozen for 3 days or so, they grow and soon enough, your sealed container of popcorn has tons of bugs. Meek is what they call them here. Vegetarian or not, the kids thoroughly enjoyed their popcorn!

Hannakuh started on the 2nd, and we found some birthday candles to light! They worked well! Were very pretty... but didn't last too long (maybe a good thing with all the kids around!). 

Sadly, we had to put Max down this morning. His back legs had given out even before we arrived in Haiti. It's definitely has gotten worse though since we've been here. His front legs were starting to give out now too, and he was collapsing more and more. It took great effort to get up, and many times, he just didn't, even if he needed to poo. He never showed any pain, and kept up his fight right up until the very end. He can finally be at peace. He was a great dog. A very strong, protective and loving dog, and he will be sadly missed... Hans and Vladimyr went to bury him at the new property. They will soon plant something pretty above him in his memory.

AND... once again, some more pictures purely for your enjoyment!

Babo wearing Dado's glasses during church. He'll take care of your taxes this year, no problem!

Look! No hands!

Elda and Darlensky's new shoes... the same day we bought them!

Underwear underwear... lots of underwear!

The BIBS lined up to dry between meals.

Dinner for 17.

Makin' MEATBALLS!

Cake! Made from leftover pancake batter most every Sunday.

13 PB & J sandwiches. The first course of our daily lunch intake.

 

Our Relive!!! Chocolate & vanilla supplement shakes to make sure we get all the vitamins we need!

 

Posted by Abra