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