Our First Week in Haiti

Before I get into the highlights of our first week, I want to point out that there is a new page on our blog with our contact information.  If you look at the top left hand corner, you will see two tabs.  The first is Home and will always take you back to the most current post. The second is Contact Information and takes you to a second page that has a list of the various ways to contact us while we are living in Haiti.

Now a picture of our family:

This picture was taken on July 4, 2013 - after our first full week in Haiti!

Our first week went well.  Rick and I started language studies with Met Jean Claude on Monday.  We each spend one hour with him on Monday - Friday.  Using the term Met with his name is a way of showing respect as this means Master.  He is a language professor at the American University in Les Cayes and is well respected in the community.  He is also referred to as Pastor because he is the pastor of a local church.  Met Jean Claude is a very kind man and he is quite patient with us.  He begins each lesson with us with a prayer; we are very thankful for him.

We feel that we are learning some language skills, but we will need to continue our studies  and practice for a long time to feel confident.  We can put some simple sentences together and are recognizing words and phrases, but when dialog becomes more complex, we get lost quickly. 

We have enjoyed good food from our cook, Madam Lorette, who will be cooking for us Monday - Friday while we are in Les Cayes.  She comes about 9 AM and begins by finishing up our breakfast dishes.  She prepares our noon meal (dine - pronounced dee-nay) and then cleans up the kitchen and leaves between 2-3 PM.  Her food is very good and I appreciate the time and care she puts into her cooking.  Most of the meals have some Haitian elements and some American.

Madam Jean Louie will come to clean and help with laundry 2-3 times per week.  Since our windows are always open (hurricane panes with screens), what we would think of as weekly cleaning is more like daily cleaning here.  It is amazing how quickly things are covered with dust and little bugs.

I am sure many of you are thinking, "What is Komari going to do with all that help."  Well, I am going to really appreciate the chance to focus on language and helping our children adjust to a new way of life.  Also, I will mention that culturally, it is expected of missionaries to hire household help as this provides employment in a country where unemployment can run as high as 75% of the population.  At any rate, we are thankful for the good help and pray that God will bless us with reliable help when we move up to Bonne Fin.

On Thursday, most of you celebrated our nation's independence.  I hope it was a happy and safe holiday for all.  We had more of a normal day here, but were invited to Randy & LaNae Meyer's cottage for a 4th of July picnic.  They had hamburgers and hot dogs, watermelon and many of the other traditional American picnic foods.  It was a fun evening.  

Friday was a big day.  Madam Lorette went to market for me where she bought many fresh fruits and vegetables.  This is something I would like to do with her or someone else sometime for the experience of seeing what is available and to see how she bargains,etc...  Here are pictures of some of the produce she purchased:

   

She spent most of the morning at the market and then brought the produce to our apartment in the afternoon.  She then thoroughly washed all the produce with clean water and a bit of clorox to make sure all bacteria, germs, etc... are gone!   

I also did a bit of shopping on Friday with Joan Reinhard who took me to a couple of stores in town.  These are small grocery stores with shelves stocked with canned goods and other non-perishables as opposed to the open-air market where Madam Lorette went to purchase produce.  The stores carry lots of American products, but they are very expensive - usually double the price we would pay at home.  For example, I bought a bag of Tostitos Blue Corn Chips for 230 goud or about $5.50.  A box of cereal runs about $7.  So, you decide what you really want and you make it last as long as possible.

We stopped at a Western Union Office to buy frozen chicken.  Nope, it doesn't make much sense, but this little shop has a Western Union Desk and a walk-in freezer for Tyson Chicken Legs from the US.  So, we now have 40 lbs of chicken legs.  The saying is that the Americans eat all the breasts in the US, so they send all the legs and thighs to Haiti. 

Joan also made a call to the Lobster (woma) man and the beef (bef) man to bring us some meat.  When we arrived home, Pierre, the Lobster man was waiting with a bucket of whole lobsters.  I purchased 5 lbs for 125 Haitian Dollars and paid him 625 goud.  Most of the vendors who come to your home or who sell in the open market give you the price in Haitian Dollars, but payment is made in Goud.  The ratio is 1:5, so you have to do the calculation before paying them.  Yes, interesting!  Pierre cleaned the lobsters for me and gave me just the tails.  I put them in the freezer to freeze before we cook them.  The tails are small, but will be just right for each of us to have one for a meal and should provide a few meals for us.

5 lbs of Haitian Lobster Tails

The beef man (I am not remembering his name) came on Saturday morning with a 10 pound hunk of beef that was still warm from the kill.  I put it in the fridge to age for a few days and turned it over each morning.  Madam Lorette cleaned the fat and grisel off today and then soaked it in sour orange juice. (zoranj si)  Zoranj si look like limes, but taste like very sour oranges.  We have a tree with this fruit in our yard up at Bonne Fin.  I am told the only use for this fruit is for tenderizing meat.  The price for beef was 270 Haitian Dollars for 10 lbs of meat, so I paid 1,350 goud.  This converts to about $32 US or $3.20/lb.  This was a bit hard for me since this meat is not even close to the John Baumgartner beef we are used to getting at home.  Sigh!

It was an experience to get the pantry and freezer stocked, and this gave me some resources to make a few meals that are familiar to our family.  Last night after a meal of Mexican Lasagna, Guacamole and Chips, and Mango Smoothies (some of our favorites at home), Mara thanked God for providing the resources for Mom to make some American food.  Ha - not so sure those foods would be considered American, but we enjoyed them.

On Sunday, we attended the church where Met Jean Claude (our language professor) is the pastor.  The music and singing was a bit louder than the church in Bonne Fin and a bit overwhelming for our children.  Joan did some translating of the service, so I was able to enjoy some of it.  Rick spent most of the service outside the back door with Krae and Selah who did not enjoy the decibels projected by the loud speakers.  We will have to get used to Haitian Church Services!  After a quick lunch at home, we listened to the afternoon service in Sabetha through online streaming.  It was a comfort to hear familiar voices and songs.

Overall, it was a good week.  We are struggling a bit with missing the comforts of home and with getting used to the heat.  The main room in our apartment stays rather warm, so we spend a lot of time out on our balcony where we can catch a bit of breeze.  Everyone has had a bit of heat rash, but poor little Selah is suffering the most.  She breaks out when she gets too hot and her little head sweats so much.  Her head was starting to smell a bit like yeast, so we wash her hair with some Apple Cider Vinegar and it seemed to help.  Hopefully, we can keep her from getting a yeast infection on her scalp.  Cool baking soda baths seem to help her heat rash too.  If anyone has other suggestions to treat heat rash, please let me know!

Right now, Rick and I are sitting side by side with our computers on the balcony.  It's a great place to work/study when it is not raining.  I will leave you with a picture of the view from our balcony in Les Cayes.