Today was another wonderful
day! We started with breakfast at 7am, and left shortly after to explore
Pignon. On our way into town, we stopped by a neighbor's house where they were
busy grating yucca to make cassava bread. Ordinarily, they'd have been working
and singing through the night to prepare the tuber, but the rain prevented
that...even though they were running behind, they were happy to pause and talk with
us and even invited us to try the grating ourselves. Jaime stepped up for that
one and was a natural!
We saw so many different things as we walked through town: women washing
clothes in the river; a rum factory to see the various stages of boiling and fermenting
sugar water; men building caskets; a "gas station" where they sell
gas in gallon jugs (no pumps); a park that was built using earthquake money
(even though Pignon was not affected by the earthquake); a Catholic church; a
single spigot that currently supplies water for the whole town. Everywhere we
went, we were the biggest attraction--the children loved to call out
"Blanc! Blanc!" (white people). Everyone, young and old, gave the
most beautiful, warm smiles, especially when we attempted French/Creole
greetings :)
Our final "leg" of exploration was to walk through the local market, where every Saturday, everything needed for daily life in Haiti is set out for sale. We saw flour, rice, corn, candy, salt, soap, pots and pans, baskets, fruit, fried foods, fish heads, charcoal, freshly-butchered goats, and ended up at the live animal market where there were (live) goats, pigs, cows, horses, donkeys, and chickens. There are generally 1,000 little stands set up, with mainly women selling their wares, many of whom start walking (with their goods balanced on their heads) the day before. Going to the market is as much of a social occasion as it is a shopping trip for the locals--as much about trading gossip as food and other goods! It was quite the scene--and apparently, we were there on a "quiet" day.
After a short rest and lunch we headed back out for our first driving trip. It was a fun adventure into the heat for a visit to some man-made reservoirs, a sugar-cane mill, and back to the neighbor's house to watch a man bake the cassava over coals. You'll have to get the details of these visits when we get home, because I'm running out of computer battery and time, and this is already way long! It was a full day and everyone really made the most of the opportunity to see so many things and interact with so many people, even saving some energy for kicking around the soccer ball and throwing the frisbee with the neighbor kids before dinner. Good, thoughtful reflections as a group throughout the day and more formally after dinner. At the moment I am "working" while the group plays a wild and crazy game of Arriba next to me. I need to quit now so I can join the fun :)
Check out the shutterfly site to see pictures!
The process of loading them is pretty slow, but we'll keep adding bit by
bit--so keep checking back there. We send our hellos and hugs to all of you at
home. Final thought, passing along to you one of the many insights shared by
our group: we observe in the Haitian people (and are getting a beautiful taste
ourselves) the joy and peace that comes from treasuring the gifts of God:
living in the moment and enjoying the community that surrounds us. Our prayer
for you to experience that kind of joy and peace, too!
-Katie and crew
More photos: http://sotvhaiti2012.shutterfly.com
We saw so many different things as we walked through town: women washing
clothes in the river; a rum factory to see the various stages of boiling and fermenting
sugar water; men building caskets; a "gas station" where they sell
gas in gallon jugs (no pumps); a park that was built using earthquake money
(even though Pignon was not affected by the earthquake); a Catholic church; a
single spigot that currently supplies water for the whole town. Everywhere we
went, we were the biggest attraction--the children loved to call out
"Blanc! Blanc!" (white people). Everyone, young and old, gave the
most beautiful, warm smiles, especially when we attempted French/Creole
greetings :) Our final "leg" of exploration was to walk through the local market, where every Saturday, everything needed for daily life in Haiti is set out for sale. We saw flour, rice, corn, candy, salt, soap, pots and pans, baskets, fruit, fried foods, fish heads, charcoal, freshly-butchered goats, and ended up at the live animal market where there were (live) goats, pigs, cows, horses, donkeys, and chickens. There are generally 1,000 little stands set up, with mainly women selling their wares, many of whom start walking (with their goods balanced on their heads) the day before. Going to the market is as much of a social occasion as it is a shopping trip for the locals--as much about trading gossip as food and other goods! It was quite the scene--and apparently, we were there on a "quiet" day.
After a short rest and lunch we headed back out for our first driving trip. It was a fun adventure into the heat for a visit to some man-made reservoirs, a sugar-cane mill, and back to the neighbor's house to watch a man bake the cassava over coals. You'll have to get the details of these visits when we get home, because I'm running out of computer battery and time, and this is already way long! It was a full day and everyone really made the most of the opportunity to see so many things and interact with so many people, even saving some energy for kicking around the soccer ball and throwing the frisbee with the neighbor kids before dinner. Good, thoughtful reflections as a group throughout the day and more formally after dinner. At the moment I am "working" while the group plays a wild and crazy game of Arriba next to me. I need to quit now so I can join the fun :)
Check out the shutterfly site to see pictures!
The process of loading them is pretty slow, but we'll keep adding bit by
bit--so keep checking back there. We send our hellos and hugs to all of you at
home. Final thought, passing along to you one of the many insights shared by
our group: we observe in the Haitian people (and are getting a beautiful taste
ourselves) the joy and peace that comes from treasuring the gifts of God:
living in the moment and enjoying the community that surrounds us. Our prayer
for you to experience that kind of joy and peace, too! -Katie and crew
More photos: http://sotvhaiti2012.shutterfly.com
No comments:
Post a Comment