Settling In...

Sometimes here its easy to forget that Haiti is a beautiful island in the midst of the Caribbean, a place in adjacent countries that people pay thousands to come to for a week’s break from cold and snow to the north.  A quick trip to nearby Taino beach on Saturday afternoon, and a closer nearshore reef today reminded me of that fact as I was caught up in the amazing world of Caribbean reefs and fishes just below the surface.  Just after entering the water I found myself hovering over a small patch reef with a beautiful small lion-fish a few feet away (sorry, I forgot the camera for that one).  The reef here is brilliantly coloured, with abundant corals nearshore and equally abundant red and black sea urchins everywhere.  It was quite a treat and a welcome respite from what’s above water.

Earlier saturday after hand-washing some laundry  we made a quick trip to market for a few fruits, laundry detergent and just to check things out.  Oh yes, Lisa was also looking to replace a broken DVD/VHS player and found a bunch of used ones selling from the back of a truck at the same as new prices in Canada.  Didn’t get it.  

Shopping here is a mixture of small mom & pop stores and the general town market, kind of like a farmers market or flea market back home, except on a much grander scale.  You can find just about anything at the market, from fresh fruits and veggies, to pig, beef and fish butchering on demand, to intricate displays of grains, shoes and various other odds and sods.  Its not for the squeamish, but smells aside, its a fun experience and not to be missed.  

Saturday evening we scoured the internet for a good wacky cake recipe and baked up two cakes to celebrate four children’s birthdays this month, which were enjoyed at a quiet party with family.  The kids enjoyed it and the cake was a treat as well!

Sunday morning we were officially welcomed to the local church and greeted warmly, then we spent the rest of the day lounging and resting before heading out for some goat at a small restaurant in town this evening.  It was great to get out and try something a bit different for a change, plus the moon was just about full so the walk home in moonlight was quite ethereal, reminding me of similar summer night walks from my youth... seems like a long, long time ago!

To round out the evening I got into a discussion with Keith, an electrician from Red Deer, down to help prep the Trade School project for upcoming teams and install electrical and plumbing.  We were discussing the pros and cons of really focussing on super-cleaning this place to bring it up to “our” standards versus the focus on people development of HAM in a really quite nice facility as it is.  Its an interesting discussion.  Its easy to get side-tracked by minor annoyances like a dirty floor or inadequate brooms or uncovered garbage bins and lose track of the bigger picture.  I think we need a lot of both, and Cathy & my part of the former begins in earnest Monday morning as we finalize preps for two teams arriving on Tuesday...