The Life and Times of the Mangine Five

a few pics...

2009-07-11T23:31:00.004-04:00

My HAITIAN boys..... chowing down on the mangoes. (Which, incidentally, are from the trees in OUR YARD.)

Nia's cake do-over since Mommy was sick on her actual birthday we sort of had a cake fail.

We had the whole HCH team over, sang Hapy birthday and all that jazz... she loved it.

Then we had a "tracing party" where we got the Joy in Hope and the Haitian Children's Home logos drawn up on our gate to be painted. You should have seen the setup-- we had a portable inverter going from the Mazda battery to the projector and computer. The 4 wheeler was the projector stand. To move the logo to the right or left, you had to take the 4 wheeler out of gear and push it whatever direction you wanted. It was quite the party-- the whole HCH team just sat around watching Carrie do all the work.

Nia and Nick watched from perched high above on the roof of the Jimmy...

Night driving.

2009-07-11T16:46:00.001-04:00

We went to Friday night church last night. It's in English, which is nice.

But I know I am getting old because I HATE driving home afterward. My night vision is CRAP these days. But in my defense-- Haiti has a lot to do with it, for a number of reasons, which I will now list for your reading pleasure.

Why driving in Haiti at night is bad:

It's dark. Which, you know, is bad everywhere at night, but I had to start somewhere. And honestly, it IS darker here, because no one has electricity. So there really isn't any light pollution helping to light the way.
People in Haiti are outside a lot, and they too are dark. The combination of the dark night and the dark people makes it really tricky to see them.
Lack of streetlights. (Combined with the previous two-- you get it.)
Dust. The roads here are pretty bad, and very dusty. So there's a lot of dust kicked up in the process of driving. Headlights reflect off said dust.
While, I am on the topic of headlights... Headlights. Some people don't have functioning headlights. So sometimes, people drive with their blinker on instead of their headlights. Not because they are turning, but because every few seconds, it will light their way. Some people have REALLY wack, out-of-alignment headlights, some people only have one headlight leaving you not sure if it's a car or moto approaching. Most people who DO have headlights think they can see better by constantly utilizing the "brights" setting. Which makes it a joy to drive with others around.
Motos. Motos are everywhere in Jacmel. They weave in an out of traffic menacing others and causing wrecks.
The "roads." I think the fact that I put the word "roads" in quotation marks should say enough. But since I like to over-communicate, here's three descriptors-- potholes, lack of lines, potholes. (Oh, and a fourth would be-- potholes.)
Raras. It is not currently rara season now, but you still never know when you're gonna run into one. A cross between a "parade" and a "demonstration," these bad boys usually occur at night and make driving through them a bear. Plus there's the creepiness factor of them. Which is hard to put a finger on. But they are just kind of creepy.
Police checkpoints. Now, let me say this-- the US has police checkpoints too. And they are not a bad thing. Just the police checking to make sure everything is on the up and up, your papers are good, etc. But it's kind of unnerving because the police around here carry shotguns. Which, in reality, probably aren't anyworse than like the glocks or whatever that the US police carry. But they are bigger, which makes them look creepier. There are way more of them in Port Au Prince than in Jacmel, and for some reason, in Jacmel they don't unnerve me like they do in Port. (Funny side story-- one time in Jacmel I was behind three UN trucks and then all of the soldiers came rushing out and pointing their guns and hollaring and whatnot. I was freaked out abut then I realized they were just doing some training exercise.)
Okay, that's it for now. Can't think of anything else to say... I am sure I will think of more later.

It would not be an exaggeration

2009-07-10T19:19:00.004-04:00

to tell you that Nico has probably told me that he missed me 3 dozen times in the 22 hours that I have been home.

It would also not be an exaggeration to tell you that even so, I missed him way more than he missed me.

Being "the mom" has these moments of special grace where you just love your kids to pieces and can't get enough of them-- I am so thankful to be in one of those moments right now.

an update

2009-07-09T11:42:00.001-04:00

Hey y’all.

Many of you have been sending me messages asking me how I am feeling. We’ve kind of been dancing around the topic but we thought it was time to level with all of you. I am actually much better now, but I did return to the US for the last week to get some tests done, rest and try to recover a bit. It had been two weeks of being sick with no relief, and we felt like it was time to return to make sure there wasn’t something serious we were missing. (There wasn’t.) I started really feeling better Sunday afternoon, and have just been “normal old Gwenn” ever since. We’re thankful to live close enough to the US that it is relatively easy to be able to return if necessary. And we’re EXTRA thankful to Darla Gallentine, who took very good care of me.

So why all the secrecy? We weren’t trying to be secretive, as much as we were just trying to create some space for me to be able to rest and get well. Additionally, since it wasn’t time for one of our furloughs (we’ve only been in Haiti for TWO MONTHS, for Pete sake!), I thought it was important to try to avoid engaging with American culture too much. Our family is desperately trying to connect with our new home culture in Haiti, and I was leery about how too much connecting with things here in the US might impact my being able to re-connect in Haiti upon returning. (But don’t worry—I WAS able to see NON-stop coverage of the Michael Jackson drama.) And I did engage in culture enough to purchase some steak to freeze to bring back for fajita night this weekend. Haitian beef just tastes… weird. Kind of like a cow who eats trash all day long. I wonder why that is?

So—as I write this I am sitting in the Miami airport waiting to return home to Haiti. I am SO glad to be going back. I miss my family so much, and was surprised to realize, I missed Haiti too. I am looking forward to being home. I am well-rested and excited to FINALLY unpack my house! (I’ve been sick ever since we moved back to Jacmel so my house is still full of boxes, and just a general mess.)

(Anpil) kudos to my true love, Nick Mangine, who kept all the plates spinning in my absence. My GOODNESS I love that man! Just in case any of you were wondering, he’s BRILLIANT. He was meant to live in Haiti—and I just CANNOT imagine going on this adventure with anyone else.

I have missed him and my kids terribly. Terribly. Especially Nico. He’s been having some adjustment issues with me being gone, and I just can’t wait to squeeze him to pieces when I get home.

Thanks for your prayers. Now back to your regularly scheduled program.

Wow, really?

2009-07-06T19:39:00.002-04:00

The past few days I have been reading (again) one of my favorite books of all time, "Mountains Beyond Mountains," which chronicles the life of Dr. Paul Farmer who has accomplished many things on behalf of the "least of these." As a Harvard Medical Doctor, he gave all he had and persuaded to others to do so as well, all with the thought that quality medical care should be a basic human right, regardless of social standing. He's lived and breathed that mantra for the past few decades-- inspiring. READ THE BOOK.

That was just all the backstory-- here's the real story. After reading the book, I was reminded about a time last year when Farmer was on 60 minutes talking about what his organization (Partners in Health) has done and accomplished. And I remembered it to be a really moving piece. So I googled it at found it right away. I couldn't get the video to run since it was from over a year ago, but I re-read the story and yeah, got chills. This is a truly amazing man.

So time goes by and I start reading some of the comments at the bottom of the story. And a lot of them were really great, and a lot of them were getting a bit snarky. Like IGNORANT snarky. Let me offer you the direct quote on this one--

*****
Posted by: The Rock107 May 4, 2008 11:03 PM PDT: Dr. Farmer''s work is a ray of sunshine in a pretty bleak world.

Call me cold hearted but I think his program should include a sterilization program. The 45 year old woman with eleven kids with complications during her delivery infuriated me. No reason on God''s green earth for anyone much less an impoverished person to have that many children.

*****

My own commentary here-- hmmmm, yeah. Interesting thoughts. So provocative. SO IGNORANT. First of all the declaration that "no reason on God's green earth for anyone MUCH LESS AN IMPOVERISHED PERSON to have that many children." Wow. Really, The Rock 107, don't hold back. Tell us how you really feel.

I'd like to offer a meek suggestion-- that it is none of my dang business how many babies anyone does or doesn't have. None. Maybe there is at least ONE reason on "God's green earth" to have 11 babies... I don't know. I'm fixin' to have about 23 before this is all said and done. Just seems really idiotic to me to throw out a blanket statement right at the get go.

Next, I'd like to offer the suggestion, it's just a suggestion, that PERHAPS forcing people into sterilizing themselves in a country who takes GREAT pride in their children and their ability to bear these children would be a tad, well, like a violation of their human rights. This is also a country where 10% of children will die before the age of 4... Parents depend on their children when they are older to care for them. Start limiting that now and what happens to the social structure later?

And not for nothing, but this is a MALE dominated culture. People ask this about Haiti all the time, "a woman knows how a baby happens, why doen't she just stop having babies?" Listen up here people-- this is another culture. There is no "No Means No" campaign teaching boys how to listen to girl's limits. It's extremely male driven, where children are highly aware of sexual things at early ages because of the way women are treated. A married Haitian woman has no say over anykind of intimate relations. They are all decided by the husband. And she has no right to turn her husband down. It's just the way it is. Now, the North American inside of us starts to stand up and say, "Well, that's just wrong. Equal rights for women! No means No! Someone needs to stand up to this!" But that's just the thing-- THIS IS THEIR CULTURE. This is NOT our culture.

So for so many people to make comment after comment about how "gee, Paul Farmer really would have hit the nail on the head with this one if he only forced birth control on people..." it torques me. This is a man who traveled first as an anthropologist to Haiti to learn and know the culture. This is a brilliant mind who graduated Summa Cum Laude from Harvard Medical School and who runs a $50million/year non-profit, while living the majority of his time in Haiti... I am pretty sure that a "forced sterilization program" isn't high on his list of priorities.

It is my (albeit, uneducated) opinion that IF a sterilization program was to EVER be put in place in Haiti-- it needs to come from WITHIN, NOT from the outside in. Because we have a term for things like forced sterilization on a group of (usually poor) people. We call it ethnic cleansing. And it's kind of a no no.

Nothing says, "Happy Birthday America!" quite like--

2009-07-04T16:26:00.002-04:00

-- this.

What an interesting, interesting world we live in.

Please don't take this at ALL to mean I am not proud to be American. I love America.

Heck, I love Nathan's hotdogs.

I am just trying to picture looking back on this culture (and others as well) as an anthropologist many years from now. And I am laughing to think of what they'd likely say.

Six years ago today--

2009-07-01T20:09:00.002-04:00

this dad was born...

THEN:

NOW:

Happy Birthday Nia. And Nick, congratulations on a job well done.

Don't mean to jinx it--- BUT...

2009-06-30T16:14:00.002-04:00

I am feeling remarkably better today. I wouldn't say 100%, but after not eating for the past week and a half, I think that's out of the question to hope for. I ate some cornflakes and a banana for breakfast, and tiny bit of pasta for lunch (didn't want to push it), AND then a 7up AND then some more pasta a bit later in the afternoon.

I am so thankful for your prayers. Persist in them! Our Father is listening and answering...
:)

Still sick--

2009-06-29T19:07:00.002-04:00

Hey friends--

Again, my deepest apologies for the silence. Apparently I was not on the upswing after all. I am still sick, which is no fun in 100 degree weather. I actually spent the night last night at a local hotel so I could get some AC. (Thanks Nixon and Sandra for keeping the kiddos!)

Not to worry though, I am in contact with US (and Haitian) doctors who have covered the bases with meds and think I just have a nasty virus. I just need to let my body adjust to all the different germs and virus's that I am not accustomed to.

So, sick or not, I am going to work with Nick and Naomi tomorrow on unpacking a bit. I am hoping that rouses my spirits a bit.

Please pray for me to feel better soon. I am on day 11, and just plumb exhausted.

In other news, I have now lost somewhere between 20-25lbs, so I might actually keep a New Year's resolution to lose weight after all! (PS-- it's not worth it.)

I also ask that you keep my sister Melody and her family in your prayers-- more on that another time...

Love,
("the sickie") Gwenn

my 'hood

2009-06-27T18:48:00.003-04:00

all less than a five minute walk...

And.... we're back.

2009-06-27T15:01:00.005-04:00

Hello friends.

Miss me?

I missed you. I am finally on the upswing of this sickness thing and I am writing from my breezy and not-too-hot kitchen here in Jacmel. It's open to the outside with just bars as "walls" ON half of it (see pic, because it's hard to explain),

so it gets a good breeze, the bedrooms in the house-- not so much. I am finding that Haiti isn't actually as hot as I thought it was not that my fever is gone. Don't get me wrong... it's not like I am COLD... well, actually one night I had the chills so bad that I had to wrap up in blankets.

So what did I have?
That's an EXCELLENT question. According to the Haitian doctor I went to, I had malaria and some sort of gut infection. According to an American doctor who read the results, she said he didn't even test for malaria, and said he was probably just assuming I had it. So I finished the malaria meds today and am on Cipro and it seems that I am in the short rows now. I don't feel 100% yet, but after feeling anywhere from about 1%-16% for the past week, I am going to take my current percentage of somewhere in the high 80s%.

One of the big bummers about being sick when you're moving is that, well, one week later things still look like this:

And it's funny because Nahomi has no patience for it. Today when I was out of bed for the first time really moving around the first thing she said was, "Mesi Jezi, Mama Gwenn leve!" (Thank you Jesus, Gwenn is up!) Then she asked me if I was ready to inventory the supplies for the orphanage. (sheets, toothbrushes, etc..) I told her no.

I have no idea where my camera is in all this mess, but I am sure I will find it soon and have some life-altering pics for you.

The upside of being sicker than I've ever been-- I'm down 15lbs. Yikes. It wasn't worth it. I am going to have to re-think my idea of bottling giardia as a weight-loss product as an orphanage fundraiser.

Been sick.

2009-06-23T14:37:00.002-04:00

Sorry for the silence. I have been really sick. I *think* I am better today, just not 100% sure. :)

Please pray we could get some good unpacking done soon-- with me getting during/right after the move, things are chaos here. Chaos I tell you.

I wish that either my mom or my friend Kris Stoner were here. Both of them would know what to do next...

Update-- June 18, 2009

2009-06-18T21:51:00.003-04:00

Hello family and friends,

I am writing to you tonight from stormy Port Au Prince. I think the rainy season is here to stay in Haiti. It’s been raining every afternoon, storming actually. This is a blessing for many here in Haiti as they rely on collected rainwater to survive. It is a difficulty for many here in Haiti because it is greatly deforested. Even a little bit of rain sometimes produces great flooding and landslides. This leads to problems and makes roads at times nearly impossible, if not impossible, to pass.

This is our last night in Port Au Prince. Tomorrow we finish language school and move back to Jacmel. I am excited about this move for many reasons.

First, I am excited because it means we’re finished with language school! Mesi Jezi! (Thank you Jesus.) Language school has been a good experience for us, and we have learned a lot. We are both able to speak and understand Kreyol with some proficiency, but we both still need a lot of practice. Language school (and trying to live in a country where very few people speak English) has been exhausting. We’ve been in classes for 3.5 hours per day 5 days a week. Add an hour or two of homework everyday, and we practically had a full-time job just with language school. But, as life goes, ESPECIALLY in Haiti, language school became one of the MANY, MANY things that have been occupying our days.

Second, we’re excited to return to Jacmel to get settled into a home where we will stay (and NOT move out of) for the next 6 months. Since the last update, we were able to find a small home in downtown Jacmel that serves our purposes well. It is small, (2 small bedrooms, 1 bathroom), but it has a small, efficiency-type house in the compound where Naomi will be living, and where we will have access to a lot of storage. One of the unique things about this house is that we have an actual YARD, which is unheard of a city in Haiti—particularly in a downtown area. From our patio in the yard, we can just see the waterfront Port in old Jacmel. It’s very beautiful. We are happy, and very glad to be moving into one place semi-permanently. We will be looking for a larger home to rent starting in December when we will begin accepting children.

Third, we are excited to get back to Jacmel as we’ve been feeling a bit disconnected from our team. Although we have made some new friends in Port Au Prince and many of our team members have come visited us in Port Au Prince, it’s not the same as having them as our neighbors. And at this time especially, we’re feeling like we need to be pouring ourselves into community. We’re starting to feel a little homesick and honestly, a bit overwhelmed at the pace of life here in Haiti.

Let me explain that last statement a little more, because it’s not something I FULLY appreciated until living here. It’s hard to say this without sounding like I am complaining, but please know I am not. Life is just more difficult in Haiti. Everything, even simple things, aren’t simple in Haiti. For example, we need to remember to go get diesel and drinking water every day or so. If we forget and it gets too late—we’re just out of luck. No drinking water or fuel for the generator (we haven’t had reliable city power here in Port lately.) That’s not a huge job, but it takes probably (start to finish) a good 35 minutes. Because of the lack of reliable power for refrigeration, we have to shop for very little (perishable) foods at once. That takes time, and I am still at the point with language where I need Naomi with me to go to the market. That takes at least an hour and a half to accomplish several days a week.

Last week, tired of spending countless hours hand washing our clothes, we hired someone to come wash our laundry for us. Now, that seems like it made our lives easier. And in many ways it did. But then we didn’t have any water at our house. So we had to tote her (and all our laundry) over to team housing so she could have access to water. When she was done (literally, 10 hours later), we had to go pick her up (along with all our wet laundry) and bring it home to hang on our lines. The clothes took a day and a half to dry. It’s these kind of things that we’re adjusting too. Life is much more MANUAL here. We’re having to learn how to make do. For instance, the other day we really needed a plug to be able to plug in our generator in Jacmel and the hardware store was closed for the day. So we had a choice to make. Do we wait until tomorrow (and have no fans) or do we try to work something out? Nick chose to “work it out” and ended up using a printer cord, which he cut and spliced to the generator to make it work.

Finally, we’re really glad to be returning to Jacmel, because that is HOME for us. That is where we will be working together with our team to build Haitian families, and give life and hope. We’re excited about moving closer to the time when our family will expand. We’re looking forward to the time when we will be able to parent motherless and fatherless children. We’ve already had a few people express interest in placing children with us. (Which, incidentally, will not happen until December.)

We have had several answered prayers over the past few weeks:
• We were able to secure (and move into) a home in Jacmel that is within our budget.
• There was a team last week and this week that helped get our home cleaned up and repaired (as it is an older home.)
• We’ve (almost!) finished language school. God has given us grace as we’ve started to be able to understand and use the language.
• Our hearts have bonded with our helper (and future HCH Mangine head nanny) Naomi. We’ve had a few small miscommunication due to language, but for the most part, she understands us and we understand her. She has been very helpful in encouraging our kids to speak Creole. It’s getting nearly as likely that a Creole sentence will pop out of Nia’s mouth as it is likely that an English sentence will!
• God has provided safety and happiness for our family during our stay in Port Au Prince. Even in the midst of a few political scuffles in the city here and there (as tend to happen) we’ve personally witnessed NO violence or danger. God is our protector.
• Woody is home in Jacmel, and is doing very well. He’s able to walk short distances by himself with krutches.

We also have several requests as we move ahead with this next chapter in Jacmel!:
• Please pray for a safe and quick move tomorrow, with good weather and no problems or danger. (And no carsickness!)
• Please pray for our final transition. Our souls are weary from all the moving. Please pray that we’d allow our hearts to open to our new home and neighbors.
• Please pray that we’d continue to learn Kreyol quickly and come to understand the culture here increasingly everyday!
• Please pray for the Pye family.
o Yesterday they marked the one-year anniversary of the death of their precious son, Jabez
Please pray that God is near to their hearts as they are processing this difficult milestone.
o Danny will leave Haiti tomorrow for 5 weeks in the US to represent HCH at the “Summer in
the Son” conference. Leann will have the opportunity to join him for two weeks in the
middle of his trip.
• This length of time out of the country leaves some gaps in the ministry. Please pray for
our family as we try to stand in the gap, with Nick serving as Interim Leader.

Thank you for your prayers and support. We are going to do a more thorough financial accounting for you in July to let you know where we are financially. But just as a preview, know that things are going well for the most part. We’re currently receiving about 80% of our budgeted expenses in donations each month. That is a very good number, but we know for longevity, we need that to be closer to 100%. Please pray that God would provide that need, and I humbly ask you to consider joining with us in this way. For more info, email me at gwenn@haitianchildrenshome.org.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

With grateful hearts,
The Mangine Five
Nick, Gwenn, Nia, Nico + Josiah

Our new house

Our yard in Jacmel!

Nick, maneuvering through the chaos that is Delmas.

Beautiful Naomi with our kiddies!

The living room of the new Jacmel house.

Please remember.

2009-06-16T22:40:00.005-04:00

Please remember to include the Pye family (and the HCH family at large)in your prayers as tomorrow we pass the "one year mark" since Jabez passed away.

I will never forget the moment I got the call he was very sick and might not make it.
And then the call just moments later that he had died. Never. My heart sinks and my eyes weep even now as I remember.

Please pray that the presence of God is near to Danny and Leann... especially tomorrow.

Me: Remember that time

2009-06-15T21:17:00.003-04:00

that Josiah stood up in the back of the grocery cart in Megamart (Haitian Sam's Club) and reached for a bottle of whiskey and knocked it over and then fell out of the cart on his HEAD into the broken glass and whiskey? And remember the time it caused a big scene in Megamart and there were like 35 Haitians all wanting in on knowing what was going on while I was trying to get Josiah to stop crying?

You: I think I remember that. When WAS that again?

Me: Hmmmm.... let me try to remember. Oh yeah, that was today.

(PS- He's fine-- was just mostly scared. And he scored a new nickname... "Tafayete" (most likely spelled incorrectly)-- which means alcoholic.)

The view from our backyard...

2009-06-15T16:22:00.002-04:00

if you look close in some, you can see the ocean. OH YEAH! Literally woke up to the sound of the ocean the other day. Which wasn't great, because it meant we didn't have a fan whirring...

New house teaser pic!!!

2009-06-15T07:20:00.003-04:00

quick update!

2009-06-13T17:36:00.001-04:00

Two great things:

1. Ken's surgery went well. Very well. He's home resting comfortably!
2. We have a house in Jacmel. As in I am presently sitting in it. No, it's not the same one you all saw. It's great in all sorts of different ways. I will doing an extensive post later on in the week when I don't have such a headache... (Thanks to the team from Boulder, CO for cleaning yesterday!)

Thanks for reading.

Prayer request--

2009-06-12T07:26:00.002-04:00

Today Nick's father, Ken, is going in for a scheduled surgery. Please pray that the surgery is successful and easy. Please pray that he doesn't have pain. Please pray for Bev (Nick's mom) as she tries to help him recover.

Also, and I hope this doesn't sound selfish, because I know that not everything is about us, but please pray for our whole family today as we're far apart during a time we feel like being close together.

Correction: Nahomi, not Naomi

2009-06-10T21:44:00.002-04:00

Nahomi is spelled N A H O M I.

It now makes sense to me why it's pronounced "Na- ho - mee."

And here's the funny thing-- her full name is Caleb Nahomi. Her parents really wanted a boy so they named her Caleb even though she was a girl. Her sister is named Dominick. :)

A link to Nia's thoughts

2009-06-09T20:34:00.002-04:00

on the market.

And some of her pics.

I might have scarred her for life (and me) in the meat section.

Wow. Just, wow.

GO HERE TO SEE!

So, you know, I am a writer... no big deal or anything. :)

2009-06-08T20:33:00.005-04:00

One of the things that we have to do a lot of in language school is translate Haitian fairytales. It's apparently a book that many kindergartners in Haiti read. And our teacher likes it because it has a lot of Haitian idioms that people here often use. It's funny because some of the stories are a tad objectionable and contain phrases like, "move kou kong" which means "mad as h.e.l.l." (I spelled it so I didn't have to swear. Cause that's more appropriate right?)

So one of our assignments over the weekend was to write down a children's story that is common in the US. I am going to include what I wrote... Can anyone guess what story it is?

First one to guess correctly is the winner. But you don't win anything. Because I am in Haiti and I don't know how I'd ship it to you. But if you want to come to Haiti I can make you a KILLER pitcher of sitwon as a prize.

Here's the story:
*****
Lapan Pèdi, Tòti Genyen

Vwala, se te yon lapan. Li renmen fè wè anpil. Li di, “M kab kouri vit, vit, vit! Okenn bèt pa kab de pase mwen! M vle fè kous ak tout bèt. Kimoun ki vle fè kous avek mwen?”

Ti tòti a mache dousman epi li di, “Mwen vle fè kous ak ou.”

Lapan an ri, ri, ri! “Ou sòt! Ou pa kapab pase mwen!”

Ti tòti di, “Oke. Sa Bon. Men ou pa tè dwe fè wè avan ou genyen.”

Donk lapan an ak ti tòti a fè kous la. Touswit, lapa an kouri vit. Li preske fini kous la. Li te vle fè wè, donk li fè yon kabicha. Ti tòti mache dousman, mache dousman, mache dousman…

Lè lapan an te leve, li gade ti tòti prèt pou fini kous la! Lapan an kouri vit, men li pa kapab fini avan ti tòti.

Ti tòti a di, “Mache dousman lontan genyen kous la!” ☺

*****

Dude, mwen kapab pale Kreyol!

The Food Network-- GWENN (who learned from Naomi) style-- cherry limeade

2009-06-07T20:06:00.003-04:00

We have a cherry tree in our yard here in Port. It's not the kind of cherries you get in the US. I don't know how to describe them... they are smaller and not quite as deep of a red color as the ones in the US. Plus they don't have a super hard pit, they have more of a spongy kind of pit.

Naomi makes KILLER juices. She's REALLY good at it. The first week here she taught me how she makes sitwon (limeade) and this week she's been making cherry limeade often for me. It's. SO. GOOD. So we've been picking cherries everyday. About a bowl-full and 10 small limes makes a pitcher of juice. (Plus sugar, water and ice of course.)

Here's me making it:
First, you pick cherries and pull all the stems off the little cherries.

Then, you take a break to fan yourself because it's REALLY stinkin' hot here and we don't have power during the day.

Then you wash the cherries and put them in a mesh screeny thing and pound the heck out of them with whatever you happen to have nearby. I used a cup. Pound away for a little bit, then rinse the juice off the pits (through the screen) and "jete" (throw away) the pits. Repeat until all your cherries are juiced.

Next, wash the limes and cut them in half. USING THE CITRUS JUICER, Squeeze them through the screeny thing.

Add your juice to a pitcher with ice, sugar and enough water to fill it and then stir for a long time, because Haitian sugar crystals are bigger than the sugar you buy in the US and it takes FOREVER to dissolve. You could, theoretically, make some simple syrup, but if you don't have power or more than a handful of ice, you'd have a hard time cooling the drink in time for dinner since the generator doesn't get turned on until 6:30PM.

Finally, serve your juice and let not one, but TWO of your children spill the work of your hands all over the table within the first 3 minutes of dinner.

So that's how you make cherry limeade. Or, if you live in the US, you could just swing by Sonic. They have the good ice. *sigh* I miss Sonic...

The Food Network Naomi Style-- Chicken feet

2009-06-07T19:47:00.004-04:00

So we were at Delimart today and we were looking at the meat. Naomi spotted some chicken feet and asked me if I liked them. I told her no. (I have ACTUALLY HAD chicken feet believe it or not!) She told me she loves them. I told her I would get some for her if she wanted. She wanted. Tonight she cooked them up for dinner. (Full disclosure, we also had hamburgers... so we weren't relying on the chicken feet to nourish us...)

I am going to be honest. I ate two really small bites and I could only swallow one of them. They were all mostly this rubbery, bumpy skin.

Of course my Haitian son gobbled them up... the rest of us decided we'll probably steer clear of "pye poul" in the future.

Wahoo Bay

2009-06-06T21:14:00.003-04:00