Trip Tales

I will share a few observations and stories from my trip.

The food I enjoyed most on our trip was the Monte Cristo sandwich that I had at Bennigan's in Miami.

The first day at SEED, we all had to dig a hole with the traditional Haitian grub hoe.

It's dark at night in Haiti. There are no street lights in Les Cayes and the power company stops producing power at 7:00PM each evening. There is very little light pollution like we have at home. Star gazing on the roof of Jan and Val's home at night is awesome!

It was amazing to listen to Doris Clotaire switch effortlessly between speaking English, German, and Creole.

We built fences for goat pastures. In the last 30 years I tore out way more fence than I have built. It was good to relearn the skill.

Outside of the terminal at Port-Au-Prince, porters, beggars, and merchants wait for foriegners to come out. They then descend upon you trying to "help" you, sell you something, or just get a handout.

It was a strange feeling to see soldiers in full battle gear, rifles pointed at you, and armored vehicles driving around. But it is also comforting to know that they are United Nations peacekeepers there to protect us.

All the corn they grow is open pollinated. They also grow a variety of pigweed (amaranth) to use the leaves as salad.

After all the warnings, it was amusing to follow a couple thru an airport security check who were trying to board with 2 cokes, 2 bottles of water, and a bottle of liquor in their carry-on. Nobody felt too sorry for them when it was taken away.

I carried a 3 oz. bottle of insect repellent (in my 1 quart zip-lock bag) thru 7 security checks, only to have it taken away at the 8th. Go figure!

I got to watch a young mama goat give birth to twins. Babies of all species are cute.

I'll add more later as it comes back to me.