We went to a soccer game today! So fun! Grant (who is a missionary at nwhcm) runs a sports ministry down here, and we got to go with him to a game. He has helped with not only the soccer team, but he is also working on getting a basketball court put in next to the field. It’s pretty cool to see how is ministering to so many guys through sports! He is a charismatic fun loving guy, who will pry end up living part time with us at the campus when Port de Paix gets up and running.

Grant and Brandon in official fans jerseys (of course the Haitians loved this!)

The boys giving them a "go get 'em!!" talk

Since he is the VP of the team(and he loved to remind us of that!) he got us all inside of the field for up close and personal seats. It did cost a few dollars to get in, since they were two professional teams playing.  It was ASSL vs. Gonaives. Not too many people paid to get in, put plenty of people stood on roofs, cars, and fences so they could watch the game. They even bring in police to make sure things don’t get too crazy.. watch out for those wild soccer fans!! GOOOOAAAALLLL. We did win. Woohoo!

Wooohooo!!

We went to the market yesterday, and got some fresh fruit. It was exciting, scary, new, and fun trying to navigate our way through the streets and figure out what we were doing.

These are the fruits we got. They do look a bit different.. can you guess what they are?

Left to right:

Grapefruit, banannas, pinapple (with the stem, I had never seen that before!) mangos.(we just ate two, they were SO good!!

So, I am thinking gardening might go differently here. Mainly, cause God does most of the watering in a place like Haiti-and since that was the number one way I killed my plants, I figure they have a better survival rate here! My mom gave us some seeds as a going a goingaway present, and we have already put them to good use. It wasn’t easy tracking down the materials though. We are learning to scavange and be resourceful. So, for buckets we used recycle tins from canned food the kitchen uses, and we bougth a huge red wash tin from the local market. This tin is for my cucumbers so they have room to grow. Then, the harder part was figuring out where we could get soil-free from trash and other nasty things. We found some in the back part of the campus and had to hoof it back up to the roof. But, it’s all planted and ready for God to make it grow!! There is no lack of sunshine here, that is for sure!

It works a little differently in Haiti. There are no seat belt laws-or even seat laws really. Since you really need a truck to get around with more than two people, and for further than a few miles, that is what is used. Some are regular trucks, others are army trucks. They have to be able to navigate narrow streets, roll over large rocks, go through rivers and huge puddles, and carry lots of people, or shipments. Then they just nail wood into the bed on the truck for seats. So, this is how we get around Haiti. A picture is just an easier way to explain…..

The secret to not flying off the sides is to throw luggage on each others feet, and hold on tight!

I love snacks. I am a ‘graze all day’ kind of gal. I like to eat small meals all day long. So, when we packed our bags to come here, I had to use all of my 100lbs for many things, and that didn’t include snacks. Well, apparently, they are harder to come by here than I thought. So, I just shrugged it off, knowing I couldn’t do much about it. In the meantime, I made friends with the cooks. There are about five full time Haitian women in the kitchen. They don’t speak very much English, so we are working on trying to communicate. But, there is a women cooking back there who is white. She is from KT, and she has been here for a month. She is so sweet! We have become friends, and during the coarse of chatting, she found out my plight. Being a mom, she naturally looks out for all of us living here anyway. So, sure enough, the next day, she had a stack of snacks she rummaged up!! I have never been so excited for granola bars, top ramon, and cashews!!

Notice the one flip flop….

This is a program that nwhcm does every weekday at 4pm.  It is just as it sounds. They do a feeding for the gran moun (elderly people) in the afternoons. Everyday at 4pm. There are usually 40 or so there. Then, they take some meals in canisters and deliver them to some elderly who cannot make the trek to get a hot meal.  There are only about five they deliver to from this program, but so many more could use it. It would be a hard job deciding who would get a meal delivered and would not. So, I just tag along when I can to meet people, learn the streets and get outside of the compound everyday.