This Little Pig Went to Market

Day 21 of our Haiti Adventure!

Family and Friends,

Had a great time at the market today haggling for some fresh produce.  I almost decided to try the shrimp but held back, not being sure if that was a good idea or not.  They just looked so good!  Anyway, we had a great weekend and are truly enjoying life down here in Haiti.  It still gets up to about 90 every day, but it cools off pretty well at night for sleeping.  The main bonus is the people.  They always surprise you with their humor and love of life.  As we learn the language the personalities become even more accessible to us.

The big election in Haiti was on Sunday. It is such a big deal here that they called off school on the Friday before the election and at least the first three days of the week following. The US Embassy sent out an email to us and the other Americans registered here letting us know to not travel in Port-au-Prince and to watch out for demonstrations and riots. Candidates have been known to do some strange things here, such as paying mobs of people to make a scene and prevent people from voting.


In youth group Saturday night we had a mock election with two of the guys pretenting to be presidential candidates. We even made posters for them like the ones plastered all over the countryside. They had a debate and at the end we had a vote. It came back tied. Good thing we aren't Florida in 2000 or Minnesota in 2008, or youth group would have come to a standstill for the next several months.

We learned what the Bible says about submitting to the leaders in power over your country, referring to Romans 13 and I Peter 2:13-17. We had a good discussion and ended the night praying for the election, the leaders, and the safety of everyone in the country in the days to come. It will be interesting to see the whole thing play out and how everyone responds to the results.  This recent vote was actually like a primary, so the big one for President will be coming later.

Let's check in with the family and see how they are doing...

Cory: Kids, what have you been up to lately?

Kester: I play with the kids in the orphanage. We play with the football. I read them some books in english. We went to the ocean, and there were huge waves, taller than me. I had so much fun I wanted to swim more and more. I like the beans and rice with chicken. My best new friend is John. I gave him a bracelet and he said, “Thank you.” The thing I miss the most right now is pizza.

Elizabeth: I like to play with my stuffed animals. Sometimes I read to Rose. I play with Alexandra, and I take her to the bathroom. I like the bread a lot. I usually have just peanut butter on it. Kester and Alexandra have peanut butter and jelly. I miss pizza, too.

Alexandra: I've been waiting for my baby blankey to come back from her vacation. I like swinging on the swing with Dad and playing with Elizabeth and Kester. I'm getting less scared every day. I really like Lucy. She's nice. Rose is nice, too. I miss pizza, but I miss Baby even more.

Cory: Lynn, how has your week been?

Lynn: My week has been good. We've been picking up creole a little bit each day. I've been trying to be creative in the kitchen with limited supplies. Today I mixed a can of crushed tomatoes, a can of soup, and some spices to make a spaghetti sauce, and we put it on rotini pasta. Cory cut up some of the local bread into slices, spread on some butter, and added a little garlic salt. It was a nice little meal.

Cory: We keep having visitors at night...a cat and/or a dog who find some way to squeeze through the 3-inch opening that runs alongside the iron gate. They knock over the trash and look for scraps, leaving a nice mess to clean up each morning. We don't exactly want to put the garbage in the house and feed our army of ants either. So my plan is to buy a huge pot roast (or at least some fly-covered hunk of meat down at the market), cook it, and leave it outside one of these nights. I figure after the varmit eats all of that he won't be able to squeeze back through the gate and we'll have him caught!

Elizabeth with baby lizards

Kester and John, best buddies

God Bless You and Yours,
The Grimm Family Adventurers