Our Adventures in Haiti: 10 Adventures in 10 Days: #3- CRABS

Family and Friends,

One great new adventure this fall has been in the form of new pets for the kids, a crate full of crabs. Three of these little guys were inherited from Jackson and Talix, the kids who lived here this summer while we were gone. They are the kind of crabs who don't have a shell of their own but move from one seashell to another as they grow. Our kids have had a great time feeding them, naming them, racing and chasing them, and keeping track of their constant movements between old and new shells.

One day Alexandra accidentally left the lid open on the crate. Pretty soon the others went to check on the pets, and they were gone! A thorough search of the yard was made, but only two of the rascals were recovered. I'm sure the other one is still telling his new buddies out there in the world of his great escape from Al-crab-traz. Later that day a boy from the community came with an old jug full of six or seven new crabs for the collection, including one really big one. The kids were ecstatic!

Since that time there has been even more interest in the crabs, and the kids from the orphanage like to check on them as well. We have to be a little big careful, because one day Nesli threw one in the fire pit while there was a fire burning. Ouch! There is also the threat of being pinched by their claws. Elizabeth and Kenny have both shed blood after a vicious crab-attack. One individual we don't have to worry about is a crab the kids call “naked guy.” He doesn't seem to want to move into shell. Some call him liberated, others call him a rebel without a cause. Either way, when you open the lid he just runs and hides in the corner. I guess he's not completely comfortable with his nudity yet.

All the crabs are meticulously cared for and nurtured in their eco-friendly environment, which has been carefully designed to mirror their natural habitat. Okay, that's not really true. The truth is they live in a wooden box in the garden and from time to time we pour in a little water and throw in a handful of grass. None have died of natural causes, though! Some of them have quite a temper, and all of them are always quite crabby. I guess that is in their nature....thus their name. Don't try confronting them on their negative attitude, though. That makes them downright surly.

Are your days kind of boring,

     and your life somewhat drab?
Is your house antiseptic,
    like some medical lab?
Are you willing to open up,
     to venture out, take a stab?
Then make room in your home
    for a new pet, a crab!

Crabs are delicious,

     no doubt that is true.
Crabs can end up
     on buffets or in stews.
But crabs have so much more
     they can offer to you.
They'll claw their way into your heart
     if you allow them to.

Have you ever really gazed

into their beady little eyes?
Have you given them a chance
to make you realize...

That behind that hard exterior

are silent, desperate cries...
To come out of their shell
and refute all the lies.

Crabs are not crabby! Nor flabby or scabby!

If you give them an inch, the will never, ever pinch!
They'll come out from that rock if you just let them talk!
Next time you vacation, visit Haitian Crustaceans!