Here are a few highlights/adventures/lessons learned/near death experiences … from our time here these last few months:
- Melissa’s nearly been steam-rolled while driving through a crazy intersection with no stoplight. (Who needs exercise when your heart rate can go through the roof just driving?)
- Ryan now has a Master’s degree in toilet repairs.
- We’ve had guests show up in the middle of the night by police escort fleeing for safety.
- We backed into a car-catcher (ginormous drainage hole that you can only be pushed out of by several strong Haitian men who are laughing at you.)
- We now know the truth about how a rooster crows (Our whole lives we’ve been told that they say “Cock-a-doo-dle-doo,” but that’s so not true. It’s never all five syllables, but rather “cock-a-doo-duuuhhhh” … and dies off as if the rooster gets too tired to finish his announcement. And they start up about 2 a.m. – not when the sun comes up, as we are all taught.)
- We have successfully bought floor cleaner off the street from a man coming up to our car window. (This is where you get the best deal in town on it.) I even knew enough to check to make sure it was sealed and not refilled partially with water.
- We have learned the proper technique for killing giant cockroaches. Just a quick, hard down and up motion with your shoe. If you leave your shoe down too long, guts will squirt out everywhere and your shoe will get all messy.
- We found out that when a Haitian says to you, “Wow, you’ve gained weight,” it is supposedly a compliment. It means that you are wealthier and have a lot of money to buy food. (This hasn’t happened to us yet, but I am just waiting for the day.)
- We’ve tasted goat, sugar cane, fresh coconut, a fruit called the kenep, and many new Haitian dishes.
httpv://youtu.be/aE2zEF3kIKw
Who knew that running a guest house included a package deal of all these things?
12 responses to “Only in Haiti”
Thanks for the ongoing blogging. Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving to your family! Please say hi to everyone! We miss you guys and are thankful for your love and support. Means the world to us.
This was funny.
The whole rooster thing I could relate with. One night in Haiti I tried sleeping on the roof (because it was so hot inside) and the roosters annoyingly kept me up.
Buying cleaner off the street while driving was funny too. Only in Haiti…
Nick! I was just catching up on your blog! Love the getting pulled over stories 🙂 Talk about a cross country adventure!
You will not believe this, but I was just explaining the whole ‘roosters starting up at 2:00 am’ to some friends tonight! Personally, I think they (the roosters, not my friends) start at that hour to see if any of their friends (the other local roosters) are up and strutting about at that hour.
I love reading your ongoing observation and discoveries of life in Haiti.
Holly,
That is awesome! I know – the roosters are completely on a different time schedule! Just another part and experience in the Haiti life!
– Ryan
Hi Melissa!
I really miss you. How’s Haiti? I know its hard to adjust to a different place. I am doing really good! How are you doing?
I read your e-mail! I cant wait till you come and visit! That would be awesome if you came to our school to say a little hello!
Have a great Christmas!
Happy Holidays,
Brianna Glynn
Merry Christmas you two!
Your Blogs have that twist of giving a real sense of being there as you experience life in Haiti. I know you’ll leave an incredible void when you come home, that will be difficult to replace.
Strange weather here for Dec. No snow, rain, a few cold days then a trace of snow here and there-feels like mid November.
So heres a Merry Christmas Greeting to both of you. May the Lord continue to grant you favor and strength in the New Year ahead!
Too bad you can’t train the roosters to say Allelujah!
Merry, Merry Christmas!! Truly, the Son of God has come, is now with His Father, and will come again.
Wish we could train the rooster! That would be awesome!
Merry Christmas, Ryan and Melissa! Funny, I learned the bit about roosters starting their crowing at 2am and pointing out that you gained weight being a compliment in just the couple days I was in Botswana visiting friends in the Peace Corps a few years ago. So I guess those are a couple things that span geographical boundaries. It is fun to keep up with your adventures in ministry with these posts!
Tom – Ahhhh, very interesting! The roosters are crazy, huh! It is great to hear from you! I always love thinking about to our college days programming away 🙂