Day on the town

On Saturday we went out to Ti Guove, the closest "big" town. A two hour ride on rough trails in a Bobcat UTV holding a baby isn't exactly what you'd call a real comfortable ride! But as usual, it was pretty interesting. I'm always fascinated with all the ladies carrying big bundles on their heads, often balancing it there without the help of hands, gracefully walking along the incredibly rough trails without looking or stumbling. And then there's often groups of children hollering and waving at the "blahs" (whites), often yelling that they want us to give them a little blah! Of course there's always a large assortment of animals--donkeys, skinny mules, emaciated horses, chickens, goats, cattle, and an occasional sheep. And at times we're riding just above a dizzying drop-off, plunging down the mountain to meet the valley a great distance below, then up, up, up again to another mountain ridge. The trails varied from slippery, sloppy mud to loosely piled rock to cement tracks laid for the vehicle's wheels.

Once we arrived in town the amount of people became dizzying indeed. Motos raced this way and that, heedless of danger or pedestrians. Big vehicles came charging through, laying on the horn and expecting everyone else to move out of the way. We drove through the melee to the market, parked, and hopped out. Oh yeah, we needed to change some money. I volunteered to hop back in the Bobcat and watch the backpacks while Jere, Anita, and Jaron went off to get some Haitian money. Ah, then we were for sure ready to go shopping! Inside the clothing section it was actually pretty quiet. I thought the people were less pushy and quicker to wait for an opening in the crowd than in the Latino markets I've been to. Also very different were the huge baskets of girl's hair things set out. In the center was usually a stack of a beautiful assortment of ribbons--Anita said they were for the school girls. Around the edges were a colorful array of barrettes and hair bands and clips and headbands and other assorted bright, useful hair things. There was a utensil section, where they sold garlic masher things and banana smasher boards and graters made from tin cans. And there was the plastic section where they sold laundry hampers and trash cans and kivets (something like a large plastic basin--often what they use to carry things on their heads). And there was the food section where they sold all manner of fruits and veggies and bullion and rock salt and pasta, etc. We even walked by the outer edge of the meat market, with a stench enough to turn even my stomach.

But at last our shopping was done. Hungry, thirsty, and tired we headed out to find something to eat. We found a small roadside stand where they had food ready and had some lunch. Then we went off to the beach! As you can see from the pictures it wasn't the cleanest beach. I found it actually quite disgusting. But the boys enjoyed playing in the water a bit, and I enjoyed hearing the waves.

 

 

You can see all the trash on the beach in this picture.

 

A dugout that came floating by.

The Bobcat UTV that does most of the transporting around here.

 

A view from the trail's edge on the way home. Those gardens are at least as steep as they look!

 

We arrived home safely just before dark, tired and weary and glad to be back! It had been a very fun day, though. Sometime, then, in the middle of the night I woke up to a noise. I was wearing earplugs as I usually do here in order to cut the noise from the dogs, goats, cows, and roosters that are determined to stay up all night, and also the early morning noise from the clinic next door. But somehow the scratching cut right through the earplugs and I instantly knew what it was. A rat! Just above our bed, it was attempting to chew through the insulation in the ceiling. I woke Jere and he ran out to grab the broom. He said he saw it peeking through. From my vantage point all I could see was the insulation moving some. Before Jere could even get close with the broom we heard it scampering away across the roof. Shiver. I could hardly sleep the rest of the night!

 

Sunday we stayed home from church. We were all tired and the children needed some time to recover from the trip. We listened to an English message together. Or, at least we tried! Partway through the message we heard that the baby born on Thursday night had come to church this morning with a fever. Um, did I even mention about the baby? He was born Thursday evening, after a long and strenuous labor, to a first-time mom. I was privileged to be there for the birth, which quickly turned intense when the baby was born not breathing. We worked on him for quite some time, but he pulled through and seemed like he was going to be OK, despite being unusually sleepy. Anyway, yesterday morning they brought him back, feverish and breathing hard. Being we were right next to the clinic I worked alongside Michael, the clinic director, to give the baby a little eat so he could give it medication, bathe it, and then try to teach Mom how to nurse. Till that was done it was time to get lunch going for the crew, and I didn't get in on any more of the message! Later in the afternoon Anita and I went over to the clinic to work at helping Mom nurse some more--only to find she'd figured it out and was feeding the baby beautifully! Please keep praying for them. Baby's mom doesn't seem to care about the baby, except to resent it. Baby is still sick, which is quite touchy in a newborn, and we're not sure the mom or grandparents will follow the directions to feed and medicate once they get sent home this afternoon. However in our little clinic which will be majorly short staffed when both Michael and Virginia leave tomorrow for a visit home, we don't have the personnel or space to keep patients in the tiny little "hospital" room. We've done what we can.

 

Well, it's high time Jaron get going on his schoolwork, so I need to go. :-) It's a busy day here again, as Mondays usually are. And a bit rainy, unfortunately for we who need to get our laundry done! But we're glad for the rain, as it's been dry for rainy season and the cisterns are running low.