10 fun things we learned this week...

Five years in and a lot of good time with friends this past week, and we're learning lots of new things about Haiti!

1) Octopus is "red cat" in Creole, supposedly only have 5 legs in Haiti, and are becoming very popular for eating because when boiled, they take on a "beautiful yellow color."

2) Hats with lots of feathers are always appropriate when going to a friend's house for dinner, even when it's a million degrees.

3) After eating a meal, it is best to thank the man for the meal and not important to thank the woman.  I think the thinking here is that the man paid for it, despite the fact that the woman cooked it.  Nonetheless, it irritates American/mildly feministic me :)

4) You should not have your baby unswaddled until at least 3 months (only the face should be showing!), and should never hold a baby under four months upright, for any reason.  Oops.

5) Horses are now ridiculously expensive (the most expensive meat) because doctors are saying it's the best thing you can eat if you don't have enough blood.  And apparently a lot of people don't.

6)  Even if you have lived in a community (Saccanville, for example) for 30 years, and even if the community you were born in is less than a mile away, you are not, nor ever will be, a "person of Saccanville."

7)  It doesn't matter how many guard-men or "Haitain" (small) dogs you have, you will have break-ins until you have one big dog that is known to eat people, even if no one can prove that it has eaten people, nor can remember the people whom it ate.

8)  After serving good family friends cabbage soup, pumpkin casserole and a flat bread, the whole group celebrated that I "can finally cook like a Haitian.  Bravo!"

9)  Agreeing to be a "paren" for a wedding (the best man, basically) means that you have financially committed to pay for the wedding party transportation, beverages, photographer, videographer, food...everything.  Should have realized this before Jonas's wedding next week.  Crud.

10)  If you go to the doctor, there is an excellent chance you will walk out of there broke and with dozens of medications.  One of our friends had a cut on his leg and had it stitched... and left with 235 pills.  235!  He's jokingly opening his own pharmacy in Saccanville.

Praising the Lord for all of the recent laughter we have shared with a lot of really fantastic people.  He continues to bless us with His joy in the journey.