Saturday Shopping

What a fun day of shopping! The Baptist Mission (which is about half way between GLA and Fort Jacques) hosts both an indoor and an outdoor market.  Inside there is a restaurant, gift shop, and flower shop.  Outside, (mostly) foreign shoppers barter with local vendors for the best prices.  Bartering can be a little overwhelming, as the vendors are quite convincing and you really have to set firm boundaries and stick to them (not my forte).  Thankfully, Molly did some negotiating for me in Creole.  I purchased a few small paintings, a couple of necklaces, some hand-carved wooden jewellery boxes, a metal napkin holder painted like a tap-tap (Haitian bus), and a Creole Bible. 

My credit card didn’t work at the restaurant, despite the fact that I called MasterCard a few weeks ago and informed them that I would be using my card in Haiti.  I asked them to kindly make a note on my file, so that my account wouldn’t get locked down when I tried to use it in a third world country.  So, I reluctantly paid cash for lunch, and you can bet I’ll be on the international phone at the Main House first thing Monday morning, straightening this out.

On the way back, we stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few items.  We all bought ice cream (which I’m sure my lactose-intolerant stomach will pay for later).  I also purchased some soy milk.  I’ve been putting powdered milk on my cereal in the mornings, and trying to spread out any other dairy intake, but after treating myself to chocolate ice cream, at least I’ll know I can eat cereal without having to worry about the lactose. 

Speaking of which... today I’m experiencing the first signs of any “indigestion” since I arrived (and I haven’t touched the ice cream yet).  All of the other volunteers have been sick in some way, including a few cases of what is known as “Haitian Happiness”, a 24-hour bug (usually), the most common symptoms of which include diarrhea and vomiting.  Please pray that I don’t contract a case of this!

Bethany, Becky and I have two new roommates! A mother-daughter team from Asheville, NC, arrived this afternoon.  Another volunteer arrives on Monday, and we’ll have a full house – all six bunk beds will be occupied. 

Looking forward to another day of rest tomorrow.  Until then...