Saturday I was invited to one of my Haitian friend’s house for lunch. Well, I got there and she wasn’t around. Apparently my Kreyol isn’t as good as I hoped, and she thought I was coming next Saturday. Well, she showed up, and as I am busy next Saturday, we started making lunch. First she took the heads of millet and she and her friend pounded the grain loose. I helped pound a bit, but soon blistered my hands!
Then they winnowed it and put the grain back in the “pilann” and pounded it with just a touch of water till the hulls and the thin skin surrounding the seed came off. It took about an hour and half of solid pounding till the grain started to crack. Then they winnowed it again and washed it.
After that I sat and stirred the pot of boiling “pitami” till it was soft. During the cooking process, I had to keep feeding the fire with dead congo bean plants. It was SO smokey sometimes! In the meantime, my friend made a sauce with a bit of meat she had.
I really enjoyed just spending time with her, and again was amazed at just how difficult it is for them to do anything, even cooking a meal. They have to get water – 20 or 30 minutes to go and come; gather dried plant material or chop up a little wood using an ax that the head comes off of; use a VERY dull knife to cut up any meat or citrus; wash out the kettle without soap; pound HARD for an hour and a half to prepare grain; keep the children and chickens out of the food because you are working on the ground; lean over a very smokey fire for an hour with your eyes running tears; then finally – after 4 hours – you can eat. And that is just cooking for one meal.
I got to hold her little boy while he fell asleep. He is such a sweet child, very quiet, but when he smiles he lights up!
That was my Saturday two weeks ago. This past Saturday Michael and I went out to Labich to visit some friends. It is a 2 hour drive on the four-wheeler. I didn’t get any pictures, but we had a good time. The Pastor there has a very nice family. I think his children are the most well-behaved children I’ve ever seen in Haiti. We came back Sunday after church,… and we got rained on. Oh well, part of the fun! The four-wheeler ride was great, even though I was stiff the next day. I loved being able to spend time with Michael!
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