Up by 4am to get picked up by 6:30am and at the airport for 7:30am… at least the smog was somewhat decreased at the time we left. Though having said that, all of us have been wrinkling our noses at the smell of our clothing today. Guess Sunday is going to be a full out laundry day.
Our flights today: PaP to Miami; Miami to TO; TO to home… long day – and lots of up and downs. We are all still so dehydrated that we are likely to get off the plane looking like blimps due to water retention!
We managed to find the amazing Haitian coffee in the duty free shop in PaP, and then waited for a couple of hours to get on the plane. That flight was supposed to be ~1.5 hours but we got lucky and it was just over an hour.
We then were directed off the plane and into the lineup for immigration. For some reason they elected to send us to the US residents area. Which was weird because it was moving slower than the line for non-residents. But we figured “what the hell we have lots of time” (supposedly we had 3.5 hours)…Of course that took almost 1.5 hours, during which Tyra and Jasmine amused themselves by making up conversations for all of the people waiting in line. What was even more hilarious was when random strangers would add in their two cents.
Once through immigration, chaos ensued… it had taken us so long to get off of our flight, that our bags were already off and about to be loaded into the area for unclaimed luggage. We managed to rescue them, however Rick and Jasmine ended up being sent a different direction than Amanda and Tyra. Since they had no idea whether Jasmine was being detained again or what was happening, the girls asked where R&J would be exiting so that they could meet up right away. Unfortunately the airport staff was somewhat less than helpful (or knowledgeable!) and informed them that all passengers exited out the same way. Stationing themselves on either side of the doorway, they waited in vain for more than 90 minutes asking each staff member who came along whether there was another exit, or if there were people waiting for them, or how to go back to check… always with the same answer “wait here, and they will come”. Finally, about to miss their flight, they sprinted through security (which resulted in being stopped and scanned more thoroughly because the staff was suspicious about drug running or terrorism or something) and booked it over to the departure gate (which was of course in a different terminal – nothing was easy today!). Meanwhile, Jasmine and Rick had been sent to a separate area for oversize or suspicious luggage so that her bags could be x-rayed. This area had a long line and a separate exit, so by the time they made it to security, R&J were sure that A&T were already through and waiting on the other side. Scanning the crowd constantly was doing no good, as the girls didn’t appear. Asking staff members if they had seen them was no help either, as no one knew anything about anything. Once through security (which took an hour) they searched for A&T to no avail… Finally Rick said that they must have decided to look for them over at the departure gate. Jasmine was sure that they wouldn’t have left the building without her… but with no means of verifying that, they headed over to search the other terminal. After checking the departure gate for them, a search of the terminal proved fruitless, as Jasmine wracked her brain for anyplace that they might have been interested to stop. Finally after walking the terminal a number of times Rick went and waited at the gate certain that the girls would show up. Jasmine continued walking through, sending mental vibes. With only 50 minutes before the plane was to leave, Jasmine finally asked the departure gate staff to start paging the girls. Of course they didn’t hear it, stuck in the no man’s land between immigration, customs and bag drop off. Thankfully the girls arrived at the gate with minutes to spare… and even managed to grab something to eat.
On board the flight to TO the three of them decided that they needed a drink to settle down, so wine was the order of the day.
With ice!! Since on the flight from PaP, the steward was an ice nazi, declaring that it was bad for your teeth and refusing to serve it.
While in TO we found a little café to sit and eat a final meal together before Amanda headed back to Winnipeg and everyone else boarded a flight to SK. After such a long day everyone was running on empty and just eager to get somewhere to go to sleep. Thankfully flights were running fairly close to on time and no one ended up missing a flight or losing luggage.
So now it’s off to sleep on home soil.
Lots of love,
TRAJ
Author Archives: admin
All Saint’s Day
Early start today as we left at 7am to head out to the live animal market (which is only held on Fridays). Since today was a day off for most people (as it is All Saint’s Day) the roads were pretty quiet comparatively speaking. Along the way we passed the tent city which now looks completely different as there are many wooden shelters that have replaced them. 
Amazing what happens over a year!
Once at the animal market we explained the process from animal purchase to slaughter to dehairing to dismemberment. The market too looks different from last year, with walls and concrete partitioning between sections. 
People can go to this market both for food (poultry, fish, ruminants, pigs, rabbits), as well as to buy work animals (horses, mules, oxen) or for growers (cattle, sheep, goats, pigs) or for companion animals (cats, birds). As always no one wanted us to take photos there as they are afraid of the PR repercussions.
After wandering around watching for awhile, we clambered back into the good old taptap and headed towards the desert and Haiti’s biggest lake.
This is where the fish fry from the production farms are taken to grow. It was odd driving through this area as it was so dry and sparse compared to everything else we’ve seen. Two little boys decided to make friends with the ‘pastor’ believing he would give them riches… boy were they disappointed when all they got was one of Jasmine’s granola bars.
We had a great conversation with Lelia (who had the day off!! YAY!) about trees, cacti and birds.
Back into the taptap to head to Bois de Bouquet to look at how they create the iron art. 
Much to our amazement this area has been changed completely, with paved walkways, garbage cans, and painted houses and fences. Can you say ‘tourist trap’? It looks very clean and modern… of course Phillip ended up wandering into an enclosed space where he heard some drumming. This meant that we inadvertently ended up in a voodoo All Saint’s Day ceremony. Luckily the high priest was very friendly and quite willing to talk to us and show us around – away from the ceremony. So we were escorted very politely but firmly out.
We then had asked to go see the Cimitiere (main cemetery) where the continuation of the Nuit noir (dark night, ie Hallowe’en) ceremonies meld with the All Saint’s Day festivities. Along the way we stopped and bought some sugar cane… which is kind of a messy process to eat (basically you chew on it to get all of the moisture and sugar out, and then spit out the pulp). Jasmine managed to irritate another driver, as she was dropping handfuls of pulp out of the taptap thinking it was biodegradable and so was ok. He got quite worked up about ‘the blanche’ who was littering in the street (obviously he has never actually taken a look at the street and the amount of garbage collected).
The roads to the cemetery were a little rough and so it was no surprise that when we got there it was a wild crowd. We got as close as we dared; with crowds and agitated Haitians all around we deemed it safer to retreat and leave the celebrations to the masses.
We had asked Pierre-Richard if he minded us seeing his home, and so he took us to show off his home (where his family has lived since the earthquake in 2010). The area is gorgeous with lots of trees and on a hill, and his family is lovely. The slope to get there however is gargantuan, and so it was with difficulty that the vehicle made it up. Amanda fell in love with their newly adopted kitten, and started planning the medications even while we were sitting there.
Once we left there all that remained was a quick stop at the grocery store so that we could buy water, chocolate (for the peanut butter squares that Amanda made), and baby formula (for the guy Jasmine met in the store – yes she is a sucker). Then home to finish packing and make dinner.
It’s hard to believe that our trip is almost over… we are up by 5am to make sure that we are ready by 6:30am to head to the airport for our flight home. Unfortunately the Haitian airport is somewhat less than efficient at times.
We have had trouble with both power and internet since being back in PaP, and so have not managed to put pictures into most of the blogs yet. Not to fear, this will be done ASAP.
Lots of love,
TRAJ
Today Was a Very Dirty Day
Somehow it seems as though time is going quickly and yet standing still…
It is hard to believe that we have only 2 more full days left here in Haiti and yet we have done so much that we all are wondering how we fit it all in.
Today dawned early, as we had no power or water from early last night, and at some point in the middle of the night the generator failed… so the fans all stopped. Too warm makes for a restless night, but thankfully around 3am the power came back on. Of course then it went back off around 5am, just as we were getting ready to do things like make breakfast and upload pictures. 😉
After the morning power yoga session, there was time for quick showers (yay for water!!) before getting ready to head off to meet the head of veterinary services for the Ministry of Ag (Dr. Max Millien). Anticipating traffic we arrived over an hour early (which was an exhilarating feeling in Haiti!), however felt a little guilty, since when Jasmine went in search of a washroom to calm her nerves his secretary wound up interrupting him in the middle of another meeting in order to let him know that we had arrived.
As it was we got in to see him 45 minutes early – a first for our time in Haiti! The meeting was a short explanation of the vet services plans for the future and what they would like from us as a group.
It lasted just over an hour, and then we were on our way… Tyra was fascinated by the alligator that the Ministry elect to keep in the front pond of the building. Of all mascots, it seems a little odd for a country that doesn’t much like reptiles…
Our next stop was the dept of geology’s map group to pick up another few maps… it is a strange environment… there is almost like a time warp going on – you enter this space where no one seems to be doing anything, and yet the room is full of people doing “busy” things. Around 45 minutes later “poof” you have a map. We haven’t yet figured any of it out… perhaps it is related to Narnia… or the land of Oz.
Our last stop on our time out was Agronomes et Veterinaires Sans Frontieres (Agronomists and Veterinarians Without Borders) which is a blended group of the French chapter of VWB. We had a chance to quickly talk about some of the projects that they have going on but unfortunately the vets were all out in the field or out of the country at a conference and so weren’t available for a serious discussion. Next time….
Over the few hours we had been out, we somehow had managed to collect so many layers of smog that even scratching mosquito bites left your hands blackened. Yuck. Needless to say coughing left black bits…
Once home no one was immensely hungry (we ate smog all day… lol), so the girls conducted their daily ritual of unpacking, evaluating and repacking bins. Of course this may have to occur again tomorrow… so really why do they do what they do? Kind of like the question “why did the chicken cross the road?” (the answer to this changes every time we see a chicken… crossing the road. lol)
After the bin packing Amanda headed off for a nap, while everyone else congregated on the roof. Rick read his book while Jasmine and Tyra desperately tried to remember what they had put in the newly repacked bins. They then started making a wishlist for next trip.
At some point tummies were rumbling enough that Jasmine headed in to start dinner, luckily there has been a tremendous amount of culinary assistance! After a chicken curry and peanut satay meal, Rick and Amanda played a couple of games of crib, while Tyra busied herself sterilising the kitchen, and Jasmine madly tried to catch up with some of her doctoral project. The card game was the most successful endeavour. 😉
Anyway, tomorrow looks like a freer day, so hopefully there will be enough power that we can upload photos!
Lots of love to everyone,
TRAJ
Culture Shock & Shopping
Hello all,
We hear winter has arrived back in the North so stay warm, safe and secure!
This morning was a bit of a lazy start comparatively speaking, with a session of kickboxing and power yoga on the roof, followed by an amazing breakfast of hashbrowns and cheesy scrambled eggs cooked by the phenomenal “giantess” (a nickname given to Amanda by one of our clients in Seguin) and Tyra “the fit one”.
We then headed out to a number of bookstores in search of creole learning materials and a couple of other items… of course we found them in the last store we visited (ironic eh? lol… Seriously it took 4 stores to get them). We then went shopping in the largest grocery store in Haiti, which has 5 armed guards in the entry way to prevent “lesser class” from entering. Amanda asked if we were even in Haiti anymore, as it was so different from everything else we have experienced while being here. But that’s Petionville for you.
We then popped into the Haitian version of a fast food restaurant to pass a little time before going over to visit Michael and St Joseph’s School for Boys.
It’s amazing how fast the place has changed even since last year. It was great to see all the success and development.
We had to deliver some donations from another group who had been there over the summer – which of course were gratefully accepted. 🙂
We headed off to the Iron Market to let Tyra and Amanda see the art market… to a certain extent it was a bit overwhelming… and very hot. We all became a bit delirious with dehydration. Anyway we became an instant hit, as we bought a fair amount in order to be able to hold another auction next year.
On the way home we stopped at a local veggie market to pick up the last few items for dinner…
The sun oven used for cooking beans
and as a mini-celebration for the creole books had blackened fish for dinner, along with a mango-pepper salsa. Now we need to shower… being downtown has us all feeling disgustingly dirty…
as the smog is quite thick.
So now we are just having a political discussion… attempting to solve all of the problems of the world. The internet has been very slow. So we haven’t been able to upload any photos. Hopefully tomorrow…
Anyway, take care for now…
lots of love,
TRAJ
Another Day, Another Clinic
Today dawned bright and early… but interestingly without roosters. Maybe that is why the cook is trying to grow all of her eggs into chicks instead of feeding them to us… lol
Explaining what should be heard when auscultating…
After packing everything so that we could leave immediately after the clinic, we headed over to Alphonse’s house, a local community leader who had graciously offered the use of his land and a covered space.
The set up
He and his 3 brothers are quite active in the community, and their wives are part of Lelia’s project.
We had another veterinary agent working/learning with us today, so that makes 5 people in total that we have started training since being here.
Double teaming
So at least we have done some of what we had hoped.
Additionally we treated ~95 animals and had some good discussions with owners regarding improvements to animal welfare.
Take your meds!
Teaching
Afterwards we were rewarded with an amazing view of the hills and the valley that leads to PaP AND an amazing lunch.
We treated the kittens again, as well as Jim’s neighbour’s dogs. Jim’s 4×4 was then packed fuller than it had ever been, between our gear, us, and the cook (who was coming to PaP to visit a sick relative in hospital) who brought 2 months groceries in for her children who are currently in PaP going to college.
It made for an interesting 5 hours as objects continually fell and bopped people in the head in the back row, while Tyra and Amanda had to hold themselves in constant isometric positions so they didn’t fall on the gear shift. Everyone (other than Phillip) was so stuck that they were unable to drink, and wound up completely dehydrated by journey’s end. Jim even stopped for oranges at one point but accidentally blocked off the road right beside the police station, leading to a friendly discussion about driving responsibly.
Once back humdrum activities such as unpacking, laundry, making dinner and various other odds and sods had to happen, as well as planning the rest of the week’s activities and meetings. This included uploading all of the week’s blogs… pictures have to wait until tomorrow when we are less tired and the internet is less loaded (ie we stop crashing).
Hope you are all doing well…
Lots of love,
TRAJ
Moving Right Along
Hope everyone is doing well and that the weather hasn’t been too unbearable. Today was another travel day, as we moved from Mare Rouge to Seguin in preparation for the next clinic site.
This morning we packed up and breakfast was spaghetti… Jasmine was less than impressed after only being able to eat one meal in 48 hours.
On the way out we stopped at Carola’s house (which was fairly impressive as it had been renovated to encourage tourists to come to the reserve to visit). She offered us coffee, which though is grown in Haiti, is all exported. The coffee drinkers were very enthused. She would have sold us some, but we decided to wait until our next trip and actually visit the area to buy a bunch (dreaming of course!).
The road was… watch the video. There is really no description for it. Those with a queasy stomach may want to take gravol beforehand. Remember those IMAX movies from when you were a kid? Welcome to ours…. Our 30km drive today took us 3hrs.
Arriving at Jim’s house in Seguin (Jim is our contact here from the Fondation de Seguin) we were all glad to get out of the vehicle – and were again impressed as we stepped into his home. It feels palatial compared to what we expected to have originally (we thought we would be camping). After unloading and saying goodbye to Denel, we threw everything into the house and headed off to check out the clinic site for tomorrow. After some intense discussion, including some belligerent refusals to work on a slope (by Phillip), we finally managed to decide placement that should work so long as none of the animals are too excitable.
After all of this excitement we wandered back to the vehicle eating freshly picked bananas… yum. It was a nice treat.
Back at the house we discovered that lunch was ready, so we headed down to the cook’s house to eat. If we were impressed by Jim’s place, this was even more amazing. While there, the 3 girls were distracted by a litter of tiny kittens that obviously needed treating, and so spent the majority of the afternoon debating appropriate protocol and dosages since all we had to use were large/food animal drugs that didn’t have any small animal doses listed. It didn’t help that the rainstorm prevented looking things up on the internet (which supposedly we have access to here!). Thankfully, Amanda’s colleague helped confirm our protocol for these wee little kitties!
Given the intense rainstorm, Rick and Phillip opted to read, while the girls played a new game called Qwirkle with Jim. It started out incredibly confusing… as no one really understood the rules. So we invented our own and had a grand old time!
Once the rain stopped (of course after dark), the girls wandered back down the hill to treat the kittens and give instructions to the owner. Then it was back up the hill to eat protein bars and nuts for dinner before turning in to bed. It is 8:30pm… We get up with the sun and go to sleep with the dark here. It is a good rhythm… and we get lots accomplished before the stress of the rest of the world weighs in.
Lots of love,
TRAJ
Exploration
The individuals with whom we share a dorm are oblivious to the laws of physics… especially the laws concerning the speed at which sound travels and the time/space continuum. If you understand what we mean that’s great… otherwise ask us in person.
This morning was spent writing a complete professional report for Helvetas… first in English, and then translated into French. We made it pretty with graphs and everything.
Meanwhile, Tyra and Amanda created a close relationship with the bathroom facilities last night, which continued into the day. We all seem to be suffering from a little food poisoning from something on the trip. Luckily it has not stopped anyone from participating fully in any of our activities.
Everyone except Amanda (who opted to read a book to give her knee a break after performing like a mountain goat on testosterone yesterday) went exploring in the area… it is beautiful country and we found many of the animals we have treated over the last couple of days.
After lunch we then clambered back into the lovely 4×4 vehicle to traverse the now painfully bumpy road. We have started to recognize many of the locals on the route that we travel, and ironically the first individual that the girls recognize is the boy with no pants (he always wears the same shirt!!).
We had the opportunity to see one of the lakes that has been created for holding water to provide a drinking source for livestock during the dry seasons. 
It was leaking and so we discussed the potential problems and solutions. We then were headed to see the beekeeping project underway in the area and wound up in an interesting traffic jam on the side of a steep cliff. 
With no space to spare between either the semi-truck or the side of the mountain, Denel managed to maneuver his way through. Cheers for amazing drivers! (We have a video of the roads so that you can see exactly what we have been referring to.) Of course it had started to rain at this point which made the visit to the bees somewhat short. We have been promised an opportunity to see them in the morning on our way out.
Once back we finished the last details of our report and then headed for dinner. We were somewhat disappointed to find that it was stale toast, scrapings of PB and burnt hot chocolate. However, at least when we got back to the dorms there was the first real hot showers of the week.
We are all somewhat exhausted from the last few days so we’ll sign off here and write more tomorrow.
Lots of love,
TRAJ
We’ve Surpassed 300 Animals!
So another long day over. Another day of being flexible… Another day of learning that developing a program such as ours is complex.
This morning started off with several gurgling bellies… we went back to wishing Jasmine was cooking. And were grateful for the last minute addition of good quality toilet paper into the supply packs. While food has been available, we are not always sure what we are eating and often wonder later…
The toilet…
This morning we clambered into the 4×4 to head to the first workshop. These workshops are part of Helvetas’ 3 year plan for agricultural improvement in the area. This group has been very active here since 2003, and working on production improvement since 2009. This was one of their education modules (first of 6) for the farmers in a particular zone.
It basically discussed the importance of proper feeding/water/environment, and proper animal choice with regards to successful animal production.
Since this was their first session we simply sat and listened to the discussion, adding in a few suggestions now and then. 
We had a bit of a downhill hike to get there, which an interesting uphill trek to get back to the truck. We all wished we had the legs of a mountain goat more than once.
Prior to making the trek down
We then came back had a nap and some lunch and another nap before running clinic number two.
Taking a nap
Amanda has become the sheep whisperer… making sure that Jasmine was not a liar when she told the university class that Amanda specialized in exotics animals including sheep. 
The horses were crazy and numerous…
the cattle were insane and also numerous…
the goats were wimps with their injections… 
it was a crazy day with almost 160 animals treated in less than 3 hours. We had to stop because it was getting dark and we ran out of medications.
Our last patient was the most stoic horse ever, with a major abscess (and possibly a fractured leg) from a wrangle with a cow horn. He had waited the entire clinic (he was one of Jasmine’s first patients) to be treated since it was going to take so much longer to diagnose. We did a whole diagnostic process on it for our interest, and wound up sending the owner home with oral antibiotics for the horse. Hopefully it works!
We then decided that we should repack boxes, shower and eat… so then we could do a round robin of massages. Unfortunately we all seem to be falling asleep before it’s going to happen!
Hope everyone is doing well!
Lots of love
TRAJ
We Are Actually Veterinarians!
After all the confusion of the evening meeting yesterday, today started with a little frustration as no one was quite sure what to prepare for, for how long, or what to expect from the day.
Waiting to head out
Breakfast was quick, and then the entire group of the Helvetas veterinary agents, the vet group from the Ministry and the 5 of us from VAST, clambered into the same small 4×4 and headed into the mountains to three different vaccination posts. Unfortunately the roads haven’t gotten any better and we were all sore and bruised from yesterday… sigh.
Helvetas had poultry (Newcastle disease) and swine (classical swine fever) vaccination clinics set up in 3 different areas. We were working at the furthest one and then of course took the longest, so everyone else finished up their clinic early and had to wait for us.
We ended up setting up and running a regular clinic – treating 142 animals altogether in 4.5 hours. Unexpectedly, the ratio was somewhat similar to last year: way more horses than anticipated, a few pigs,
lots of cows and an insane number of small ruminants. Our teaching workshops will actually be tomorrow morning and Saturday morning.
We also have another health clinic tomorrow afternoon, and since we did not anticipate what we are doing, we have to make some adjustments… always good to be flexible!
It really is a good thing we are all able to roll with the punches, and that we all like each other. By now the frustration would have caused some bloodshed otherwise!
Right now we are all starving… meals have been at awkward times and so we have not been eating properly (no one’s fault!)… so are daydreaming about food. Always a bad choice right before bed.
Anyway, hope that everyone is doing well!
Lots of love,
TRAJ
Travelling
After a little bit of a sleep in, a great workout and some breakfast, it was a little bit of a scramble to get our personal gear organised to leave PaP. Luckily all of the medical supplies had been packed yesterday, since we kind of lost track of time. Of course the biggest incentive to leaving was the news that there had been some uprisings that needed to be squashed.
Trying to get all of the gear for 6 people plus meds for 3 clinics into the Land Rover was a bit of a challenge even with strapping packs onto the roof. Trying to fit all of us into the vehicle was also interesting… everyone now feels a little bit closer to at least one member of the group.
Stretching our legs
The first leg of the trip was not too bad, with beautiful scenery and interesting conversation. We stopped in Jacmel to pick up a huge ice block for keeping anthrax vaccinations cold (which the guy loading it on to the roof of the car simply carried on his head and then did a shoulder press/plyometric leap to place it in position… it was amazing), and then along the beach for lunch.
Lunch on the beach
The beach was beautiful, the waves were inviting, and the weather was perfect… which meant it was difficult to get back into the cramped car. If we had realised how bad the roads would be for the next 5 hours we may not have! Think the surface of the moon… after a particularly awful landslide… on a road created by individuals capable of walking up a 90 degree incline. Needless to say we were relieved to arrive, grateful to be in one piece, and astounded at the driver.
The fog was crazy
Once at the Helvetas project headquarters we were given about half an hour to settle into the amazing dorm rooms before heading over for a debriefing with the government vet and the Helvetas project coordinator. There is some very interesting work being done… but we’re unsure how they need to use us. It wound up being a very looooong meeting, and so dinner was a quick bowl of soup before heading over to have a hot (YAY!) shower before bed.
Lots of love…
TRAJ
Getting Organized
Wowsa…. we are excited about not having to wear a coat.
So we heard that there was snow back home this week… we are melting in the heat. Not that anyone feels badly for us, we’re sure. ;P
So far we have mostly managed to avoid insane numbers of mosquito bites… however that is likely to change tomorrow when we head to Mare Rouge, and then on to Seguin. The areas are more thickly forested and at higher elevation… so Phillip keeps telling us that it will be cold as it is only going to be 23 degrees during the daytime and possibly 15 degrees Celsius at night… hahahahahaha… he doesn’t understand cold obviously.
So today we went and picked up meds…
Buying medsit was interesting trying to explain to the pharmacist that no, oxytetracycline is not penicillin or vitamins or dewormer or some other randomly coloured liquids sitting on the shelf. Or that we don’t need 8 different types of oxytetracycline because really…. they all do the same thing. Nor did we need multiple vials of cleaning products. Then the attempt to pay him was complicated as there was considerable confusion over whether or not the total cost was in Haitian dollars or goude (a difference of 5 times). We were concerned that we wouldn’t have enough money… and then couldn’t figure out how everything was so much more expensive. Then he belatedly told us it was in goude, which calmed everyone down somewhat.
After this exchange we went for a quick visit with our old friend Dr. Bob Joseph. This was highly successful but highly stressful as he opted to randomly use us to motivate his class to stay in school and not resort to less savoury methods of earning a living. This meant standing in front of the room to talk… which really only Amanda and Rick enjoyed… but Jasmine had to translate for them which caused much consternation. especially since Amanda’s short speech involved telling the audience that she specialised in exotic animals which Jasmine chose to first mention snakes (which are despised and feared due to voodoo here) and then had camels stuck in her head (because Phillip has started calling her the camel doctor)… needless to say the students were quite confused. Especially when she then said that Amanda also worked on sheep, birds, and sometimes cats and dogs. Then Rick fired them all up with a speech about how the future of Haiti was the students themselves and that only they could make a difference and fix all of their country’s problems… this was the spur for a couple of hard hitting political questions. Definitely some politicians in THAT class…
Onward to the map shop… ironically we got lost several times over the next hour trying to get to the map shop… it was hidden, kind of like in Harry Potter where you have to be a secret-keeper to know where it is. But we made it… and bought more maps than we will ever use in this time or our next lifetime… but at least it was all worthwhile.
By this point we were starving… so we decided to eat out. Of course at the slowest restaurant in PaP… where it takes 30 minutes to pour a glass of water, an additional 45 minutes to receive food for 2 people, and then 30 minutes for each additional person’s food.
Enjoying our first taste of the award winning Haitian beer “Prestige”Two and a half hours later Rick managed to eat (of course he was the hungriest…). Thankfully we now LOVE each other’s company so managed to entertain ourselves by questioning the level of iodine deficiency of the staff involved.
Of course this also meant that by the time dinnertime arrived no one was hungry which meant a later than usual evening… it’s already 8:45pm and normally we are in bed by now!
Too long at lunch meant that a number of our errands had to wait… hopefully we can get them done on the way to Mare Rouge.
Medications and supplies are packed for our trip and clinics – we leave at 9am in the morning. We are unsure about internet while we are away, but if we can we will continue to update, otherwise we will see you in a week!
Lots of love to all,
TRAJ
Loving the Roosters!
Roosters are great… when you are already awake. Of course the roosters in Haiti are very happy animals. They crow in the evening, they crow in the daytime, they crow because it has stopped raining, they crow because the power has come on… they alert us to all kinds of things! Right now they are happily alerting the world to the fact that they are alive. We should all have that attitude. 
The dogs in the neighbourhood too are making themselves known… too bad Jasmine doesn’t have time to work on her PhD project! 
So we have great news from the government… they approve our program so highly, that they would like to make us a partner with their official livestock promotion programme!! It’s always nice to have efforts recognised, even if they don’t come with financial assistance. At least this way we won’t get shut down.
Today is an organisational day… we will be buying meds for the trip and touching base with a number of contacts. Hopefully we have the opportunity to see a little of the city as well.
Yesterday was an arrival and introduction to society day. Surprisingly during the trip Jasmine was only stopped and searched once… Tyra was stopped and searched once… and then on arrival Jasmine got to explain what we were doing here. All in all very uneventful – THANKFULLY! Keep praying!
Can YOU find the baby? (hint… remember we are vets)
Stops to pick up various household items, a small argument at the grocery store, a disagreement over whether the new American bills are real or fake… and a goat curry for dinner rounded out the day. Almost like a regular day. 
Anyway… we should post before we lose power again – the electricity was off for a few days and finally came back on in the middle of the night so who knows when it will go off again. Lol… at least there is water and a generator for things like the fridge and fans.
We are all excited about the things to come! Hopefully we will get some pictures posted when the internet is a little less wonky.
Lots of love!!
TRAJ