Christmas Time in the Tropics!

As you can see we put up our first Christmas tree, complete with 6 ornaments! We have done our best to decorate our house and get into the Christmas spirit...despite 90 degree days and no bright lights decorating our neighbors' houses! Chris and I took our second walk to the market today, which is in Port Margot, a couple miles down the road. This picture gives you a good idea of what the roads look like here. Notice the lush vegetation and palm trees hanging over the road, isn't it pretty? The roads are rocky, but walking isn't bad. It is fun because we often see our students along the way or meet someone walking the same way who will talk with us as we go. Today we walked with Matthew, a man about 30, who walked all the way with us, and was willing to talk Creole with us. Below is a picture of what we bought last time we ventured to the market. The large green things are breadfruit (kinda like potato), avacado, plantain, tiny potatoes, black beans, and Chris's new machete, that he is very excited about. Most Haitian gardeners carry around a machete so once Chris gets some dirt on his he will fit right in!
We and the Thede's were blessed to be invited over for lunch at Pastor Emmanuel's house last week. His family lives about a 20 second walk from us, and we have gotten to know him through our English class. It was such a neat experience. They had prepared a ton of food (which is typical when dining as guests in a Haitian home) and Pastor Emmanuel had actually written out a speech for us in English that he shared, thanking all of us for being here and encouraging us. It was such a unique thing...he has really shown us care and been a true encouragement to us. During lunch, the subject of coffee came up, and Chris and I's love for coffee was found out! We talked about the difference between coffee in the US (coffee shops with lots of choices and sweet coffee) and here...where the coffee is very strong and often drunk luke warm! Well, we have never tried Haitian coffee, and a few days later, Pastor Emmanuel's son Onyx delivered a pot of it to our house! Chris really liked it...but I could only drink a sip and then I was through. When you pour it out, it looks like motor oil it is so dark!
Thanks for praying for the clinic. We just said goodbye to Dr. Barbara, a family practice doc from Cap Haitian, who has experience in pediatrics, who was here for about a week. She came to stand in for the team from the US that was supposed to come. The number of people at the clinic is more than usual, which is good! Not overflowing with patients but still more than usual. Please continue to pray for the December deal, and for the doctors and patients. We are hopeful that God is at work more than we can see.