Class Dinners and Our Future

On Tuesday morning we hopped in a car to head to a church 30 minutes away where a former student of ours is the pastor. He said that he needed some help with his computer, and wanted us to try to fix it. With a complete lack of information, and assuring him that we aren't computer whizzes by any means, we went praying that we'd be able to help him out. The drive was not one of my favorites, I have to say. Chris and I both sat in the front seat with the driver, who was listening to some highly repetitive, though understandable, Creole music. It was really hot and sunny, and with one arm in the sun the whole way there and back, I ended up with a silly looking sunburn on one arm with a very precise line where my t-shirt started. Talk about sweaty! Anyway, we got there, and saw a ton of kids, since there is a Compassion school in and around the church. Deroly, the pastor, told us it was his printer that had stopped working. After a few minutes of investigation, we came to find out that the printer was out of black ink. They could print in color, but not in black. We thought it was interesting to learn that this hadn't occurred to them. He also wanted to see how to use the scanner, and how to get a picture inserted into a document. We wrote out some directions, and hope that he learned a little something. (A computer technician could teach classes down here and really help people out!) He showed us around the church and school, and we loaded into the car to drive home. I should mention that the pastor, in his nice work clothes, insisted on sitting in the closed in back of the truck, which didn't have the relief of the cool breeze through the open window, so I should take back my whining!
This week is our second to last of English class, so we wanted to do something for our students. Our Creole teacher, David, has a wife who has a little restaurant of some sort in her home. I think she makes food for parties, etc. We set up a meeting with them, and they brought a menu for us to look over. We chose two different selections: For one class, it was pizza, coneys (which are deep fried, twisty looking pieces of dough) meat (which ended up being a deep fried hot dog), and a drink. For the second class, it was gratines (pasta), salad (beet salad, I later learned) meat (chicken this time), and a drink. We had one dinner on Wednesday with our first class, and the second one today with the second class. They were so fun. After a few minutes of sitting around a big table in the guest house eating, the students began talking and asking questions, and enjoying a meal together. We talked about the differences and similarities between Haitian and American eating. Haitians tend to wait until they are finished to drink, while Chris and I had half our pop gone before we were halfway done eating! We picked up our pizza, but they all ate it somehow with a plastic fork. The pizza, by the way, wasn't what you might think. It was the same type of crust, but with a kind of fish topping, that resembled the consistency of a wet tuna. It was good though! Another difference, as you can see, is that Haitians generally don't smile for pictures. I promise they were not all as miserable as they look! Obviously we haven't gotten very tan in our time here, as you can see by these pictures.
Our students asked us lots of questions. Some inappropriate, which sparked a discussion of, "What not to ask Blancs." Haha. Too bad it was too late to save me from a red face! But it was fun to see our students in a different environment. Some that are quiet in class were loud at the meal! They were very appreciative and we were really glad to have had the opportunity to do it.
We also wanted to mention what we are planning to do when we get back to the States in a few weeks. As you may know, Chris is going to medical school at Indiana University in Terre Haute starting in August. We will move there sometime during the summer, and I hope to find a great job! (We'll see how that goes!) When we get back, we will spend time with both of our families, and catch up with friends, and try to get acclimated to being back in the US. (icecream, yes please! :) We have learned so much here and don't know how it looks to live with the things that we've learned. That will be a whole new adventure. It is so bittersweet right now, to think of leaving! I'm sure this is a taste of what long-term missionaries feel- the pull towards home in the States, but also the pull towards "home" in their second country. Only a great, comforting, peace-giving God can make people able to do that. He is so good!