Horses and Strings

Thursday was a great day! Katie, Kerin, and I woke up eager to go to horses with the kids! After a bowl of rice soup for breakfast, we all crammed into the tap tap to head to town. And when I say crammed, I mean crammed. We piled 11 kids, Katie, myself, Kerin, Jacob, Pastor Alfredo, the driver, 3 strollers and 2 walkers into the pickup truck. Dieufort had to sit on the floor on the strollers and Katie sat up front with Lazar next to her and Josephine on her lap. Down the hill we went and I got to sit on the end for the first time, one hard turn away from from flying out the back. I held on successfully for the whole hour into town! Tough work though! Once we arrived at the horse corrall, we all jumped out and took a look around. I was very surprised at how nice the place was! There was a place for competition, a warm up area, which is where the kids would ride, many stabels for the horses, and a cafe. We got all of the kids out of the truck and started to sattle up the horses. When I say "we", I mean the workers with the assistance of some of the kids who were able to help out. We mainly watched. Once all of the horses were sattled up, it was time for fun! Vivianne was the first to mount her horse. Up she went, got strapped in and headed to roam the arena! One, by one, the kids got on their horses. I was chosen to lead Jozye's horse around the rink. Paco, the man in charge, handed me the lead rope and gestured to me to walk around leading Jozye on his high horse, literally. We walked around for a little, lapping Katie, Kerin, and Lazar a couple of times. They had the slow horse! When the first group of kids were coming to an end, Paco gathered them all up and did some exercises with the kids on the horses. He streched them out, made them lift weights, then helped some of them walk back to their awaiting strollers. Paco was very patient and kind and took individual time with each of the children. Very admirable. After the first group of kids, the second group took the reins. These kids were the ones that could ride on their own with little or no assistance. Steve was riding his horse around shouting, in his gleeful voice, "Eskize! Eskize! I'm on a horse". Of course in Kreyol, but I'm still a little shaky on that. Pierre rode his horse like a pro. He had perfect posture and control over his horse. I was very impressed with all of the children and their abilities on the horses. Paco mentioned that on the horse, everyone is the same, that handicaps dissapear. Everyone is equally capable on a horse. His words were true. After each kid had their turn riding, it was time for lunch.  Jacob made sandwiches for everyone! They were great even though they contained mystery meat! When lunch was finished, we all smashed back into the tap tap to head home. I was on the end again, but I was a seasoned pro by this point, so I had no worries. Plus, riding on the end has the great benefit of air movement! Bye bye sweat, hello wind blown hair! People pay good money for that look! When we got home, lunch was just being served. We helped feed then went on to afternoon activities as usual. Around 5 we headed up to the market for some more souvenir shopping. I picked up a couple things for some of my favorite people, including some wooden wine glasses for myself and Brian! We also got some feshly fried pates from the market! A pate is fried dough stuffed with hard boiled egg, cabbage, hot dog, and cheese spread. So delicious and filling! The pates the side of a calzone only cost 25 gourde, which is about 60 cents! Cheap, easy, and satisfying dinner! On the way home, we stopped to get some fresh bread from the local bakery. It was still hot! We enjoyed some bread on the way home as an appetizer to our pates. Delicious meal to top off the day! Friday was another great day! We had our usual Friday dance party and dart game. The team Katie and I were on came in second this week. We were still rewarded with some Jolly Ranchers and Smarties! When afternoon activities finished, we headed to find KC to make a plan for the night. We had been talking all week about going to a concert in town. The band is called Strings and it is a Carribean style jazz band. Needless to say, we were all very excited to go! We made plans for a driver to pick us up at 7:30. This allowed us enough time to do an Insanity work out, shower, get pretty (for the first time in a month), and grab a bite to eat before we headed down the mountain. When we reached the destination, La Reserve, we made our way in, and after a little confusion, finally found the table that KC had reserved for us. Looking around at all of the people there, you could definately tell that this was an event for the upper class of Haiti. Everyone was dressed to impress sporting dresses, high heels, button up shirts, and slacks. We sat down and ordered a round of drinks, 2 Rhum Punch for Kerin and I, 1 Prestige for Geoffrey, 1 glass of red wine for KC, and 2 Something Whiskey for Katie and Stephen. Yes, Something Whiskey was the name of the chosen whiskey. When the music finally started, the place lit up! People were cheering, clapping, and dancing! Such great music that made you happy on the inside and out! At about 11:30, our driver called to let us know that he was there. Seeing as how we still had about a 45 minute trek up the mountain, we decided to leave before the band was finished, which was fine because we were all pretty tired anyway. We headed up the hill and what should have taken 45 minutes, took about 20. Its amazing what lack of traffic and a strong desire to not be out in the dark can do! We headed down the hill and were greeted by some police officers who offered to give us a ride! We gladly took them up on the offer since is was dark, slippery, and muddy. We all jumped into the back of their pick up and headed down the hill. When we got to Wings, we all headed straight for bed! We slept in this morning until about 8am which was wonderful! Today has been pretty lazy. Katie and I ventured to the market for some souvenirs, an avocado, and more pates for Stephen, Geoffrey, and Renee. We were pretty pleased with ourselves that we were able to negotiate prices and sucessfully make it home with everything we sent out for! We might be getting the hang of it! We are about to head out on an adventure towards Fort Jacque with Kerin and the boys. I don't know how far we will get, the skies look a little gloomy. I'm sure it will be fun! Hope all is well with everyone! Katie and I love you all and miss you!
P.S. Happy Birthday Alcindor!

Front of the truck heading to horses

Paco with Lazar

Eskize! Eskize! I'm on a horse!

Making pates

Eating pates

All dolled up for a night on the town!

Me with Rhum Punch

Katie with Something Whiskey

Ride home in the Police truck