Insects, Hikes, Carnivals, and Markets

So before I get into the activites of the day, I must start with the conclusion of yesterday. All day long, one of the visitors named Beth was talking about her middle of the night bathroom experience. Apparently as she was perched on the toilet, a very large centipede crawled down the wall, onto the floor and attempted to crawl under the door but got stuck because it was so large. It squirmed its way under the door and dissappeared into the depths of the room. She thought nothing more of it since she was a lucky one on the top bunk. As she is telling this story, all I can think of is how all of my possessions are piled outside of the restroom dooor. Great, this lovely creature probably crawled up inside of my things and is currently building its family among my panties. How exciting! As the day progressed. so did Beth's story and the centipede turned from big to large to giant! We made jokes that she was hallucinating from the Malaria medicine and it was 4 in the morning, so we all just figured she was telling a story and what she saw was not actually what she made it out to be. We all just laughed at Beth's story and made our way through dinner, evening card games, and chatting with loved ones back at home. Just as I was cuddling up on my couch for the evening and the boys were just about to head to their room, a caught a glimpse of something crawling from under my couch. I instinctively snapped my head toward its direction to see what it was only to land my eyes on one of the largest insects I have ever seen moving at about 26 miles per hour! I let out a gasp of terror and the first thing I said  was "She was serious!" Greg, another visitor who has been to Haiti before, jumped up on his couch across from me because the large thing was coming right for him! Before I knew it, three grown men were surrounding this thing that was at least 3 feet long all jumping and screaming like 12 year old girls. "Pick it up!" "No smash it!" "No use this pot holder to grab it" "It might be poisonous!"  and several other things I should probably not repeat on public forum! One of them men grabbed the centipede with an oven mit and it was squirming around and trying to snap/ bite/ pinch him... one of the three, we're still not quite sure of the method of defense. 15 good swats with a sandal later, ok maybe 3 swats, this thing was dead, or so we thought. The guys placed it into a zip lock baggie and played a typical prank on the girls...they placed it in front of thier room for them to come across when they woke in the morning. Then they all decided to head to bed leaving me there defenseless and still a little frightened. I eventually calmed myself down and headed to bed. I awoke this morning to the sound of Steve singing. What a joyous sound...until I realized that I still had my ear plugs in and I still awoke to the sound of Steve singing! Haha! Either way, today was bound to be a great day. After all, I didn't have any nightmares about giant centipedes. The visitors had planned a Carnival day for the children which was bound to be fun, followed by a pizza party! We fed the children their breakfast and hung out with them for a little bit after. Katie found a roll of blaze orange duct tape and started making duct tape bracelets for all of the children. After they were all bilnged out, Katie and I decided to go on a hike. Greg, who was here almost the exact time as we are last year told us of a hiking trail to the top of a nearby hill/ mountain. Katie and I decided to be adventurous and head out to find the peak. We started out on the trail but then decided to head straight up a muddy, rocky slope to where we thought another trail began. After slipping and sliding and getting mud all over our hands, we reached a place that looked like it might be a path, but was mainly worn down ground that anything could have made. We ventured our way through more rocks, a few properties, and possibly 4 gardens and successfully made it to a dirt road. Huh, this could be our path! We walked in the direction that looked the most promising, coming across a little goat, a calf, and a steer who gave us the eye. We headed up the hill a little further and then came to a cobble stone road. Well, I guess this wasn't the path we were looking for. So we turned around and headed past the steer, the calf, and the goat. This time we tried to get a picture with the calf, but the steer apparently didn't like us so he mooed so loud that it echoed off the mountain side. Nervous laughter burst out of both of us and after a few more resonating moos, we decided to get out of there. We could hear the moos for about 15 minutes. We really made that steer mad! But, on the bright side, it now looked as though we were reaching the top of the hill we were climbing. Up, up, and up we went passing several local people and another steer in our path. We stopped because we didn't want to go past the steer considering our recent experience. We sat back until a girl came along the path. We decided to watch her to see how she tackled the steer situation. She passed with ease and the steer didn't look twice. We decided to be brave and give it a shot! Well, apparently steers have something against two braided white girls because just as we started to move towards the steer, it covered our path completely. We ventured around the steer with no harm done and continued up the hill. It was so close now and as we reached the top, we knew we had found it this time. The view opened up beautifully, despite the clouds rolling in. We could almost see across the entire island. If the clouds were less, we could've seen the ocean. After a few pictures, we decided to head back donw. We saw a path on the way up that looked promising for the way down. We took it and little did we know, we were actually really close to Wings. We stopped for another picture and then headed our way down, crossing more locals,a few chickens, and a pig. We made it back home just in time for the start of the carnival! There was face painting, bowling, donuts, Pin the Tail on the Donkey, manicures, pedicures, candy bracelets, and bean bag toss! And of course prizes (mainly candy) to go with each station! What a great time! The kids loved it! After the carnival, Katie and I decided to get some lunch from Alcindor; rice, beans and fish sauce. Yum! We ate and then headed to feed the children. Despite all the sweets they had eaten at the carnival, they chowed down their lunch! After lunch, KC had mentioned that she was going to the market, so Katie and I asked if we could join her so she could let us in on the "hot spots". Of course she let us and it turned into an outing with several of the visitors and a few of the children. We made a stop by an orphangae nearby where some of our "day children" live. We entered and saw some of the kids playing basketball in the front courtyard. After a brief tour and a few "bonjous", Katie and I decided to head down and challenge the kids at a game of hoops. Little did we know, we would be the ones being challenged! They were pulling off all the moves; between the legs, spin moves, crossovers, between my legs for a juke, nothing but net. I was sweating in no time. These kids gave us a run for our money! I named on of the kids Michael Jordan and he beamed when he heard the reference, knowing that I was complimenting him. Then he really lit up! I thought I had seen it all, but once he knew I thought he was good, he got even better. Not possible. I was pouring sweat by the time we had finished. KC and the rest of our crew came to our rescue and it was time to head to the market. Up the hill we trecked and Erique picked me as his partner. Erique is the most cautious one of all and KC kept yelling at us to go faster! At one point Erique and I were running up the hill just to catch up, a little frightening for the both of us! We hit the market and KC showed us all the right places to hit up for the best food. She bought a bunch of stuff and brought it all back for us to try. Five different items and at least a meal later, we asked KC if we could repay her for everything we enjoyed with her. She said no, of course, and then proceded to tell us that it only cost her about $1.50 for everything! Wow! KC, Katie, Kerin and I all  just ate for $1.50! Nice! I like Haiti more and more every day! Minus the oversized centipedes! After we snacked on the goodies from the market, it was time for the pizza party! Katie, Kerin and I all had our fair share and then headed down to feed the kids. Pizza for them too and they loved it! I pray for the caregivers in the morning who have to deal with the end product of all thie foreign food that these children ate today! Send prayers their way! We are finishing off the night with some cards and good company. I'm sitting here next to our new centipede friend, still encased in the air tight zip lock. I poke him and even  hours later, he still squirms. I dont know how he's still alive..."built to endure" KC said. Ok so maybe it's not 3 feet long and didn't actually move 26 mph, but I had you going, huh? Either way, it was quite frightening, and still is, but acted as a pretty great muse for the first part of this blog. Thanks little, I mean huge guy! I hope you all sleep well tonight! Try not to dream of large centipedes crawling out of your bed! -Ash

YIKES!

Next to my hand

Making duct tape bracelets

My new crush, Teddy

Teddy and Fritz

View from our hike

Duct tape hair bows and bow ties

Get that donut Lazar! Dont use your hands though!

Our feast from the market

My boyfriend, Teddy, and Katie's boyfriend, Lazar

Wings of Hope from above