Wednesday, June 29, 2011

1-2 day in haiti

Hey Everyone,

Yesterday we arrived in Haiti in the afternoon after a long flight. It was about 85 degrees in Port au Prince when we arrived, and it was very dusty. We were very happy to see our friends the Currellys at the airport who greeted us and packed up their 2 cars with all of our suitcases of sewing materials. On the way back we stopped by a roadside market to buy fresh watermelon, papayas, mangos, and bananas. Then we drove farther up the mountainside and picked up the Curellys granddaughter, Lucy. After stopping by the house we had delicious pizza at a local pizza place. Finally we made the frightening drive up to the Curellys house that is high up in the mountains. It was extremely bumpy and the road is built into the side of a cliff. Once we reached their house the four dogs, three cats, and one horse greeted us. We went for a short walk around the property and rolled into bed exhausted. 

The next day we woke up we hurriedly got everything ready for the arrival of the villagers. We had to unpack lots of bags of material and take out stacks of fabric and other sewing supplies. The villagers didn’t come right away because they had been at a funeral for most of the early morning. But once they started arriving, they just kept on coming! We had many new sewers some of who were very good at hand sewing. We were also happy to see many familiar faces that remembered how to use the machines from our last visit. The new comers and children mostly worked on hand sewing small pillows. The more experienced sewers made potholders out of more complex patterns. They were very reluctant when they had to leave but we assured them “a demain” they would come back tomorrow.









After sewing we had vegetable soup and tasty avocado on bread. We then decided to go for a walk on the paths in the mountains, which ended up lasting about two hours! The plants were much more lush than last February and many foods like leeks and potatoes were seen coming up. Right now it is the raining season so many of the paths were slick and slippery.







 All in all, it was a great first day in Haiti!