Extermination!

Did I say they make a mess??? Denise and I clean out all the kitchen cupboards once a week. Here is what we swept out of one cupboard..



Let me see. This bowl will work well for a salad...



Baggy anyone??



10:48 p.m.
I pull the handkerchief tightly around my nose and mouth and edge my way towards the nearest empty cupboard.



All our food has now been packed away in rubber maids and sealed and the cupboards are bare. I take a deep breath and then begin to spray. This stuff is toxic poison and I move as quickly as possible. Minutes later I've sprayed down all the empty cupboards and shelves, and make a dash for the door. I slam it shut and then take a minute to take a few clean breaths of air. When I feel better I find a towel and cover the crack under the kitchen door. I don't want those fumes to invade the rest of our home and I definitely don't want to breath in poison as I sleep.

7:30 a.m. (the following morning)
I open all the kitchen windows and plug in the fans to get the air moving. Then I get to work cleaning up all the dead roaches and ants. Denise and I wipe down all the cupboards and shelves again and then once everything is clean we put everything back in the cupboards. All though we've wiped down the cupboards, apparently the spray is effective for 6 months.
The first battle is won, or is it?? Denise reports that all the remaining cockroaches have migrated to her kitchen which is adjacent to mine. When she is finished making meals for the day we hope to clean her kitchen out and spray it down as well.. I'll keep you posted.

Combat!!!

Warning: Parental guidance recommended. Not for anyone under the age of 13. Also not for those prone to nightmares or those who get the hebegebies (how do you spell that??) Also and especially not for Mom and Dad Krul, or Esther to read. (We really don't want you to cancel your tickets!!).

Okay, I bet you're curious now, well don't say I didn't warn you!

Me: (thinking to myself) A guest for dinner, that should be fun.
" Jaaaay, what should I make?"

Jason: "How about Lasagna, you haven't made that in a while."

Me: (thinking to myself) that's a good idea! I have all the ingredients for it.
Or do I? Let me see, onions, garlic, spaghetti sauce, cheese. Check, check, check, check. How about Lasagna noodles?
Oh good, I still have those too. "What is that?? Why are there all holes in the noodles? What are these black dots? NOOOOOOOOO!!! EWWWWW! COCK ROACH!!! Eww, there' s a dead one still in the box. Probably died of indigestion. All that starch! gross!"

Okay, no Lasagna tonight. Guess I'm going to have to make spaghetti now.
Okay, no need to over react. It really is my own silly fault. Why didn't I put that cardboard box of noodles in a Tupperware container anyway? We are living in a third world county here! A cock roach once in awhile? No big deal right?

Okay, once in awhile, Fine! But this is getting outrages! Not only have they completely taken over my kitchen, they have also taken to traipsing around the living room. Take a look here.

It's gotten so bad that I refuse to open the pantry after dinner. During the day you don't see them that often, but as soon as the sun sets, you'd better watch out! They are here, they are there, they are everywhere! Especially in the pantry. Sometimes I forget, and without thinking open up the pantry cupboard. When I hear the rustle, rustle, rustle of a hundred little cockroach legs, I can't shut it fast enough. If they would just sit there and do nothing, I might be fine with it. But they make a mess, a BIG mess! They chew through cardboard, strew the contents of soup and cereal packages everywhere and then they poop all over the place!

I can't use my dishes, utensils, pots or pans without having to wash them first, because of, if I can put this delicately enough, "cockroach droppings."

Okay, having to rewash the dishes, pots, pans, utensils etc, maybe not be the worst thing in the world, but the nightmares! Let me tell you! For the last two weeks, I've dreamed about cockroaches every single night! Good thing Jason is a deep sleeper, because I'm sure I try to beat them away with my broom and skeeter beeter while I sleep! When I wake up in the morning, my jaw is just stiff from being clenched at night. That's it, the no killing cute little bug theory has now completely gone out the window!

"Jay, we are going shopping!!"

Later at the store:
Okay, lets' see what do they have here. "Combat, quick Kill Formula, bait traps", let's get some of those, "Glue traps for Roaches", we'll take that too, "Zetox crawling insect killer", take that, "Super Suretox", you can't get to much.

Back at home:
Did, I say that you don't see them during the day?? Well, times are changing! I open the kitchen door only to have one fall from the ceiling and narrowly miss my head!!! "AAAAHHH!!".
I'm not taking this anymore. Let's put the traps out, the bait stations, the glue traps, and let's empty the pantry and spray down all the shelves.

I even hired an exterminator.. The great part is that he's free.. I just give him the skeeter beeter, and he hits all those nasty, gross bugs!

Hopefully in the next few days we can exterminate them completely.
We'll keep you posted!

A ride in a Tap Tap!

I wipe the sweat of my forehead as I climb up the steep street from our house to the main road. Although it's only 10:30 a.m. it's already very hot and the dust and pollution is making it hard to breath. I slow down a little so Denise, who is now 7 months pregnant, can keep up. She looks hot too, so I purposely force myself to take small little steps. Some people stare curiously as they see us walk by, you don't see "blan" (white people) walking down the street that often, but I just great them with a friendly "Bon jou". The traffic on Delmas is hectic, but in order to get to the market we need to cross the four-lane road and there's no crosswalk. When we see an opening in traffic, Denise grabs my hand and we make a run for it. In the middle of the road, we pause for a moment till we find another break in traffic and then finally we're on the other side. We're barely on the sidewalk, before a tap tap pulls up alongside us.

Denise climbs in first and I follow suit. I try to look as nonchalant as I can, but I'm really kind of nervous. I've never driven in a tap tap before. On top of it all, this tap tap, in my opinion, is full. There is one bench on each side and each bench has five people on it. However, when in Haiti, do as the Haitians, so I do my best to squeeze in on the end. The guy who is sitting on the end of the bench moves over a couple inches almost onto the lap of the person sitting beside him, so there is exactly three inches between him and the bar that keeps people from sliding off the tap tap, for me to sit. Even with the weight I've lost since coming to Haiti it's still a pretty tight squeeze! Thankfully a few minutes later two people get off and there's an empty seat beside Denise for me to sit. Now I focus on casually holding on for dear life. The good thing about being squished in between people is that you don't have to worry about sliding off the bench. Since these truck were never meant to carry the weight that they do, the back ends are usually sloping down at odd angles and this one is no exception. No one else seems to be holding on, so I try to loosen my death grip on the bench a little and relax. As I sit back, I take a moment to discreetly examine the people around me. Most are nicely dressed and look like they are on their way to work with various briefcases and purses. A man sitting across from me plays with his wedding band as the girl beside me slowly nods off to sleep. Some people openly stare, you don't see "blans" on tap taps very often, while others seem lost in thought. Every minute or so, one of the "passengers" yells "Mesi" (Thank you) and the tap tap pulls over and lets him or her off and new people get on. Since this is not a bus with a scheduled route it can stop wherever and whenever you want on the main road. I can't help but smile when occasionally the passengers make the driver stop in 30 second intervals just so they don't have to walk the few extra steps. Finally Denise yells "Mesi" too, so I know it's time for us to get off. We pay the driver 5 Goudes each, and then step back onto the sidewalk. The nice thing about the tap taps is that it doesn't matter which one you use, they all charge 5 Goudes a ride, and it doesn't matter how long or short you are on it. 5 Goudes is equivalent to 12 cents American, so it's quite cheap. Now we need to cross the road again and walk the last few blocks to the market. An hour later we're finished and make our way back to the main road. A tap tap is already waiting and we climb on again. Since it's almost lunch time there are some school children on this one. I can't help but smile as they practice their English on each other. If it was hot before, it's gotten even hotter now and I try not to breath too much through my nose because there's a lot of people sweating in the tap tap now. Out of the corner of my eye I see the man beside me wiping his brow with a handkerchief. Right now I wish I had one too. Ten minutes later I see the familiar Texaco sign and now it's time to get off. Denise yells "Mesi" again and the tap tap jerks to a halt. I almost fall over but manage to catch myself just in time. Once again we pay the driver and then start walking the ten minute walk home. On the way back Denise and I chatter with each other. I have to admit that I kind of enjoyed the ride. Without a vehicle, it's hard to get around, and it's nice to know that if I want to go to the market with Denise we can go together on the tap tap.

I'm 2!

Hi, my name is Jayden and I turned 2 on Saturday. I woke up very early on the day of my birthday, but Mommy said I had to wait to open my presents because Daddy was still sleeping. It was really hard to wait, but Saturday is his only chance to sleep in a little, so wait I did. To keep me busy Mom made pancakes for me. They were yummy! As soon as Daddy woke up I got my first present. It was in a big white box, I could hardly wait to open it! I was very excited when I saw it was a beautiful red tricycle from Grandma and Grandpa Krul. It is soo nice! I love it! Mommy even let me take a little ride inside before we took it outside. It didn't take me long to figure out that you push the pedals with your feet to move and turn the steering wheel in the direction you want to go! Wee, I was off in no time!




I got other presents too! From my great Grandma, Oma Krul, I got some little cars and planes. I liked those a lot too. I can make all kinds of car and truck noises and it's fun to drive them all around the house.
Mommy and Daddy said they had a present for me too, but we had to go in the car to pick it up, so at 10 o'clock off we went. I was a little tired, because I normally have my nap then, but birthdays are special, Mommy said, so I didn't have to sleep.
After what seemed like forever, the car finally stopped and we got out. I recognized the place right away. We were at the Baptist Mission, a place I love to go!
We visited the petting zoo, bought some yummy bread at the bakery and then had lunch at the little restaurant there. We all shared a big burger, chicken nuggets, fries, a milk shake and pop. It was very good. But the biggest, happiest, surprise came after lunch when Mommy and Daddy took me back to the petting zoo and let me pick out two bunnies. Mommy thought one was just fine, but Daddy said that one might get lonely so I was allowed to pick out two!! I was so excited!! I kept running back and forth and jumping up and down! I couldn't believe we were allowed to take them home! Mommy had brought some celery sticks with her and she even let me feed them. They are so cute and soft! I call them "mimi's", but Mom is teaching me to say "bunnies" because a mimi in Creole actually means "cat". When we got home, we made sure the bunnies were safe and comfortable and then Mommy put me to bed. I was so tired I fell asleep right away. While I slept, I couldn't help but dream about shiny red tricycles, and soft little bunny rabbits.