Cultural Saturday!

I roll over in bed and check my watch, 6:15 a.m.. I hear Jayden calling and reluctantly pull myself out of bed. He hasn't mastered sleeping in yet even though it is Saturday during the Christmas break. I open his door a crack and peek inside. He has already climbed out of his crib and now with Thomas clutched in his hand he peeks at me through the crack. "Turn your fan and light off", I remind him and he quickly puts Thomas down, changes the dial on the fan and pushes the lever of his small night light. While I get a bowl of cereal ready for him he pulls out all of his trucks and cars and plays with them on the floor. As soon as he's done breakfast he starts asking for Grandma and Grandpa. "They're still sleeping", I remind him, and he sighs. An hour later, when they are up he excitedly shows them the toys he's been playing with. Once we've all had breakfast and the house is tidied up we get our purses and camera's and head for the car. The streets are busy as we head towards Pettionville since Saturday is a busy shopping day.

Thankfully the roads get a little quieter as we head up into the mountains. As we drive Jason's' parents can't help but exclaim over the things they see. Here a man is carrying a heavy wooden cabinet on his head, walking up hill!

It's truly amazing what people carry on their heads here.

Our first stop on the mountain is the Baptist Mission, a place we always enjoy visiting. Since it's still too early for lunch we decide to head up to Fort Jacques. In the parking lot of Fort Jacques we take pictures of a colorful tap tap.

Some ladies selling vegetables on the side of the parking lot stare openly, and we go examine their wares.

After bartering with them we purchase tomatoes and militon, one of my favorite vegetables that you can't buy in Canada or the US.

After touring the Fort, and taking photos we head back to the car and drive back to the Baptist Mission. There we buy fresh cinnamon buns and bread. We also eat lunch there, which is delicious! Before we leave, much to Jayden (and my!) delight we pick out two more bunny rabbits.

Jayden loves them and keeps wanting to give the "mimi's" big hugs!

Our next stop is the market known in Haiti as the "mache". Since Jason's parents didn't have enough room in their suitcase to bring enough T-Shirts for the feeding program we hope to do in Ouanaminthe, we decide to buy more there. As all five of us head in I wonder how we are ever going to get through the crowds.

This is the busiest I've ever seen the market. As we walk down the steep road we see a giant dump truck flipped on it's side.

The crowd is so thick, even the police officers supervising the scene are pushed over. With much pushing and shoving we finally make our way inside and I breath a sigh of relief. For a minute there I didn't think we would make it in. As we head over to the second hand clothing section, walking single file, I keep checking over my shoulder to make sure Jason's parents, Jason and Jayden are still keeping up.

The clothing vendors are quite excited to see us, and it doesn't take long for us to find T-shirts we like and start bartering.


The vendors get quite excited as we buy bag after bag of T-shirts! The market is so cramped, as soon as we have all the T-shirts we head out as quick as we can.

When we finally reach the top of the stairs by the entrance of the market I take in a deep breath. "Wow, that was crazy!"
After the market we're still not done, and we head over to the store to buy cookies and treats to give out to the children as well. Then off to Epidor to buy Birthday cake for me. When we're finally home and have everything cleaned up and put away I can't wait to sit down. That really was a busy Saturday!