Sweet, Spicy, and Hot

Food in Haiti has definitely been different. It's been good, but different!

Immacula is the cook of the house. Every day she comes bright and early to the house and works all day long preparing meals. I watched her one day and saw her skin a chicken, picking out the feet...later that night we ate chicken feet... Immacula is beautiful though. She wears all black and has sweet gray dreadlocks.

Eating in Haiti has been fun though! Lots of new things to taste, smell, look at, and even feel!

SWEET

Oh...sweetness in Haiti...this is maybe my favorite aspect to eating here! We have a cherry tree, a mango tree, a coconut tree, and an eyam tree in our backyard! And, the natural sweetness of the fruits are unbelievable. One taste of a mango and your stomach is satisfied for hours! The mangos are such a social fruit in the house! They're incredibly messy to eat, and they leave wyou with orange juices running down your arms, face, adn somtimes even your legs! Although, when eating with the Haitians, they hardly ever make a mess...

Bananas...We eat at least two bananas a day...Oh my goodness...Sometimes they're cooked, sometimes they're cold.

Lait Foutetees...The thing I look forwardto! Basically, this is whipped milk! And, they flavor it withy vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, papyas, or mangos. So good.

And, a nice fresh coconut cut down from a tree with a machete is so refreshing!

Sugar Cane...a huge export in Haiti is amazing on the hot days when you're so thirsty. You just suck on the sugar and then spit out the rinds.

SPICY

The meals we eat are so stinkin spicy! Andf, I made the mistake of telling Immacula that I liked peppers...so every day she puts a spicy Haitian pepper in my plate! Hahaha!

We eat breakfast atabout 8:00...And, with it is a homemade spicy peanut butter...yum.

Then we eat lunch/dinner at 3:00...which is always a spicy meal. We'll have cooked plantaines, rice, meat/fish, beans, and some type of cooked veggie.

HOT

Imagine the hottest summer day and all you want is a tall glass of lemonade...And, then you get inside and what's waiting for you is a hot cup of hot chocolate. Now..as much as you may love hot chocolate...your body was still craving something cold...

This is pretty much every single day in Haiti. I thirst for cold food and cold drinks...but, we eat hot meals, hot chocolate, hot oatmeal, and lukewarm water. Haha! It's definite;y been funny for my tummy to experience such a controversy inside!

?????

Well, so far the most memorable eating experience happened the other night... And, well, I wasn't eating anyhintg...

Makendy (whom I adore) ate a lightbulb. Yep. A flourescent lightbulb. Okay, YOu can laugh now. In fact, get all of your laughs out, because the story is actually kinda serious.

We were sitting inside, and all of a sudden he just took a huge bite out of this glass flourescent lightbulb. I thought he just wanted attention, or he just wanted to test me and see how long I would let him chew it. But, no...He chewed up the lightbulb and swallowed it. I was like "What?!" He then began to seriously explain to me that he actually didn't eat the lightbulb. I was like..."Well, I just wsaw you out it in your mouth, chew it uyp, and finish it..."

He told me that he had been given a medicine from a witch doctor that allowed him to eat lightbulbs and they wouldn't huirt him. He would eat it, but it would never actually go into his stomach. Scientifically, I know exactly where the lightbulb went...It's in his stomach.

But, he has faith that the lightbulb is not in his stomach. His religion toeaches him faith. Faith in things not of this world. Faith that a prayer can make something un-scientifically possible happen.

Now, this sounds very miuch like my belief. I have faith that my prayers are heard by God, and I have faith that things that don't make sense in this world can happen.


I guess that's why Jesus explained faith like a mustard sed. All you need is alittle bit of faith...but, it needs to be in Christ.

Makendy and I talked alater about what he believed and his faith in Voodoo. I listened...And, then later that night I prayed for Makendy. I prayed for me. I prayed that I would have some idea of how to show him God's love.

I guess that's what holiness is about. Standing out in a way not of this world. Standing out in a way deeper than skin color, deeper thann nationality...standing out in a way that is so not of this world.

Please pray for Makendy. He is such a beautiful friend, adn I just want to show him a glimpse of God's love.

Lyrics I'm Humming:

Sit with You A While