Anne Marie is here (it's still raining part ii)

Anne Marie arrived yesterday! It's so great to have her here. Luckily, the clouds parted long enough yesterday for it to be warm and sunny upon her arrival. We woke up this morning to gray skies and more rain and no school. I think its freezing and I am sitting here typing this in long pants, socks, three shirts and a blanket thrown over my legs...Anne Marie informed me this morning that it was only 70 degrees and I needed to stop whining. I guess my body just likes to be hot and sweaty.

We still went out to the village this morning to see the kids and to walk around a little. It was fun to hear some of Anne Marie's stories about living here. A lot of the kids remembered her from when she worked here two summers ago. We had a really nice time. Anne Marie wanted to buy food for a family and let them cook it for us. Then we would eat with them. The family would have a decent meal and some leftovers as well. And we would get to visit with them and share a meal. We decided on a family with seven children. The oldest girl, Johana, is in my sixth grade class, so I was really excited to eat with her family.

Anne Marie and I went into town and Anne Marie purchased rice, black beans, onions, garlic, a pepper, sazon (a dominican all spice), salami, and vegetable oil. We went back into the village via motorcycle through the cold rain and mud puddles. It was a miserable ride and halfway there, I wished we had stayed home. When we finally arrive back at Johana's house, all of her little brothers and sisters were so excited to see us. I immediately regretted wishing I had stayed home!!

We hung out with the kids while their mom, Yani, cooked away in the kitchen. Six of the seven children were quite calm and enjoyable. Most of them just enjoyed being cuddled and hugged since it was so nasty outside. The seventh and smallest bit Anne Marie's fingers a few times and insisted on screaming at the top of his lungs most of the time we were there. We didn't really try to cuddle with him too much...

Although we thought we had purchased all ingredients needed for a Haitian Dominican feast, Yani complained that we forgot to buy salt, bouillon cubes, and "salsa." Yani also decided to treat us to fried yuca which, while inexpensive to make, takes a lot of hard work. We made a couple runs to the local colmado to pick up the ingredients we forgot and yuca and butter. Poor Johana slaved away grating the yuca into a fine mush that would eventually be combined with butter and fried. I offered to help and ended up cutting my finger. Yani found me some gauze and told me to get out of the kitchen.

When we finally sat down to our meal, we were all hungry. Natanail, the second oldest girl that also attends our care center, prayed for us. The food was delicious! There was plenty of rice, beans and salami left over for another meal for the kids (although the next day, Natanail and Johana assured me that all of the food was consumed later that night.)

Anne Marie and I left shortly after we finished eating. We were afraid the the river might rise too much for us to get out of the village safely! We made it home semi-dry, safe, and excited about the time we spend with Yani's family.

It was a perfect way to spend a rainy Monday.

More soon. Love to all.