On the road...

Hi everyone!  We can't believe it's already December, and that our week here at the missionary home in Cap-Haitien is coming to an end!

We ventured through the country with the Casavants to cross the border into the Dominican Republic.  This was not a trip we were necessarily banking on happening, but we're glad it did.  For one, it was nice to spend a couple of days relaxing on the beach, and it was equally nice being in a country that feels like home...

But we missed Haiti the whole time we were there!

I'm afraid we can only upload a couple of pictures - coming to Cap reminded us we are in a third-world country as the internet connection and cell connection are not as fabulous.  Our next stop is staying with a Haitian family so we're probably going dark...and we'll really be reminded we're in a third-world country.

On to the pictures:

FINALLY! About 30 minutes outside of Port-au-Prince we saw
proof that we were on an island! And the color of the water
proved we were in the Caribbean! Yay!

At the summit of our first mountain pass,
making our way north to Cap.

This is Luc.  He and his adorable wife are special pioneers in a little
mountain town called Plaisance.(the name totally fits - such a sweet little place).
There are two of 12 publishers in a tough territory full of vodou.
We had lunch with them in their cute little house surrounded by banane trees.

Our delicious lunch of fried banane (plaintain) and poul payi (local chicken),
picklies (spicy cabbage slaw) and my favorite, fresh jus grenadien (passion fruit juice)

This is how cassava is made.  Cassava is root vegetable that is widely used
in Haiti.  You take the root and grate it.  Then you squeeze out the sour juice, which
I believe to be toxic from what I've been told.  Once grated, the cassava is spread out in
a circle on a griddle over charcoal (pictured above).  As is cooks, the excess is brushed off, and then
the cassava is removed from the griddle to be gobbled up by all of us.  SO GOOD! We love
cassave douce, which has sugar, cinnamon, and coconut added to it.

Approaching Cap.  See the mountain in the middle? Look really close,
See that rectangular box, that looks like the Arc?
That, my friends, is the world-famous Citadelle!

Items are still transported by donkey and cart here in Haiti.
But the funny part? This picture was taken as we were driving on the main
highway here in Haiti.  The equivalent of I-5.

THE BORDER:

Oh the stories we have about crossing the border from Haiti into the DR... I was afraid to take pictures because, well, it's illegal back home, but the "security" of this border was frankly laughable.  Appalling in that it was equal parts corrupt and equal parts ridiculous.

To leave Haiti and enter the DR in a vehicle is not for the faint of heart, nor for the weak.  I personally recommend doing it only if you insist and only if you plan on having a martini afterwards (or during, we don't judge).  I am neither confirming nor denying that bribes occur frequently at the border but at the end of the day are useless.  The next time we cross, I plan on videotaping the whole thing.  It was that ridiculous.  

We waited for TWO HOURS to get papers for the car signed.
Apparently is takes two people to do the job of one person.
And apparently they need to take lunch at two different times.
Just revisiting this make me want that martini I was talking about....

Once we crossed the border, we stopped at ate at a sketchy chicken stand (I'm still shocked we all didn't get sick!) and then happened to miss where the highway was.  So we took a dirt road through beautiful DR countryside (which is far cleaner and far better organized) and ended up crossing a river in our car.  I wanted a picture, but everyone used up all of their patience at the border...understandable.

So after a total of about 10 hours of driving, through mountains and rivers and dirt roads, we made it to Puerto Plata...and FINALLY made it to a beach!

We spent our five year wedding anniversary in a place we never imagined we would visit, on a trip we had always dreamed of taking...couldn't ask for more.

As always, we send our love and thank you for joining us on our journey and for your wonderful comments - every little taste of home makes everything that much better.