Life in the tropics... fresh coconut milk

I had a chance to pry myself away from my usual routine of deskwork and homework yesterday. I got out into the field to do hard labor. Well... it was more normal boy scout work... setting up a tent... but in the Haitian sun, it wasn't easy for a whitie who gets fried pretty easily. It was important though. The project relates to our ongoing cholera outreach, but I'll try to post more on that later. In the meantime...

This is just one of the niceties of living in the tropics... fresh coconut milk! I didn't ask for it, but the villagers found some coconuts (they grow everywhere), pulled out a couple machetes and let us quench our thirst...This is one difference from Cheshire. I've found that in the tropics around the world, they don't necessarily eat the coconut meat. But people always drink the milk. And to drink the milk, there's no need to prepare the coconut so that it looks like the coconuts you see in Stop & Shop. You just need to make a neat little hole and drink!
Tim White

Sweet Micky wins = party time... Haitian style

It's party time in Haiti! The initial Presidential election in November didn't turn out the way many Haitians had hoped. Throughout December, the country was fraught with violence. Christmas turned into a relatively peaceful January as "amended" election results were released... and a new runoff presidential election date, March 20, was announced.

The results of the March 20 election were announced today. And though I left work early to avoid any possible violence, it's obvious that Haiti has now learned the election results... and the country is quite happy.

Apparently, Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelli won the two-way race with over 67% of the vote. That's a huge win. And the joy in the streets is overwhelming. About 15 minutes ago I heard the roar of the people in all directions. The motorbikes are whizzing down the street blaring their horns.

Sweet Micky was declared President and it's party time in Haiti!

Now I just hope the "transition" goes smoothly.

And to further prove that it's party time... I have electricity tonight for the second time in two weeks. So clearly, it's party time!

Tim White