Cooking up a storm in Haiti

Well, today was a long day... I'm exhausted!!  Myself and four other colleagues from Quisqueya spent more than 5 hours preparing and then eating more than a few Haitian dishes.  The lovely Milan taught us how to cook.  First she helped us organise our shopping list and took us to the local market.

Then we went back to Tiffany's house to prepare pickliz, potato salad, beans and rice, beef taso, plantain, a marinade for the meat, red Haitian sauce and fresh lime juice!

 We started the morning at 9am and began cooking after 10 o'clock.  After all of our efforts (mostly watching Milan) we ate our lunch at 3pm and then cleaned up.  I enjoyed the quality time with the girls and most of all learning about Haitian family life from Milan. One thing I'm learning here is that relationships are far more important than tasks! People love spending time together.  While I focus on being efficient and task oriented, the Haitians focus on "being" with one another.

As I write this blog entry I can hear thunder and lightning coming from outside my window; it so loud, like I've never heard before!!  We sure did cook up a storm...

Thanks Milan.  I look forward to our next cooking lesson.