Coconuts Anyone?

I did a few filter installations and repairs today somewhere off the beaten path near Saint-marc. It is interesting to see how people react when I come to help...especially when we go to some of the more remote locations. Typically I have found that people seem to be more friendly. They say good morning and more rarely ask me for money or something else. It may be because they don't see as many white people and they aren't used to having foreigners come by. The funniest part has to be the children though. Apparently there is some sort of rumor that is told to kids that white people eat children. When children grow up in the city and see white people more often, I think they don't hear this as much or they realize that it's no true pretty fast. However, the children where I was today seemed a little hesitant to get close to me. One of the moms pulled her son close to me and said, "Look, there is nothing to be afraid of." But the boy was squirming and wanted to keep his distance. I try to smile and ask them questions with the limited amount of Creole I know, but they typically just stare at me with their mouth open and seem to be waiting for me to have some sort of outburst.

After work, I climbed the guinep tree and got some fruit. We have picked off all the low hanging stuff, so I climbed up the ladder and then up the branches to some parts that haven't been picked yet. The tree is pretty tall and it gets a little sketchy climbing up to around 40 ft and leaning to pick fruit off branches. All went well though and they taste even better since there was an element of danger involved.

A guy also stopped by to spray for mosquitoes, which is great because they have really gotten bad the past few weeks. He used a concoction of permethrin and kerosene. He sprays everywhere and right now I'm adjusting to a room that smells....well....like insecticide and kerosene? I've been told it's harmless, and it doesn't really make much difference whether it is or not. I'm going to be sleeping in a bed that got a nice dose and I just dried off after a shower with a towel that was pretty wet a few hours ago from the spray. I hear that mosquitoes will die pretty quick if they land on a surface that has been sprayed, so I think I'll sleep well tonight knowing that any insects trying to get snuggle up with me, won't last very long.

Lastly, we have about 11 coconut trees on our property and they were all pretty full. We let one of our workers and some people from Canaan pick all the coconuts off and then we gave most of them away to the kids at the orphanage.

One of our workers picking a few coconuts.

Part of the yield from our trees.