The Baker

There are a lot of food items we miss from home. However there are things here we get to enjoy everyday that we wouldn’t even be able to get at home. The first item is the mango. There are mango trees all around the compound. This is a favorite of Zacc. Another one is the fig. It is like a banana but smaller, they are so sweet. This is Theresa’s favorite. And then you got everyone's favorite, FRESH BAKED BREAD! We needed bread the other day so Watson took me to the local bakery. Now I know you have a picture of this bakery in your mind, but you need to erase that picture. Now picture this; we get inside and look around the floor is dirt and the oven is an old stone oven, and the fuel is wood. We watched the baker as he rolled out the dough, he had an automatic roller (two men on either side cranking a handle) He then cut the dough and put them on metal sheets and covered them with plastic, to let them rise. He told us it would be three or four hours until the bread would be ready.
So three and half hours later we are in the truck headed back to get our fresh baked bread. As we walked into the mud and board bakery we were overwhelmed by the smell of baking bread. The baker greeted us and removed a piece of sheet metal coving the hole to the oven. We looked inside and could see one sheet of rolls baking. He told us that he put them in special for us, and that they would be done soon. I asked him how long he had been baking and he said a long time, he said he started around the age of ten. We waited for about 30 min and then the bread was ready. They were very hot so he fanned them cool and we laid them on a bag and took them home. It took all we had not to eat them on the way home. As soon as we got in the door the feeding frenzy began. I made a PB&J everyone else just grabbed the bread and ate it. The bread is so amazing! Since it is cooked using wood you can taste the flavor of the smoke. This is one thing that we are thankful to have here. The cost of 24 rolls is 100 gourds. (About $2.50) The amount of work that the Haitians do amazes me. The temperature in that building was hot 100+. But the baker does that everyday. Some people think that Haitians are lazy, I would have to disagree. There just aren’t a lot of work opportunities here. The Haitians that have jobs work very hard.