That's "Bon Ane!" in Creole, and January 1st is a big holiday here. Not only does it kick off a new year, it marks Haitian Independence Day.
New Year's Eve afternoon, Melissa and Angie got all the girls from both families together for hair styling and nail polishing time - the whole spa treatment!
The nail polish came courtesy of a Christmas care package from friends in Indiana. Thanks, Celestia!
Around 6:00 we took some finger foods next door to the Bundy's house to add to theirs and we all chowed down with the beautiful ladies.
I think the party was supposed to end around 9:00, but the kids started playing some card games and the adults started working on a puzzle and we broke out "It's a Wonderful Life", and the next thing you knew it was midnight. A very enjoyable way to send off the old year.
We couldn't believe all the kids managed to keep their eyes open past midnight - and even more shocked the next morning when not one of them was out of bed before 9:00 am. That NEVER has happened before in family history and seems especially rare here when the sun and heat and roosters aren't at all conducive to sleeping in.
New Year's morning, then, once everyone did finally start to move, we got to be part of an impromptu pool party with a couple of other missionary families at the Villa Cana, a beautiful retreat center right next door here.
Back home, I helped Melissa roll out some Christmas cookies and then managed to sneak in a nap, waking up to find Johnny, Ruysdael and Mikenn here to bring us back to Johnny's house. His mother had invited us over to have some soup joumou - pumpkin soup - the traditional dish for January 1st. Before the revolution/slave revolt which formed Haiti as the first black republic, the French masters never allowed their slaves to eat the pumpkin soup the French served to their own families. And so the soup became a poignant symbol of freedom and independence.
Over the last few years, we had been in the habit of joining Kate and Storly Michel for pumpkin soup at their home in Columbus, Indiana on January 1st. We missed being with them this year, but how fun and meaningful it was to be with Johnny and his family instead!
The walk up to Johnny's house in the late afternoon sun.
This little bandstand across from the house was part of the New Year's Eve celebration apparently. Ruysdael said something about children using it to perform songs.
Hannah and Sarah outside Johnny's front door.
Inside, the table was set beautifully. In the center of the table was the big pot of Soup Joumou and beside it a basket of cassava bread. We brought the Christmas cookies in the foreground to share with the family.
After dinner, we went outside to see Johnny's puppies - these puppies would be cute anywhere, so they were far and away the cutest we've seen in Haiti. By the way, that's Johnny's mom standing over the brown and white puppy - she quickly moved out of range once she saw my camera pointed her direction! Johnny is by the momma dog and his twin brother, John, is in the doorway.
If I remember correctly, the white one's name is "Cappy".
And the brown and white one's name is "Puppy".
And Johnny said - IN FRONT OF ALL FOUR KIDS! - that WE should TAKE ONE HOME with us. My immediate reaction was to say "No Thanks!" but you should have seen the sad eyes and heard the begging that Johnny's offer provoked!
And Melissa is apparently not going to be a strong ally to me in standing against adding another pet to our family! She has no resistance when it comes to puppy cuteness. But my understanding was that the Christmas bunnies were supposed to satisfy the pet desire.
Fortunately, these puppies were not quite old enough to be weaned from their mamma, so I was not forced to choose between being the bad guy or waving the white flag of surrender in that moment. But Melissa reminded me that Sarah's birthday is in two weeks ...
So the new year might hold a new addition to our family. As they say here: "Bondye konnen!"
"God knows!"
That aside, Melissa and I have at least two big hopes for 2014 - 1) That the Lord provides for our family to continue working in Haiti without interruption. And 2) That our path would cross your path - our place or yours - sometime in the coming year!
Bondye konnen!
Happy New Year from the Grosses. May God bless you, your family and your God-given ministry throughout 2014!
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