Haitian food

A typical week's menu of the food we are eating might consist of the following:

Monday
Breakfast: Spaghetti with ketchup
Lunch: Corn flakes and milk
Dinner: Beans and rice with fish broth

Spaghetti with ketchup

Tuesday
Breakfast: Spaghetti with ketchup
Lunch: Porridge of flour, water, and sugar
Dinner: Beans and rice with hot dog broth

Beans and rice with hot dog broth

Wednesday
Breakfast: Patés
Lunch: Roll of buttered white bread and milk
Dinner: Beans and rice with fish broth

Patés

Thursday
Breakfast: Cornmeal mush flavored with chicken broth
Lunch: Popcorn
Dinner: Beans and rice with fish broth

Cornmeal mush

Friday
Breakfast: Spaghetti with ketchup
Lunch: Cornmeal mush with fish broth
Dinner: Beans and rice with hot dog broth

Cornmeal mush with fish broth

Saturday
Breakfast: Spaghetti with ketchup
Lunch: Porridge of flour, water, and sugar
Dinner: Beans and rice with fish broth

Beans and rice with fish broth

Sunday
Breakfast: Local fruit selection (mango, papaya, avocado, banana)
Lunch: Spaghetti with ketchup
Dinner: Beans and rice with fish broth

Local fruits

I love everything except the spaghetti! It's not the taste of the spaghetti per se, just the fact that it's wheat and doesn't particularly agree with me. I could eat the cornmeal mush and the beans and rice (with whatever broth) every day. So far I haven't gotten sick of them, but a number of the other Americans who have been here longer than me say, "Oh, just you wait." I don't know...I don't see my repetition tolerance wearing out anytime soon on these dishes.

However, notably absent from the menu are fruits and vegetables, so we try to supplement for ourselves by getting our own personal stash of fruit from the market. Going to the buffet here at Club Indigo is also a nice way to get fruit, vegetables, and meat, but it is quite pricey to eat there, so we don't do it often. Breakfast, for instance, offers omelettes, fresh fruit, yogurt, oatmeal, bacon, egg casserole, homemade donuts, muffins, coffee, juice, hot chocolate, and some typical Haitian dishes (they had a "soupe giromond" the day I went).

Breakfast at the Club Indigo buffet

In addition to the above "regular food," we tend to go a step above when we have mission teams come down. Here was one mission team meal:

"Picklies," patés, watermelon slices, bananas, avocadoes

I have also eaten some gorgeous concoctions a couple of times at local restaurants.

Gourmet hamburger at a local restaurant

Sauteéd Conch--illegal to serve in the US