Something like a day of rest...

What a wonderful day!! Last night many of us walked into town after working on the baño seco. This task was really pretty easy because we were really only building a pit toilet. A real composting toilet will take a little more time and planning. There was already a pit and a pallet over it. We righted the structure from its side and instantly had three walls. Myrna found the old chair that no longer has a seat. This makes for a lovely stool, but in the night and morning, the metal is a bit cool on my bum. We have a t-bar in a chunk of cement to hang the roll of toilet paper on. Really a lot nicer than your plastic honey bucket, but still a little to be desired! So anyway, we finished pretty early, but Vida needed help with her trees. I gave her a hand, as did a couple others. But when it was time for the boat races, I was the only one to stay. Before I arrived, they determined to build boats out of all organic materials and compete to see who could make it down the little rio at the end of the huerta. I was not really into the competition, though I did weave a canoe. I wanted to be the official photographer of the event, but I missed it in the end. I heard my boat was in the lead until some corner, and when they ran ahead, my boat never emerged from the selva. The prize was a steak in town, but none of the volunteers won. Andres and Maricel, a couple who arrived from Brasil for a visit, had the winning boat. Sean and Patch were sorely disappointed their catamarans didn’t perform better. We all walked in and had dinner anyway. There was a wine bar with excellent meaty tacos, so the others were satisfied. I chose una quesadilla con palta y dos empanadas mariscos. We all had wonderful red wine. It was such a treat. The others also enjoyed other drinks at another bar, but as one of the oldest here, I fill the shoes of the old lady who doesn’t know how to have a good time and party hardy. It is okay by me. The walk back was quite beautiful. I wish I knew the stars down here. I wish I could take a quality picture of them to share them with you. They are so exciting and new. Going to bed after 4 am meant sleeping in today, and I really could because I had my first night in the room with the other volunteers. The floor in the main room of the house wasn’t bad, but it meant I got up with the first to rise. Today I deserved not to get out of bed until just after noon. Breakfast was a quick bite, no potatoes and eggs. I wanted to go to the other farm, El Peregrino. It is the farm of Azucena’s family/brother and sister. I understood we were going to help put a roof on a big dome built onto the dormitorio para los voluntarios. With the alternative building, this sounded very fun. First we ate. The food there was delicious – apple juice and whole wheat pizzas and sauces/dips of different colors. All was delicious. I was so thrilled to drink juice. Refreshing! The project was actually mudding a building. The volunteers from El Peregrino were mostly European. The Spanish was more than I could understand, though I had a few small conversations. I think Azucena’s mom said the building was partly tourism and partly for a small shop to sell products from. They start with some heavier poles put in vertically. The next phase is to take branches or small poplar trees, freshly cut, and weave them through the poles horizontally. These phases were already complete. They included many bottles in this phase. I took pictures of before and after, but I am not sure how quickly I’ll get them on the web. The next phase was ours: applying mud. It was a mix of water, straw, and two types of earth. I think there was also horse shit, but it may have been part of one of the soils. The little boys really liked throwing it on the structure in handfuls, which is helpful for getting it inside the woven branches. However, these boys had no aim and were making a mess. Such is life! I enjoyed it immensely, but did not have the craving as others did to wear the mud. I thought it smelled a little bit, and I know we don’t take showers much. The building was quite beautiful when we finished. Johana came back around with straw and mud to decorate with circles and suns and an ohm. It added such a nice touch. I think that they have to mud every year if they don’t seal it. We finished as it was getting dark. The drive back was quite memorable. Paloma, Patch, and I shared the backseat. Paloma has the biggest crush on Patch. When we stopped for water at a natural mineral spring, she moved me to the side, so she could sit inbetween us. She was tickling Patch, who claims to have and then gave up the location of the one place he is ticklish. There was also teasing about farting. And in the end Paloma laid her head in his lap to rest and insisted I lay across her to rest, too. I hadn’t interacted much with her because there are so many others who speak Spanish fluently. We made it home, despite the sounds the car makes, and had a bit of soup before going to bed. Ah...contentment! tori