GUTS: Days 5-7

12/30/05

Friday was a solid work day. The men worked at sheetrocking, a few women taught the local women to sew, Jamie had various crafts for the kids and we Monos grabbed various kids for games in the yard area. (The yard was composed of gravel and sand). I had a fabulous time getting to know some of the little kids. There were some who were naughty, and loved stretching every boundary. Some of them enjoyed throwing rocks, some hitting, some spitting, and some throwing rocks at the bus when they didn’t get their way. But then there were a few who were fabulously well-behaved and helpful. These few made every exasperated miscommunication worthwhile. Later in the afternoon, two groups of us went out into the town of Papalote, (roughly 2000 people), to hand out flyers for our New Year’s Eve event. It was amazing to see the difference in living conditions. Some of the people had very nice vehicles, but still lived a jungle of cardboard and sticks. A lot of the people in Papalote are field workers. They don’t live in one area forever. They may stay for 3-5 years, and then a new set of workers come in. Joel said that a lot of them are trying to save up enough money to buy some land and a house somewhere where they can live when they get to old and sick to work in the fields anymore.

12/31/05

The morning was a continuation of the work we were doing on the Friday. Sleeping on concrete floors no longer is a problem. Actually, I rather enjoy it. Most of the rooms have sheetrock in them now, so it is much warmer. The roosters have calmed down, but now we have Spanish love songs playing all morning beginning at 6 or so in the morning. We can hear all the snores from the other rooms, and when the two grisled ranchers from Montana get up at 5 AM to take their showers and start their day, we all know about it. I think that Gene must sleep in his cowboy boots. Klump! Klump! Klump! J

Always there are kids around the church, waiting to be played with and to see what these crazy Americans will do next. Most everyone has taken out their braids for tonight. Jorrey and I still have them in. It was funny, because one of the little boys told everyone my hair is fake. When I met Cristian, (one of the fabulously thoughtful and helpful boys of 11 years), he touched one of my braids and asked if it were mine. I didn’t understand at first, until he told me what the other boy had been saying. I assured him that it was mine…and he laughed and told the others that it was true; it was indeed MY hair, and not a wig! Evidently, they hadn’t seen too many people with their hair in little braids….or at least not hair over 3 feet long! I had a great time chatting with Cristian and his younger friends. They were very eager to learn the English words for things. None of the kids spoke any English, so I had great practice with my language skills. After they left, I went to practice guitar with Angie. By the time we finished practicing, everyone else was already eating a fabulous dish called pazole. There was a hot sauce that was composed of three different peppers, cucumbers, and some other spices that we could add. I didn’t even have to get my own bowl of it, as various other people didn’t care for it much, or couldn’t fit any more into their stomachs. The bowls were huge, and it was indeed filling. There was chicken in it, hominy, and various other vegetables and such. I loved it. Sam, a Korean exchange student who came with us, (he has a British accent because he lived in Britain for many years), added 6 spoonfuls of the hot stuff to his bowl…and the locals only added several drops! He ate all of it, but he began sweating rivulets down his face. Everyone else who tried the sauce had slightly rosier cheeks than before. It certainly was strong, but it was great!

After dinner, the adults all watched the Passion of Christ in Spanish, and we took all the kids under 8 years of age to watch Jonah (a Veggie Tales movie) in Spanish. We did a puppet show as an intermission because we had observed the previous day while showing a movie that they had very little attention spans. When the movie was over, the kids all let out, and then the rest of us adults had a church service. Angie and I played/sang various songs in between people sharing what God had done in their lives during the year. It was very interesting, because they all spoke Spanish, and Joel would translate some things, but us gringos understood a lot of what they were saying just by their eyes and gestures. We prayed through the New Year, and then greeted each other in Spanish. Jamie said she felt kind of weird, cuz New Year’s is somewhat of a one second holiday, and no one jumped and celebrated, or yelled. They just prayed. I didn’t mind, but it reminded me again of the differences in culture and lifestyles. Absolutely fascinating!

1/1/06

We ate a late breakfast due to the cooks running out of propane. Then we all loaded into the bus and headed back to San Simón. There, we handed out bags of food containing some beans, some cooking oil, sugar, and some flour. Each bag would feed a family for about a week. A small grocery bag of food will feed an entire family for a week. What an astounding concept! We drove several miles to the beach, where we spent the rest of the afternoon. We found live starfish, various sizes of crabs, hermit crabs, live clams, large strands of kelp, seagulls, and many other little creatures in the tide pools. I caught several crabs. They were awesome! Only one really tried to pinch me. I named him Ferdinand. However, when I went to show him to Gene, he leapt off my hand and scuttled up Gene’s pant leg. When Gene shook him out and put his foot down, the heel of his boot neatly crushed Ferdinand. ¡Qué lástima!

Cristian was back with his group when we returned. While everyone else showered, I chatted with them. After they left, we Americans ate leftovers and hotdogs for dinner, and then I showered and we all packed and went to bed.