Just so we stay on our toes at Chimiyá, the goats we have recently
purchased have taken to trying to kill themselves on a daily basis.
Be it jumping through barb-wired fences to eat the neighbor´s crops,
running away from home, or more creativly (this happening only this
morning) trying to hang itself upside down from a fence by one leg and
part of its neck using it´s little rope/tether thingy. I was serenly
talking to Catherine this morning on the phone when a guy approaches
me murmuring only "Your goat is going to die" (in Spanish of course).
This not being a normal conversation starter, I jumped up only to find
the goat in the aforementioned position. I yelled out to Mateo that
his goat was on the verge of death, but Amelia and I managed to free
it before Mateo came up. Stupidest. animals. ever.
Amelia and I have officially constructed the base for a big stove, and
built 4 grills out of mud, pine needles, and adobe blocks. Every day
we learn something new about Guatemalan culture such as everything
starting at least an hour late, lack of foresight when planning
things, and, as we found when making our masterpieces out of adobe,
helping is only done if one is to get paid. Now granted, being from
poverty-stricken Guatemala, volunteer work is not high in the minds of
most rural Guatemalans (nor understood for that matter)and you would
think that perhaps it is lack of time or lack of interest or even just
being economically smart (working but not getting paid being just
stupid) But we would find ourselves with kids just sitting there
watching us work. Weeding in the vivero brought up a similar
situation as two girls stood and watched us for 20 minutes, standing
still and not talking to each other, before giving us an "adios" and
heading off on their way. Anyway, we
got the boys that were watching us build the grills to bring us one
block each before they feined disinterest in our project, left our
work area, or demanded to be paid for any further work. HONestly...
Friday night left all of us exhausted after a long day´s work starting
at 10am and stretching out to 7pm. Rain didn´t deter us as we were
making the final preparations for Saturday´s crowd and beautifying the
park. Our botanical gardens were watered, the kitchen/restaurant was
tidied up, and Amelia started to dig a drain to drain out the stagnant
water that if left any long was soon to be a possible malaria breeding
ground. Such is life at Chimyá and we treated ourselves to soup and
reading to finish off our night.
Saturday ´ol San Juan was celebrated throughout Comalapa since, after
all, the town is called San Juan Comalapa. The week´s activities all
led up to Saturday´s celebration, and Chimiyá was not forgotten as the
soccer game was held at our beautiful soccer field. Rain drove the
crowds out soon after the game and left us to do a little celebrating
of our own (in honor of San Juan of course) for the rest of the day.
Gotta love development work.
New nasty (well "nasty" according to me) animal developments:
Day: Thursday night
Time: Bedtime
Insect: Walking stick
So Amelia and I were getting ready to go to bed when a big gust of
wind blows at our little hut and 5 seconds later I hear a little plop
as something drops next to me in bed. Kitten in hand, I bolt out of
bed and only when I am a safe 5 feet away do I dare look back. There,
dazed and confused, was a walking stick, just hanging out in the
middle of the bed, the strong winds temporarily displacing him as it
blew him right out of his home in the rafters and into my home on the
bed. Needless to say, Amelia was much braver than I under these
circumstances and calmly let the stick crawl on her arm and took it
outside. Grotty.
Animal development #2
Day: Friday early morning
Time: Midnight
Animal: imaginary gigantic snake
As Amelia will be traveling into malaria infested countries in the
near future, she has started taking anti-malaria pills which are known
to cause vivid dreams or even hallucinations. One hour after the
walking stick incident, Amelia experienced the latter,
hallucinations. Midnight had just passed when I was awoken
with "Anne! Shine your torch (translation: flashlight) onto my bed!
There´s a huge snake right next to me!" I grabbed my "torch" as fast
as I had escaped my walking stick, and light shone through Amelia´s
mosquito net onto a terrified Amelia accompanied by...nothing.
Thinking the enormous snake may have hopped over to my bed, I shed
light on my side only to discover a playful kitten, ready to attack
what may come. The next day Amelia realized it must have been the
anti-malaria medicine that was the culprit of such a realistic and
terrifying nightmare...this medicine was culprit also of the following
night´s "guy tapping on door" nightmare. Luckily the drea
ms seem to be wearing off as last night, though not sleep filled, was
not nightmare filled either.
Speaking of last night, another Guatemala culture insight: no matter
the time of night, obnoxiously loud noises are permitted. For the
past three nights, no doubt in celebration of San Juan, the town has
taken to firing "bombas" literally "bombs" at whatever time of night
(celebratory bombs, not bad bombs...Guatemala--lots of noise=fun).
Friday night was also filled, in addition to the "bombas", with a
chorus of the neighbor yelling his strange yell as he walked around
with his dogs, a bunch of dogs barking and howling away (probably in
response to the neighbor´s yowls) numbering at least 30 dogs for hours
on end, and the stupid roosters that, every morning, at 5am, feel the
need to join the other 50 roosters who´ve already started their
morning ritual. What a way to wake up/stay awake.
But so as to not get the wrong impression, we´re all positive at
Chimiyá and have fun in all situations. If one person gets down on
something, the rest put the situation in a positive light, and all is
well. Nights are filled with singing, talking, or reading, and our
days are filled with a variety of different tasks.
Life is low-key and I´m ok with that.
Hasta luego
annemary
New Zealand vocab: torch=flashlight
element=burner (as on a stove)
wop wops=boondox or middle of nowhere
bug bites on arms from last night: 25
stupid animals in our care: 3 (the goats)
daily stares for being the only gringas in Comalapa: countless :)
