Sometimes, if we’ve been in site a while and are “just living”, little things crop up that don’t merit their own post. Mostly becuase of laziness on my part. Therefore, they get clumped together. Let’s go!
Gotta start out with a screensaver for everyone. You can click on the sunset to get the full-sized version. We’re trying to enjoy as many sunsets as possible here before the rainy season starts. Sometimes the rainy season brings storms, and sometimes that leads to power outages. But usually, blackouts are just a result of living in the boonies in Central America. So we always have a lot of candles on hand, and cook with gas. Sometimes we are without power all day.
Our little buddy Chalio still likes to make toys. Sometimes he makes them for other kids, too. I think he’s one of the smartest kids in town, which makes me happy that he is so amused to hang out with us. We let him come inside to color a lot. Here he is with a helicopter he made from corn cobs and straw, and a tiny guitar he made from scrap wood and nails and string. It even makes noise when he strums it. He still tells me that my idea for an 8-foot-diameter kite won’t work, and my quest is to prove him wrong.
We ran out of firewood a few days ago, so I’ve been burning scraps of stuff lying aorund the house. We buy through the neighbors when they buy theirs, because they have all the connections and know how to not get cheated. But for some complicated reasons I don’t understand, firewood has not been forthcoming for anyone. The other day, all the women next door went to the mountains to cut & collect. They invited me along, so I grabbed my machete and joined the scavenger crew. It took hours, looking for standing deadwood and breaking it down with machetes (which everyone brought). Then, we tied the wood into bundles with rope (which everyone except me brought, since I didn’t know about it) and carried it a few miles home. This was a blessing, as I didn’t have to carry any wood. I tried it a few days ago, and it’s HARD! They carry about 80 pounds at a time, on a mecapal (strap) that goes across your head. Ugh. Here’s a picture of Lina tying her bundle (my backpack and machete in the foreground) and another of all the women on the hike home.
The last thing was my birthday. Our buddy Pedro decide that we should have an American-style barbecue at his new roadside store, and it was a blast. We also used it as an excuse to teach him how to make a REAL hamburger. He is thinking about selling them at his store, as there are a lot of returned immigrants here that remember how good those are, but no one here cooks ’em up right. We fixed that! The burgers were really tasty. But I learned something from Pedro, too: ranch dressing on burgers is AWESOME.
Then, when we came home, our friendly neighbors invited us over and Emily cooked up the ever-popular “chocolate cake” for the birthday. They got me a present! Now I have a mug for my tea. Yay.
