The rainy season has come and the afternoon rains and cool mornings have brought a welcome change to the hot dry months of April and May. And what a difference 2 weeks of rain has made. Nicaragua has changed from a dry desert to a land of beautiful, green, lush mountains.
With the rains, I have planted my own vegetable garden. Two-square meters and raised from the ground with banana trunks that I hauled up from the road, the garden is protected from the pesky chickens by four adobe walls that were to be the kitchen of my house before the dueño left. My papa de aire (potato of the air plant) is growing fast, my ginger has sprouted, and the new rose transplants are taking. In the evenings I lay in my hammock on the porch and look out at the cows and caña fields across from my house.
The best part about the rains is that we now have water, which became such a scarce resource that someone stole all the water out of my pila while I was sleeping one night. But with the rains comes dirty, brown, murky water that just doesn´t satisfy my thirst. And I´m always battling to keep my water tank (pila) clean from the falling debris of the trees overhead or mosquito larvae that swim around or the new guest that came last week-tadpoles. My washing stone has also started molding, so as I scrubbed my clothes last week on a fungus-covered stone and rinsed them in murky tadpole infested water, I questioned how clean those clothes were getting. My next project is making a water filter!
I´ve also accompliesd the art of making Nica coffee by sewing my own coffee bolsa with an old-fashioned Singer sewing machine.
On the work front, the balls are rolling for our organic market and we´ve now had 2 meetings with the mayor and more planned. A meeting this week with the Nica government ag agency will leave me with more vegetable seeds to gift to producers to start gardens for the market and to re-start the school garden that failed a few months ago without water.
Two weeks ago, a vet med brigade came from the states, bringing 4 vet students, 2 vets, and a vet and nurse couple that recently moved to Nicaragua to serve for Christian Vet Mission. I was more than excited to work and learn with and from the vets. It´s always refreshing to be with other Americans, but to be doing vet work too, was more than fantastic. I was supposed to be there to translate, but with translators brought, I really learned more than helped. A kind vet tought me to do general exams for horses, let me help with the goats, and showed me the various bacteria and parasites in the blood and stool exams taken from the animals.
I´ve also been spending quite a bit of time with the other volunteers in my area nad the newest volunteer here, as she´s just moved into her own place and we celebrated her birthday last weekend with a homemade thai peanut spaghetti, pineapple upside down cake, and rich red wine. So wonderful for Nicaragua!
My cat, Fiona, has left me again, but has been replaced by new unwelcome visitors-a mouse, a bat, and many, many beetles and lightning bugs at night! The mouse made his way into a closed bag and chewed through 2 layers of bubble wrap to get to my precious peanut butter M&Ms. His diet is now being replaced with rat venom.
Celebrated Mothers day here with my host mom and her family, making nacatamales (actually helping this time) and baking lots of cakes. I have become the town baker, between my baking group, baking with my peace corps friends, and my host moms constant desire to bake everytime I visit. Not that I´m complaining!
Off to visit a friend this next week for a little vacation and then back home to get some projects going.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
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