Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Work

I want rain. There I said it. Three months ago I probably could never have imagined saying those words but I’m a changed man. No I’m not; I’m just a man who cares dearly about his precious carrots that have sprouted in his garden. A few days after I arrived at site I made a bed and planted carrots and broccoli. The soil was clay so I double dug the bed in order to loosen the soil up, meaning with the help of my two youngest brothers I dug a deep trench then pushed the soil I had just dug back in the trench and built up the elevated garden bed. I also made check dams to absorb water in case it rained. It took us one afternoon and by the end of it my brothers wanted to kill me. My host father wore a confused face that day. I explained to him that it was an odd technique but I was just experimenting.

The next day I helped him make his own bed, we made six his way, without digging in the soil. Afterwards he said to me “Look today we made six beds my way and it took you an afternoon just to make one your way. Whose way is better, yours or mine?” All I could say was we’ll see, to which he laughed. For a second there I felt like the guy who comes in following the textbook only to quickly learn that that’s not how it works in the field. Fast forward a couple weeks. My host father comes up to me: “Your carrots have sprouted, mine haven’t.” I wanted to do a fist pump right there but I just smiled. As of today his carrots have yet to sprout.

Ahh yes the work has begun. It took a while due to several meetings where none of the group leaders showed up and my organization changing things but I have started working in several family gardens in three communities. So far we’ve planted carrots, swiss chard, beets, and radishes and I’ve given talks on double digging (after my own success) and a couple brief talks about nutrition. I’m mighty busy but all I can say is that it feels great to get my work up and running.

The family situation is getting a bit sticky. It seems my concerns about religious involvement are coming to a head. I won’t go into it but I think they might raise my rent for not going to church with them. It’s kind of funny how illegal that would be in the States. That’s not to say that all is not well with my family situation. They’re building a house for their oldest who has a pretty serious girlfriend he hopes to wed next year. She lives in one of the nearby villages and I met her last night. Carlos and Reina just stood there and talked while her little brothers dragged me off to throw fireworks and eventually watch Bloodsport. It was hilarious. The little kids kept referring to Jean-Claude Van Damme as “El Van Damme,” (The Van Damme). I occasionally lend my family a hand with the house construction and they have me lifting hundreds of cinder blocks which is good exercise but most importantly when I help them out they feed me for free. Little odd jobs like giving the cows water. I guess you can say “feed the cows” but you can’t say “water the cows.” Anyways note to self don’t wear a red shirt next time.

Basketball has been frustrating as of late. They don’t call fouls up here and I now understand why that huge guy I would play basketball with at Covenant in the mornings would always threaten to punch someone because everyone would foul him like crazy because they couldn’t stop him.

The daily grind means I have little time to myself in which to write. I fixed my fakakta bed so there’s not a missing board where my neck rests. At night I’ll throw on an album and listen to it straight through while I cook dinner. It’s sort of like my own little scene from The Big Chill. I try and listen to an album a night, last night it was David Bowie’s "Heroes". I think tonight I’ll put on either Blonde on Blonde or Loaded.