Last night there was a loud cat skirmish on our roof. They were just scrapping and growling up there. I don’t know how they didn’t fall off, although perhaps that’s how it ended. After the brawl de gatos, had trouble getting to sleep. Which may have been a good thing, because it was garbage day.
Tuesdays and Fridays are garbage day. I asked the neighbor how this is done. He said you have to wake up early and put it out the morning, otherwise the dogs get into it. I remembered hearing the call for garbage at 7am on Tuesday, but I was in bed and didn’t have the garbage ready to go. This morning I was ready. I put the tighly knotted bag outside the door at 6:50. Within a couple of minutes I could hear the bag rustling. I stuck my head out the door and there were dogs ripping apart my bag. Where did they come from? Reminded me of the time Paul fought the raccoons for our garbage when we were camping (remember Mary?) If Paul could take on wild and possibly rabid raccoons, certainly I could take on a couple of easily intimidated strays. I scared them off and waited for the guys with wheelbarrows to yell basura. Bottom line is if we want our garbage picked up, I need to be up at 7 and hand it to the garbage men.
The first thing I saw on my walk into town was a huge dead rat. Biggest one I’ve ever seen, and sadly, I’ve seen a bunch. I was wondering how that was going to get cleaned up, because I just didn’t have the stomach to do anything about that one. The answer to my question came in the form of what looked like a parade coming towards me. It was actually a crowd of indigenous women and children with brooms and garbage bags. There were at least 70 of them in this particular group. They were all headed down to the waterfront. All around town this massive clean-up was happening. Don’t know how it was organized but it was impressive. They were sweeping the streets with brooms and picking up garbage with plastic bags on their hands. It was an impressive effort. Sure enough, when I home home later, the dead rat was gone. I was grateful.
Most of the clothes in this village are bought through stores or pakas which sell secondhand clothes from the states. I saw a paka delivery being made. It was one huge bundle of clothes that barely fit into the back of a pick-up. Three men were trying to shove it through the paka door. That’s a lot of used clothes.
After I went to the internet cafe, I went to the used bookstore and got four books which I’m excited to read. Then I went home and read for most of the afternoon. It was pretty sweet.
The girls were both into writing stories today, and doing some chalk art on the back wall. Cali bought little cookies at the store today. She gets so excited to be able to do something all by herself.
We got down to the rock piles by the lake a different way tonight, using the regular bridge. It took a while, but they got to play in the little houses they’ve created. Then we walked into town for ice cream sandwiches. We also bought little books for the girls to put their stories in.
We were walking down to the school Madi and Kier went to last time and saw the director. She told Madi lots of updates about what is going on, about the play they will be doing, who is in her class. She invited us to stop by sometime this weekend. It was good to see her.
Then we walked to the grocery store and got some popcorn to eat if we can find an appropriate movie on tv. We saw a boy in the grocery store who liked Madi a lot the last time we were here. He was going to great pains to get her attention in various ways, ending with him standing on the back of a scooter that his friend was driving making Tarzan noises. Madi was wondering why he was acting all crazy and weird. I just don’t feel like explaining these things right now.
The Friday night singing at the church is ok. I don’t think they’ve taken one night off since we’ve been here. Sometimes there are only a handful of people in there, but the service happens with great enthusiasm.
We found Prince Caspian on tv, popped some popcorn and had a regular movie night. The girls were pumped. Lots of fireworks also going on.
Hard to believe we’ve been here for a week. Feels like we’ve been here so much longer we’re settled in. It makes such a huge difference to come back to a place you have history and good memories.
Cali’s Frog Blog: Today I had lots and lots and lots of fun. Now we know how to work the tv, so I got to watch Sponge Bob in Spanish. He sounds kind of funny speaking Spanish. Mommy bought home some new chalk to draw on the garden walls. I drew Patrick and his home (from Sponge Bob). Then we went to the beach. I finished the room in my house and made a bed and a dog out of rocks. Then we went into town for ice cream sandwiches. Then we walked to the grocery store and got popcorn. I washed my feet because they were yucky and had lots of dirt on them. We watched Narnia as our movie girl time. But it’s not girl time without Kiki. Then we watched a little cartoon with icarly and she had a lamb and named it Bo(ahhhhhh)b. I was funny. Then I went to bed. Love you all.
Madi Speaks: Today we stayed home for the morning and watched Bugs Bunny. Mom went to the internet cafe. When she came home she had bought chalk for us to draw on the walls outside. I made a sunset scene. We went to the beach and found a new way down. The river we usually cross is flooded. Then we went to Saritas. There was a guy I knew from last time. We saw him in the grocery store and he kept trying to get my attention by doing weird things like running around the grocery store yelling for his friend. Then when we were walking home, they drove by us on a scooter and he was standing on the back and started yelling like Tarzan. Real mature. He could have just said hello. We passed by the school and the director. She was just coming out. It was nice to see her. We talked about who is in my class and who my teachers were. When we got home we had buttered noodles for dinner and watched Prince Caspian on tv in English. We went to bed and heard a bunch of kids yelling and screaming in the streets, having fun.