Perhaps it was all the rain that drove the potato bugs to seek dry shelter in our living room. As we sat watching tv last night, what was crawling on our floor turned out to be much more interesting than what was happening on the tube. We had both bug quantity and quality. Probably the most impressive was a huge museum collection worthy cockroach or beetle that strutted across the floor. When it comes to bugs, size soooo does matter. This dude was cool and made his entrance to the party. I admit it, I couldn’t suppress my gasp. Then an even larger spider stole the spotlight from the roachbeetle. I knew it was time to go to bed before something really scary showed up that could grab the fly swatter from me and take me down.
Last night there was another huge crashing noise on our roof. Honestly I don’t know what it was. Madi and I were both startled awake, stared at the ceiling, hoping it could keep supporting whatever was up there. I thought part of a tree had landed on the roof, the crash was that signifiicant. Madi couldn’t stop shaking, it was that loud. I couldn’t go back to sleep for two hours. In the morning, there was nothing on our Twilight Zone roof. It sounded too loud to be an animal, but maybe that’s what it was, a cat the size of a gorilla.
When the next day finally arrived, it was a hammock day, which is code for lusciously lazy with spontaneous agenda. I went to the market and bought our weekly pineapple, dozen apples, half a dozen bananas. Went for a coffee in a quiet place. Church would be enough socializing for today.
Cali and I went to pick up her friend. This was the way to her house.
They played upstairs all day long. Even without a compost pit, they managed to find lots to do. They created a whole world upstairs. For a while I think they were doing flips. Hilarious listening to their convos. There were some funny language issues happening. Cali was talking about dressing on a salad and her friend kept saying you don’t put clothes on lettuce. Then I heard them trying to figure out if Trinidad and Paris were next to each other. I quietly chuckled repeatedly during the day. Kids’ minds are amazing, I’m constantly entertained. It’s always a gift, no matter where you are, when your kid finds a friend where the chemistry just clicks. No refereeing needed, they disappear to enjoy each other’s company, only surfacing for food. Gotta love that.
I sent Cali to get water. This was something her friend had never done before because her housekeeper does that. I think it surprised her that we would be doing this for ourselves. Her friend came back to get me and said the water was stuck under a tuk tuk. This was potentially worrisome. But when I got there it was that the water fell off the cart only slightly behind a parked tuk tuk. The girls thought this was high adventure. Oh the drama of a broken bungie chord! A quick grandparent recap on that one (since I can hear all five our your voices in my head, asking me the same sweet questions), at no time was anything, nor anyone (ie. of your grandchildren) under a tuk tuk. Later we dropped her friend off at her house as we walked up to the church.
Madi spent pretty much the whole day doing homework. She didn’t want to start it on Friday or Saturday, so today’s the day.
What should have been an uneventful walk church had one moment of unexpected scariness. There are no sidewalks to speak of, on most of the streets. They are lined with either barbed wire or stone walls. We were walking single file by the stone wall, Madi in front of me, Cali behind me. A pick-up truck hauling very thick bamboo poles (5 inches in diameter) was driving down the street toward us. Nothing abnormal with this scene. The bamboo poles were hanging off the back of the truck by at least 10 feet, and dragging on the ground far behind the truck. The actual truck part was past us, but the poles hanging off the back weren’t. Then, if you can picture this, the driver steers left and as a result the bamboo poles start to slam into the wall. They miss me, but about two of them were about to crush Cali. It was so crazy, and so fast. She was right behind me and as I saw the poles starting to move towards the wall, I could already hear the guy who was sitting on them in the back yelling at the driver. Cali was right behind me, but froze, so was just beyond my reach. My only option was to grab the poles with all my strength to keep them from smashing her into the wall. Then she quickly slipped through while I was holding them, and we went on our way. It was just one of those freaky potential accidents, which may be the only kind they have down here.
Speaking of freaky accidents, I watch how the men do construction, and I’d guess that no two accidents on worksites here that are ever the same. I’m guessing they see extra bizarre injuries in the ERs. I saw some guys cutting cinderblocks with axes and machetes. Making do with what they have. They toss the cinderblocks over fences to each other. I would want to be the thrower, NOT the catcher in that scenario.
Mia, we also saw Elias the pen-guy today. He kept asking if I remembered him, which of course, I did. I’ll have to order some pens from him.
There are always two worship services next door on Sunday. There is the 7:30 am service and the 6:00-8:30 evening service. I don’t mean to refer unkindly to the worship services that go on next door. They could preach-on all day every day, but the music really does hurt my ears. I do believe that once the mind has been programmed to think what sounds horribly out of key, it’s impossible to reprogram that sense. It is permanent and unchangable, like music DNA. If they came to my church, they would likely cringe in torment in the same way, because their sense of good music is programmed totally different from mine. We can still co-exist peacefully, especially with the quiet aid of earplugs.
We also went to church. Speaking of singing, other than summer camp, I’ve never sung without a hymnbook and notes to read. Here they put the words up on powerpoint, and you have to figure out the tune on your own. I didn’t realize how decadent notes are. I like the notes. I miss them.
Part of the message was talking about the value of discomfort. How discomfort is often a catalyst for change, can increase resiliency, can expand comfort zones, increase flexibility, strengthen courage. Loved the concept, as long as that doesn’t include discomfort by music. Don’t blame me, blame my intolerant music dna.
I met a woman who is taking care of her 16 year old grand-daughter. I also got to know a couple of other people, each, again with interesting stories about how they ended up in Pana. I also got a lead on a guitar teacher for Kier.
When we got home we skyped while Kier packed.
Cali went to bed before she could blog about her day. She was tired. Shame. I have to say one of the highlights of my day is listening to the girls’ reflect on their day. We experience identical circumstances through different lenses. They make me laugh.
Madi’s day: Today I basically did homework. We are still studying apartheid and racism. I had to summarize Abraham Lincoln’s inauguration speeches the first and second one. Then I had to write a one page summary on Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Then I had to write 6 paragraphs from a character’s point of view on the six most important parts of the the book Cry the Beloved Country. I also had math and had to do a lot of research on my African country. At church I sat and talked to one of my teachers. I shower her all of the apps on my ipod and talked to her about school back home. Then we came home and I did some more homework and went to bed.