The Gazebo Arrives

One of my more arcane sources of amusement is strolling through small shops in different countries and finding items that seem at odds with the general merchandise. You know what I mean, going into a hardware store and finding disposable diapers for example. This week a couple of these odd things came to view in the course of activities.

My kitchen knife has gradually lost its edge (much like its owner I am afraid). I asked Edel, one of the teachers, where I could go to sharpen the knife. He said it would be simpler just to buy a file and he would sharpen it. That seemed like a good deal to me and I said I would go down to the “No Hay” hardware (we have christened the store “No Hay” because they routinely don’t have what we ask for) and get one. Edel looked at me in a puzzled way and said, “Just go to the Pulperia”. The nearest pulperia is a small, side of the house type shop with a fridge and freezer where you can buy little household stuff. But files? Sure enough, they had them. So, the question to me is, what do people use so regularly that needs a file and makes it reasonable for a soap, toilet paper and milk shop to stock them?

Another mystery to me is the size of vanilla bottles. While growing up we had those tiny little bottles of vanilla which sat in the cupboard for months and months before finally being emptied. Here, vanilla is sold in half litre bottles. I have yet to find the right question to ask to know what those amounts of vanilla are used for. It doesn’t seem to fit with beans, eggs and tortilla menu planning.

We needed some extra space for meetings and small classes. There is an unused cement pad in the yard so I decided to have the welder build a gazebo. The drawings were made and the explanations discussed and Thursday evening just as I was hoping to leave, the gates opened and we spent the next hour carrying and setting it up. I confess to a small mistake on my part. Small, as in failing to measure the entrance before making the plans. Fortunately, the welder had taken a look and had built the gazebo in two parts (which is great should we have to move at some time). The base came in through the gates at an angle and, despite low hanging wires and papaya trees, managed to fit in without trouble. The walls are only two metres high but, even that, is truly beyond the scope of the workers’ ability to reach. Fortunately, we had some blocks in the yard and were able to build little piles for all to stand on when putting on the roof. I designed the roof to have a layer of plywood under the metal in an effort to cut the heat. Unfortunately, the welder chose black as the colour to paint the roof. We will see if the idea works. May have to repaint it white.

Yesterday, after a trip to talk to some men about some land for some projects, I returned via some friends who have some red wriggler worms. I was able to obtain a small group of them and they are now happily, I hope, (they did survive the night I see) adjusting to their new and MUCH bigger quarters. Hopefully they will begin multiplying quickly so that the large quarters are utilized. Until then it will be more of a compost pit than a vermiculture operation.

Some students have arrived for Saturday studies so we will see how that goes. A new student arrived this week to start Grade 7. She is twenty-six, a widow and mother of two. Wow. Talk about having a bad hand. She is incredibly cheerful and working hard. I hope we can get her through the courses in short order.

We are enjoying some simply cloudy weather and the chance for laundry to dry. I developed a lingering cough over the holidays so am busy doctoring it with hot milk and honey, a German recipe I was given many years ago on a choir tour. It tastes quite different with the strong tropical flavour of the honey than with the rather plain clover and canola honey from Alberta.

Several students finished the first book this week which means they are a quarter done their course work in less than a month. That is great news. Now to make sure that all the other requirements are met and everything in order for the officials. They are, I am told, a bit puzzled by people being able to move more quickly than a yearly grade. We will have to struggle with that I am sure. On top of this is the lack of salaries these people are getting so incentive to innovate is obviously lacking.

TTYL
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