Friday night, a team of 19 dentists and medical personnel arrived to conduct four days of clinics for people in several surrounding villages. The Board of CPI Honduras has been busy planning and preparing for their coming. I have been struck by the amount of energy and open heartedness of the people as they prepare in so many little ways to ensure the success of this brigade.
Their efforts remind me of the story of Christ and his disciples in the temple watching people give offerings as they came in to worship. The disciples, a number of them with a history of life by the shores of Galilee and long months covered with eau de tilapia, were still awestruck by the opportunity to be in the temple. So, understandably, their eyes focused on the bags of money that thumped out of the hands of well-dressed and obviously rich worshippers. It was a puzzling thing when Christ pointed out the grubby widow sidling up to the plate and dropping in two measly coins worth nothing except in the grungiest and scrap-filled corners of the marketplace. Christ noted that in heavenly balance sheet terms, these two coins were worth more than the sum of all the thundering bags and gleaming piles of shekels.
As the school rooms in the first facility were being hosed and sluiced with buckets of water, school grounds raked and piles of trash moved to the back part of the school yard these people gave their two coins to their communities – quietly, in bare feet, with dirty hands and without fanfare, matching t-shirts or tax-deductible receipts. That, to my way of thinking, is the true gift of grace in this whole process. And, it is, most importantly, this type of hope in action, grace imagined and given structure which tells me that the seeds of growth, renewed life and opportunity are still viable and ready for even the smallest nudge of nurture.
Yesterday, before heading to the cleaning bee, I spent an hour and forty minutes waiting in line at the bank to exchange some of the dollars the dental team brought with them. Fortunately, most of the time was spent inside the bank where the air conditioning made the wait more enjoyable. About half way through the hour, the man in front of me traded places with another gentleman and left. Obviously, he was an employee whose job had been to hold the place in line. Good idea. The new man proved to be a friend of a friend and so knew who I was and some of the things I had done in agriculture. He was also very good at cobbling together one or two Spanish words into full sentences. We managed to talk for the remaining forty minutes about the benefits of Leuceana, Moringa, Ssebania, Chipolin, alternative cattle feeds and so forth. Now, it would really be interesting to get a translation of what was actually understood in the conversation.
As I walked the last bit to the school, I passed a pick up truck which had several crates of hens in the back. Obviously a laying operation was getting rid of spent hens. For $1.50 you could go home with a four pound hen for the next day’s sopa de gallina. The birds were being sold at a brisk rate and flapping wings were headed off in all directions.
In the late afternoon, as I returned home, I tried to locate another foam mattress for this weekend. I stopped at the store where we had previously purchased my first mattress. For some reason, the man misunderstood my attempts to find the price of various mattresses as an attempt to learn new vocabulary about various types of beds and mattresses available in Honduras. So, I obtained a variety of new words about beds but never made it to the “how much it costs” bit. After what I hoped was an appropriate amount of time (much too long in my view) I left and headed for other locales. No luck finding another place for a mattress so will try again today.
Tomorrow the first of the four days of dental work begins and the next day I leave for a couple of weeks in Canada. Will write from there.
Bryan
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Pineapple Wine – Jan. 20
Chepe, the President of C.P.I. Honduras, took us to see a plant that processes pineapples. For several years they have been making pineapple vinegar. The bottleneck, evidently, has been their final filtration process. They are using clay filters which take about twelve hours to filter a litre. When you want to filter several thousand litres this is a bit daunting. My task is to find out if there are some alternative filtration machines or systems available in Canada or the U.S.
While there, we talked about other product lines that they could pursue. That was a bit of a stretch as they were more concentrated on the problems of their one line. In the end, we went into their storeroom to purchase some Pineapple Vinegar to take back to Canada. I had five bottles tucked into my shoulder bag when I noted some other, different shaped bottles. Well, it turns out that they have started a second product line, pineapple wine. I was delighted to see them venturing out a little bit. They promptly cracked open a bottle and we had a tiny sample. Not too bad, especially the second taste. Of course, being of absolutely no use as a wine connoisseur, I will refrain from making any erudite comments. Nose, aroma, body, and so forth are well beyond my ken. Regardless, I bought a couple of bottles for my luggage. The opened bottle went along ... now, how to deal with that. I will struggle.
We have been having cooking classes at lunch time the last couple of weeks. Spaghetti is a mystery and so, any way that I can think of to serve it is seen as a huge culinary achievement. We have had a few meals of the simple, throw in what vegetables you have type sauce, which have been enjoyed by all. Yesterday, one of the girls went ahead to start cooking. Well, she had never cooked spaghetti so wasn’t aware of the tradition of using boiling water. Fortunately, the spaghetti she used wasn’t aware of that tradition either so it cooked as the water came to a boil. The sauce turned out well and covered any deficiencies in the spaghetti.
Today we had chicken and rice soup. Since I had the bottle of pineapple wine sitting on the cupboard we poured in a cup or so into the soup. It actually made the soup better and the pineapple flavour and aroma was quite nice. I was very surprised that it worked so well. Good thing it did as there are enough leftovers for supper and breakfast. While eating our soup, we were talking about various meals and they told me that they use oatmeal to make a cold drink. Will have to see and taste it before I try describing it. They add sugar to it so that may be the real key to its success.
Our trips to Tegucigalpa may have been profitable. Yesterday we were told that our project has met approval at all levels. Now it is with Person X to get the funding arranged. As Person X has had his hands on the project before that may or may not be good news. However, Person X was a classmate of the Mayor and so is much more amenable to pressure from the Mayor’s office ... we hope. The Mayor seemed to think so when Manuel talked with him this morning.
Not knowing the language is sometimes helpful. Twice, on Sunday, I benefitted from ignorance. I went to a restaurant in San Pedro Sula and ordered fish. The waiter tried to inform me about alternative fish dishes which I was able to decipher but which were twice the price. I stuck with the cheaper one on the first page with the appetizers. Well, it turned out to be a dish featuring small pieces of broiled fish in a very piquant salsa sauce. It was a cold spicey goulash consistency and very delicious. Great choice.
In the evening, I went to the “Crazy Tacos” to watch Honduras play Chile. I asked the proprietress what food was available (old African habits die hard – never ask for a menu – it will only contain about four pages of dishes that aren’t available) and she mentioned a word I hadn’t heard before. So, I ordered it. It turned out to be a submarine type bun with small pieces of fried meat, onions, cabbage and refried beans with a sauce. Again, unexpectedly delicious. Oh, Honduras won the game as well, 2-0.
Went to the carpenter’s yesterday to pick up my daughter’s Christmas present. It is at the glazier’s today getting the mirror installed. It turned out to be quite beautiful so I have every hope she will enjoy it. It is such a delight to find craftsmen who can turn my ideas and drawings into a work of art. Doubly delightful as there is a whole series of nerves missing between my brain and my ‘crafty’ fingers. The problem facing me is how to package it for the airplane trip to Canada. That is a worrisome thought.
Manuel is busy loading the computers with the first volume of Grade 7 & 8 along with the sound tracks. The girls tried it a bit and were very impressed. We will start them off tomorrow and watch their progress with this new system.
This morning was spent going over annual reports. These reports were a daunting task because neither Jessica nor Carolina had ever done anything like that before. As well, I insisted they be typed and put in to the computer. It took a long time but, they are into final revisions now. It has been good to get a better idea of what they were involved with in the last year.
A second day without rain so things are less sticky. I see though that clouds are gathering so we may be back to slippery mud again by evening. But, I love the green so can’t complain.
Bryan
While there, we talked about other product lines that they could pursue. That was a bit of a stretch as they were more concentrated on the problems of their one line. In the end, we went into their storeroom to purchase some Pineapple Vinegar to take back to Canada. I had five bottles tucked into my shoulder bag when I noted some other, different shaped bottles. Well, it turns out that they have started a second product line, pineapple wine. I was delighted to see them venturing out a little bit. They promptly cracked open a bottle and we had a tiny sample. Not too bad, especially the second taste. Of course, being of absolutely no use as a wine connoisseur, I will refrain from making any erudite comments. Nose, aroma, body, and so forth are well beyond my ken. Regardless, I bought a couple of bottles for my luggage. The opened bottle went along ... now, how to deal with that. I will struggle.
We have been having cooking classes at lunch time the last couple of weeks. Spaghetti is a mystery and so, any way that I can think of to serve it is seen as a huge culinary achievement. We have had a few meals of the simple, throw in what vegetables you have type sauce, which have been enjoyed by all. Yesterday, one of the girls went ahead to start cooking. Well, she had never cooked spaghetti so wasn’t aware of the tradition of using boiling water. Fortunately, the spaghetti she used wasn’t aware of that tradition either so it cooked as the water came to a boil. The sauce turned out well and covered any deficiencies in the spaghetti.
Today we had chicken and rice soup. Since I had the bottle of pineapple wine sitting on the cupboard we poured in a cup or so into the soup. It actually made the soup better and the pineapple flavour and aroma was quite nice. I was very surprised that it worked so well. Good thing it did as there are enough leftovers for supper and breakfast. While eating our soup, we were talking about various meals and they told me that they use oatmeal to make a cold drink. Will have to see and taste it before I try describing it. They add sugar to it so that may be the real key to its success.
Our trips to Tegucigalpa may have been profitable. Yesterday we were told that our project has met approval at all levels. Now it is with Person X to get the funding arranged. As Person X has had his hands on the project before that may or may not be good news. However, Person X was a classmate of the Mayor and so is much more amenable to pressure from the Mayor’s office ... we hope. The Mayor seemed to think so when Manuel talked with him this morning.
Not knowing the language is sometimes helpful. Twice, on Sunday, I benefitted from ignorance. I went to a restaurant in San Pedro Sula and ordered fish. The waiter tried to inform me about alternative fish dishes which I was able to decipher but which were twice the price. I stuck with the cheaper one on the first page with the appetizers. Well, it turned out to be a dish featuring small pieces of broiled fish in a very piquant salsa sauce. It was a cold spicey goulash consistency and very delicious. Great choice.
In the evening, I went to the “Crazy Tacos” to watch Honduras play Chile. I asked the proprietress what food was available (old African habits die hard – never ask for a menu – it will only contain about four pages of dishes that aren’t available) and she mentioned a word I hadn’t heard before. So, I ordered it. It turned out to be a submarine type bun with small pieces of fried meat, onions, cabbage and refried beans with a sauce. Again, unexpectedly delicious. Oh, Honduras won the game as well, 2-0.
Went to the carpenter’s yesterday to pick up my daughter’s Christmas present. It is at the glazier’s today getting the mirror installed. It turned out to be quite beautiful so I have every hope she will enjoy it. It is such a delight to find craftsmen who can turn my ideas and drawings into a work of art. Doubly delightful as there is a whole series of nerves missing between my brain and my ‘crafty’ fingers. The problem facing me is how to package it for the airplane trip to Canada. That is a worrisome thought.
Manuel is busy loading the computers with the first volume of Grade 7 & 8 along with the sound tracks. The girls tried it a bit and were very impressed. We will start them off tomorrow and watch their progress with this new system.
This morning was spent going over annual reports. These reports were a daunting task because neither Jessica nor Carolina had ever done anything like that before. As well, I insisted they be typed and put in to the computer. It took a long time but, they are into final revisions now. It has been good to get a better idea of what they were involved with in the last year.
A second day without rain so things are less sticky. I see though that clouds are gathering so we may be back to slippery mud again by evening. But, I love the green so can’t complain.
Bryan
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Turn Girls and a First Movie – Jan. 15
Equal opportunity is knocking here in Honduras. The job of shouting for, loading and collecting money from passengers is traditionally the domain of young men. In the past week I have seen two young women handling the job. They seemed to be doing a capable job although it is hard to imagine them hanging out the bus doors by one hand and shouting and whistling as the vehicle hurtles down the road.
The last two days were spent on yet another trip to Tegucigalpa. This time, though, we went by bus. We had originally thought that none of the buses stopped at our junction because of fear of armed robbery and so forth. Well, that is only for the high end companies. For the ordinary country travellers, there are still two (at least) companies that do the stop and go bit. One of them uses old, retired school buses and the other uses retired passenger buses. We caught the passenger bus and, fortunately, were able to find seats for the whole trip. It was a much faster trip because we didn’t have to go into San Pedro Sula to rent a car. By 5:45 p.m. we were in a hotel (Joseph and Mary Inn – but definitely several steps up from a stable) in Tegucigulpa.
Since we were into the city early, I suggested going to a movie. Manuel hadn’t been to a movie in years and Chepe had never been to one. We caught a taxi to a mall that had a cinema and checked out the night’s offerings. We had scant time to wolf down a Wendy’s burger combo (if you are going to go to a movie, don’t mess with wholesome food) and get back into the theatre. Everyone enjoyed the movie very much. It turned out to be half-price Tuesday as well so the cost for the three of us was $4.00. Not too hard on the pocket.
On our ride home we passed by several young women on corners waiting for customers. I was struck by how terrifying and lonely such a position must be. There is no “best case scenario” option for them. The best they can hope for is to be alive, reasonably unhurt, another day free from disease and having to be ready to do it all the next night. What incredibly awful circumstances dictate that prostitution is the only option left for survival.
The next morning we headed for our meeting. One of the first things we spotted was an Amish family with gleaming straw hats and dark bonnets and backpacks heading to a bus depot. Were they tourists, residents, aid workers. Don’t know. Fun to see though.
Chepe wanted to walk part of the way to our meeting so as to make the taxi ride shorter. We had lots of time so like small town boys in the big city we headed out eyes agape. Stopped to check out the trees in a small park, watched a man fixing his shop’s electrical connection with a big butcher knife and then admired a new three wheeled motorcycle with a small truck bed. The motorcycle even has a reverse gear and the box can hold 900 lbs. Too cool. Not too bad a price either so will keep it in mind for future agriculture projects.
One of the strangest things I have encountered here is the seemingly total lack of knowledge the taxi drivers have of their city. Granted, the city is convoluted and filled with narrow, twisting streets but ... still ... it is their living, right? Fortunately, Chepe knew the way and gave directions to the driver so we arrived in short order.
The meeting went fairly well and our proposal was taken by messenger (after detailed instructions from the boss) to a meeting where budgeting was taking place. The administrative assistant spent thirty minutes with us talking about the project and writing down the high points, etc. A much improved meeting over the one last week so we left with some hope.
A quick trip to the Canadian Embassy to see the lady in charge of projects like ours (she wasn’t in of course) and back to the bus station. We were an hour early for the next bus but people began lining up with forty minutes to go. Fortunately, we noticed and got in line, despite orders from the ticket office to wait until ten minutes to go. We loaded the bus thirty minutes early and were able to find seats in the second last row. The last few passengers had to stand in the aisle (for a five to six hour ride). We left five minutes early as we were definitely full. Even so, we stopped en route to pick up some more people. At one of the first stops, a man got on and promptly draped himself over the back of one of the seats and fell asleep. Four hours later and he was still standing in the same position and still asleep. That was definitely, for me, in the strange category.
We were home before dark and I was able to buy some stuff for making supper. We will definitely use the bus method again.
Bryan
The last two days were spent on yet another trip to Tegucigalpa. This time, though, we went by bus. We had originally thought that none of the buses stopped at our junction because of fear of armed robbery and so forth. Well, that is only for the high end companies. For the ordinary country travellers, there are still two (at least) companies that do the stop and go bit. One of them uses old, retired school buses and the other uses retired passenger buses. We caught the passenger bus and, fortunately, were able to find seats for the whole trip. It was a much faster trip because we didn’t have to go into San Pedro Sula to rent a car. By 5:45 p.m. we were in a hotel (Joseph and Mary Inn – but definitely several steps up from a stable) in Tegucigulpa.
Since we were into the city early, I suggested going to a movie. Manuel hadn’t been to a movie in years and Chepe had never been to one. We caught a taxi to a mall that had a cinema and checked out the night’s offerings. We had scant time to wolf down a Wendy’s burger combo (if you are going to go to a movie, don’t mess with wholesome food) and get back into the theatre. Everyone enjoyed the movie very much. It turned out to be half-price Tuesday as well so the cost for the three of us was $4.00. Not too hard on the pocket.
On our ride home we passed by several young women on corners waiting for customers. I was struck by how terrifying and lonely such a position must be. There is no “best case scenario” option for them. The best they can hope for is to be alive, reasonably unhurt, another day free from disease and having to be ready to do it all the next night. What incredibly awful circumstances dictate that prostitution is the only option left for survival.
The next morning we headed for our meeting. One of the first things we spotted was an Amish family with gleaming straw hats and dark bonnets and backpacks heading to a bus depot. Were they tourists, residents, aid workers. Don’t know. Fun to see though.
Chepe wanted to walk part of the way to our meeting so as to make the taxi ride shorter. We had lots of time so like small town boys in the big city we headed out eyes agape. Stopped to check out the trees in a small park, watched a man fixing his shop’s electrical connection with a big butcher knife and then admired a new three wheeled motorcycle with a small truck bed. The motorcycle even has a reverse gear and the box can hold 900 lbs. Too cool. Not too bad a price either so will keep it in mind for future agriculture projects.
One of the strangest things I have encountered here is the seemingly total lack of knowledge the taxi drivers have of their city. Granted, the city is convoluted and filled with narrow, twisting streets but ... still ... it is their living, right? Fortunately, Chepe knew the way and gave directions to the driver so we arrived in short order.
The meeting went fairly well and our proposal was taken by messenger (after detailed instructions from the boss) to a meeting where budgeting was taking place. The administrative assistant spent thirty minutes with us talking about the project and writing down the high points, etc. A much improved meeting over the one last week so we left with some hope.
A quick trip to the Canadian Embassy to see the lady in charge of projects like ours (she wasn’t in of course) and back to the bus station. We were an hour early for the next bus but people began lining up with forty minutes to go. Fortunately, we noticed and got in line, despite orders from the ticket office to wait until ten minutes to go. We loaded the bus thirty minutes early and were able to find seats in the second last row. The last few passengers had to stand in the aisle (for a five to six hour ride). We left five minutes early as we were definitely full. Even so, we stopped en route to pick up some more people. At one of the first stops, a man got on and promptly draped himself over the back of one of the seats and fell asleep. Four hours later and he was still standing in the same position and still asleep. That was definitely, for me, in the strange category.
We were home before dark and I was able to buy some stuff for making supper. We will definitely use the bus method again.
Bryan
Monday, January 12, 2009
What Price Firewood – Jan. 12
Just returned from sitting with a family who lost a relative this weekend. The relative in question was a young twenty-three year old mentally handicapped man. He went off to gather firewood and, in the process, wandered on to private property. Obviously, the property was extremely private and was guarded by men with weapons. The end result was the young man was killed by six bullets. Such a shame for the family and community. There may be a bit more to the story because, so far in my experience, the mentally handicapped people I have seen have been treated with a great deal of respect and kindness by their neighbours and general community.
While at the family’s place, I was able to watch a Grade 3 Adult Education class in progress. Three students were busy preparing for a test from their textbook. One of the students was a Grandmother and the other two were young men in their twenties or early thirties. These students are being given this chance because of the work CPI Canada has done in this community. That was definitely a rewarding opportunity to see this education process in progress.
The weather was cloudy so evening lighting came early. This prompted the chickens to begin climbing up their night time roosting tree. What fun to watch as they judged each jump from branch to branch. One very enterprising bird went up via the electrical wires. These were rather saggy and thin so the bird had to do some major high wire acrobatics to stay aboard. A second bird watched the whole episode and thought about it for some time before deciding on the discretion over valour route. The tree is likely the way to keep track of population numbers. Whenever things get too crowded it is time for another pot of chicken soup.
We spent all day on the budget and description of this project for another trip to Tegucigulpa. It was a journey into Microsoft hell. So many of these new bells and whistles are wonderful at the time if you have never learned to type. But, if like me, you benefitted from the attentions (ruler and all) of Ms Carroll you don’t need those automatic things that get truly in the road when you are going back into a document to make corrections. We found a few errors and made them right. Then, we went to have them printed. Another fifteen minutes of “you can’t get there from here” before we got most of the document printed. Two pages wouldn’t cooperate so Manuel took them to San Pedro Sula to try at a place there.
Walking into town centre is more exciting now. Three streets are being fitted with cement roadways. There are mounds of dirt at each intersection to thread around and small puddles in unexpected places where new waterline leaks have appeared. People are enjoying the new roadways and bikes cruise up and down the block in between small soccer games and strollers enjoying the new smoothness of the road. We hope that our street is next.
Time to head home for supper.
Bryan
While at the family’s place, I was able to watch a Grade 3 Adult Education class in progress. Three students were busy preparing for a test from their textbook. One of the students was a Grandmother and the other two were young men in their twenties or early thirties. These students are being given this chance because of the work CPI Canada has done in this community. That was definitely a rewarding opportunity to see this education process in progress.
The weather was cloudy so evening lighting came early. This prompted the chickens to begin climbing up their night time roosting tree. What fun to watch as they judged each jump from branch to branch. One very enterprising bird went up via the electrical wires. These were rather saggy and thin so the bird had to do some major high wire acrobatics to stay aboard. A second bird watched the whole episode and thought about it for some time before deciding on the discretion over valour route. The tree is likely the way to keep track of population numbers. Whenever things get too crowded it is time for another pot of chicken soup.
We spent all day on the budget and description of this project for another trip to Tegucigulpa. It was a journey into Microsoft hell. So many of these new bells and whistles are wonderful at the time if you have never learned to type. But, if like me, you benefitted from the attentions (ruler and all) of Ms Carroll you don’t need those automatic things that get truly in the road when you are going back into a document to make corrections. We found a few errors and made them right. Then, we went to have them printed. Another fifteen minutes of “you can’t get there from here” before we got most of the document printed. Two pages wouldn’t cooperate so Manuel took them to San Pedro Sula to try at a place there.
Walking into town centre is more exciting now. Three streets are being fitted with cement roadways. There are mounds of dirt at each intersection to thread around and small puddles in unexpected places where new waterline leaks have appeared. People are enjoying the new roadways and bikes cruise up and down the block in between small soccer games and strollers enjoying the new smoothness of the road. We hope that our street is next.
Time to head home for supper.
Bryan
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Chipilín – January 9
A long night of rain that made the metal roof of my apartment sing, hammer and pound for many hours has brought cooler temperatures. Three days of over 30° weather must have brought some thunderstorm like rains. The small seedlings that are starting to sprout are well watered and that is nice.
We need to transplant some of the Moringa seedlings today so that they can be given to the officials who missed out at the Educatodos Tour a couple of weeks ago. We will see how that goes. I am always nervous about transplanting. Will they make it or not? I have a little bit of my parents’ green thumb but not enough for confidence in trying new planting techniques. Part of the problem is likely that each seedling represents so much effort to get seeds, plant, establish and so forth.
Yesterday, we travelled to several other communities to take more medicine cabinet type boxes to the little first aid dispensaries. Every time I travel I am again struck by the enormous riches that are available here in Honduras. Yesterday was no exception. We saw four new types of fruit that I had not seen before. I finally saw a breadfruit tree which, although from the same family as the Jackfruit, which I am familiar with from Africa, has different shaped leaves and fruit. Amazingly, both of these fruits are related to the Mulberry tree. So amazing to have one tree with raspberry size fruit and another, from the same family, with fruit that would fill a twenty litre pail with ease. Manuel has noted on several occasions that when he was a child there were many more fruits available but these have gradually disappeared as people have not replanted them.
At our last stop, we were just leaving the house when Carolina stopped me and said, “Chipilín” while pointing to a small plant. She told me that this plant has some of the same qualities as Moringa. We talked about it for awhile and then came back to the office. I looked it up on the Internet and, sure enough, it does have some of the same qualities. It offers calcium, Iron and Vitamin A among other benefits. The dried leaf powder is 34% protein and able to be used with maize flour for making tortillas and so forth. It is a great chicken food as well. On top of all that, the plant is able to be harvested for up to six years before replanting. The obvious question, “So ...?” comes to mind. Why is it not in every fenceline, by each doorstep and crowding the pathways?
In the last few months I have been working on a textbook that tries to pull together ideas for people to make their living or improve their nutritional resources using the many resources they have at hand. The book I am reading quotes a 1985 figure that says 85% of India’s population suffers the residual effects of poor malnutrition before the age of five. That is staggering. When I told Manuel that figure he did not even blink and said that it was certainly true in Honduras. Wow. What we consider an exception and something that needs special classes and funding in Canada is the norm here and in most countries of the world. Simple nutrition and ways to grow that nutrition in small, easily cared for plots has so many long term benefits. Is there a way to reverse the downward spiral that has so much of the world in a deadly grasp?
My new bank account works. Hurrah! Instead of the former five hours to get money I can now walk five minutes and be dealt with. Now, to learn the hours when there are no line-ups. Today was wonderful – no one in line. I am much more comfortable not having to carry money on the bus and in a busy terminal. Here in Santa Cruz, I can put any money into pockets, socks and what not before leaving the bank.
Josué the barber was in today. Even though he had his “Cerrado” sign up, he let me in when he saw it was the poor linguist from ‘outside’. One of the features that I find most interesting about haircuts here is the use of a straight razor at the end to trim all the lines. Josué has a small 1” paintbrush that he dips into a soap dish and then paints a line of suds around the ears and back of the neck. Then he clips a new razor blade in his (what in the world is the word for that device??) blade holder, places a clean towel on the client’s shoulder and gets to work. Knowing just how sharp those blades are, I concentrate on keeping as still and cooperative as possible. Certainly needless angst on my part but ... still. I turned down the pomade – still have a left over aversion to anything that smacks of Brylcream. $2.00 later and I was out the door and headed home for a pan shower.
Saturday now. A little chance for a change in perspective again. The carpenter is here replacing four interior doors that have been decimated by termites. Consequently, I am working on the front porch. It is amazing how moving one’s desk six metres and from one side of a wall to another changes a person’s view, experience and interaction with the world. It is strange how quickly we fit into one viewpoint. Even though, in a sense, I am outside of my ‘Canadian’ set of parameters, in very short order I have built another set of ‘walls’ in which to live. The ‘walls’ provide a sense of security but often, in reality, may be doing more harm than good. Light and life pass us by because we are so confined by the ‘walls’ we have built. In addition, walls require maintenance and furbishing. How much effort do we put into painting, papering and texturing our walls? How much do we spend on pictures, paintings and memorabilia in an effort to give life to the very things that are keeping us from life?
Bryan
We need to transplant some of the Moringa seedlings today so that they can be given to the officials who missed out at the Educatodos Tour a couple of weeks ago. We will see how that goes. I am always nervous about transplanting. Will they make it or not? I have a little bit of my parents’ green thumb but not enough for confidence in trying new planting techniques. Part of the problem is likely that each seedling represents so much effort to get seeds, plant, establish and so forth.
Yesterday, we travelled to several other communities to take more medicine cabinet type boxes to the little first aid dispensaries. Every time I travel I am again struck by the enormous riches that are available here in Honduras. Yesterday was no exception. We saw four new types of fruit that I had not seen before. I finally saw a breadfruit tree which, although from the same family as the Jackfruit, which I am familiar with from Africa, has different shaped leaves and fruit. Amazingly, both of these fruits are related to the Mulberry tree. So amazing to have one tree with raspberry size fruit and another, from the same family, with fruit that would fill a twenty litre pail with ease. Manuel has noted on several occasions that when he was a child there were many more fruits available but these have gradually disappeared as people have not replanted them.
At our last stop, we were just leaving the house when Carolina stopped me and said, “Chipilín” while pointing to a small plant. She told me that this plant has some of the same qualities as Moringa. We talked about it for awhile and then came back to the office. I looked it up on the Internet and, sure enough, it does have some of the same qualities. It offers calcium, Iron and Vitamin A among other benefits. The dried leaf powder is 34% protein and able to be used with maize flour for making tortillas and so forth. It is a great chicken food as well. On top of all that, the plant is able to be harvested for up to six years before replanting. The obvious question, “So ...?” comes to mind. Why is it not in every fenceline, by each doorstep and crowding the pathways?
In the last few months I have been working on a textbook that tries to pull together ideas for people to make their living or improve their nutritional resources using the many resources they have at hand. The book I am reading quotes a 1985 figure that says 85% of India’s population suffers the residual effects of poor malnutrition before the age of five. That is staggering. When I told Manuel that figure he did not even blink and said that it was certainly true in Honduras. Wow. What we consider an exception and something that needs special classes and funding in Canada is the norm here and in most countries of the world. Simple nutrition and ways to grow that nutrition in small, easily cared for plots has so many long term benefits. Is there a way to reverse the downward spiral that has so much of the world in a deadly grasp?
My new bank account works. Hurrah! Instead of the former five hours to get money I can now walk five minutes and be dealt with. Now, to learn the hours when there are no line-ups. Today was wonderful – no one in line. I am much more comfortable not having to carry money on the bus and in a busy terminal. Here in Santa Cruz, I can put any money into pockets, socks and what not before leaving the bank.
Josué the barber was in today. Even though he had his “Cerrado” sign up, he let me in when he saw it was the poor linguist from ‘outside’. One of the features that I find most interesting about haircuts here is the use of a straight razor at the end to trim all the lines. Josué has a small 1” paintbrush that he dips into a soap dish and then paints a line of suds around the ears and back of the neck. Then he clips a new razor blade in his (what in the world is the word for that device??) blade holder, places a clean towel on the client’s shoulder and gets to work. Knowing just how sharp those blades are, I concentrate on keeping as still and cooperative as possible. Certainly needless angst on my part but ... still. I turned down the pomade – still have a left over aversion to anything that smacks of Brylcream. $2.00 later and I was out the door and headed home for a pan shower.
Saturday now. A little chance for a change in perspective again. The carpenter is here replacing four interior doors that have been decimated by termites. Consequently, I am working on the front porch. It is amazing how moving one’s desk six metres and from one side of a wall to another changes a person’s view, experience and interaction with the world. It is strange how quickly we fit into one viewpoint. Even though, in a sense, I am outside of my ‘Canadian’ set of parameters, in very short order I have built another set of ‘walls’ in which to live. The ‘walls’ provide a sense of security but often, in reality, may be doing more harm than good. Light and life pass us by because we are so confined by the ‘walls’ we have built. In addition, walls require maintenance and furbishing. How much effort do we put into painting, papering and texturing our walls? How much do we spend on pictures, paintings and memorabilia in an effort to give life to the very things that are keeping us from life?
Bryan
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Flying Trip to Tegucigalpa – Jan. 7
Monday morning we were informed that the meeting we had hoped to attend on Thursday was, in fact, in Tegucigalpa on Tuesday morning at 11:00 a.m. The Mayor was planning to meet us in Tegucigalpa for the meeting. Well, change of plans all around.
I sent Jessica to the bank to change the last of my U.S. Dollars. We were running out of Lempiras and so I dipped into my emergency funds one last time. Transferring money from Canada is a several day affair and fraught with difficulties at times. The latest transfer is being sent to my new account in Santa Cruz. If it works, then five hour trips to do banking will be a thing of the past. Fingers crossed please everyone.
Having lunch each day is almost a sacred institution. Each day I have to remember how important it is and, finally, I am learning to think ahead enough to get it organized for everyone. Monday we had spaghetti with a ham and vegetable sauce. No one had had spaghetti that way so it was greeted with a wee bit of nervousness but, after surviving the first few bites, it went down with approval. As per my custom, I put in a healthy dose of hot pepper sauce so it had a little bit to it. Nothing major mind you but something to put interest into it.
Once all the office work was coordinated, Manuel and I headed to San Pedro Sula to rent a car and drive to Comayagua so that we would be in good time for the meeting Tuesday. Fortunately, traffic was light and we were in Comayagua by 7:30 p.m. – one and a half hours earlier than I had thought.
We found a nice barbecue type place that served lovely food at a good price. Seeing as we had second class Chinese food last time we were in that city, this was heavenly. They even served a type of deep fried taco with bean sauce, cream and cheese dip as an appetizer. We definitely moved up a class there.
Finding the meeting place was a real challenge. Thank heavens for cell phones. Despite that advantage we eventually got into site of the major building that the office was supposedly “just in front of”. After giving up driving to the office we found a mall and began walking. Only a couple of dead ends and we saw the Mayor standing on the corner waiting for us. He too had spent an hour trying to find the place.
The meeting was a bit strange and not all that comforting. We are to hand in some more paper work and then will see what happens. Talking with the Principal’s office today leaves us a bit happier but still not sure how things will turn out. Very frustrating.
The drive back was fairly easy. Construction and road repairs made for some long line ups at times but a good portion of the way was clear and we only had to contend with slopes and corners. We were back in San Pedro by 4:30 p.m. We returned the car and I headed to the Terminal to catch my bus home.
At the terminal, I was greeted by the every exciting “Divine Women” bus driver. I climbed aboard and was promptly asleep. Twenty minutes later, someone else joined me in my seat so I awoke and we pulled out. It was a different bus with a different driver. My “D.W.” driver was just along to get back to Santa Cruz. It was just as well he wasn’t driving. The different bus was as barren of icons as an Alberta evangelical church after a week of revival meetings. We had none of that extra protection needed to handle the “D.W.” driver. Not having to drive left the “D.W.” driver free to chat up the young women getting on at various maquila stops. Wow, if I had his ability ... well ... then again ... with my luck I would already be dead from AIDS.
Today we had a solar cooked meal. We have a couple of Solar Hot Pots promoted by SHE Inc. and made in Mexico. We had a rice, vegetable and sausage stew/pilau that turned out nicely in less than three hours of cooking time. The girls were a bit disappointed that it wasn’t ready at exactly noon but bore up well under the strain of an extra forty-five minutes cooking time.
The painter, who is painting something for me for a Christmas present, brought his finished product for approval and payment. Delightfully done. It has just the right mixture of originality, careful work and rustic quality that I had hoped for. A very pleasant outcome and one I had been quite concerned about. Everyone in the office was impressed as well. Now to pack it and get it back to Canada without breakage.
Three warm days in a row. +30 or more in the afternoons. It is still cool at night and I needed a sheet and a light blanket last night. It is easy to handle a few hours of heat if you have a cool night to relax in.
Leuceana seeds are sprouting already – three days. Moringa are now about four inches high. Stevia seedlings at Santo’s place are into the third and fourth pair of leaves. We stopped at Santo’s en route to Tegucigalpa to check if the seedlings were indeed Stevia. He could recognize everything else growing but wasn’t sure what Stevia looked like. I wasn’t a great deal of help but checked out the pictures on the internet today and Stevia it is.
A man was selling bundles of firewood today by the road to my house. One bundle of sticks 2 feet long and about 1 foot in diameter was selling for over $3.00. I suspect that one bundle would only last 2-3 days at most. That is a huge expense for people. Lots of opportunities for land holders to plant firewood as an income source. Don’t get me started on that. You have already read enough.
Bryan
I sent Jessica to the bank to change the last of my U.S. Dollars. We were running out of Lempiras and so I dipped into my emergency funds one last time. Transferring money from Canada is a several day affair and fraught with difficulties at times. The latest transfer is being sent to my new account in Santa Cruz. If it works, then five hour trips to do banking will be a thing of the past. Fingers crossed please everyone.
Having lunch each day is almost a sacred institution. Each day I have to remember how important it is and, finally, I am learning to think ahead enough to get it organized for everyone. Monday we had spaghetti with a ham and vegetable sauce. No one had had spaghetti that way so it was greeted with a wee bit of nervousness but, after surviving the first few bites, it went down with approval. As per my custom, I put in a healthy dose of hot pepper sauce so it had a little bit to it. Nothing major mind you but something to put interest into it.
Once all the office work was coordinated, Manuel and I headed to San Pedro Sula to rent a car and drive to Comayagua so that we would be in good time for the meeting Tuesday. Fortunately, traffic was light and we were in Comayagua by 7:30 p.m. – one and a half hours earlier than I had thought.
We found a nice barbecue type place that served lovely food at a good price. Seeing as we had second class Chinese food last time we were in that city, this was heavenly. They even served a type of deep fried taco with bean sauce, cream and cheese dip as an appetizer. We definitely moved up a class there.
Finding the meeting place was a real challenge. Thank heavens for cell phones. Despite that advantage we eventually got into site of the major building that the office was supposedly “just in front of”. After giving up driving to the office we found a mall and began walking. Only a couple of dead ends and we saw the Mayor standing on the corner waiting for us. He too had spent an hour trying to find the place.
The meeting was a bit strange and not all that comforting. We are to hand in some more paper work and then will see what happens. Talking with the Principal’s office today leaves us a bit happier but still not sure how things will turn out. Very frustrating.
The drive back was fairly easy. Construction and road repairs made for some long line ups at times but a good portion of the way was clear and we only had to contend with slopes and corners. We were back in San Pedro by 4:30 p.m. We returned the car and I headed to the Terminal to catch my bus home.
At the terminal, I was greeted by the every exciting “Divine Women” bus driver. I climbed aboard and was promptly asleep. Twenty minutes later, someone else joined me in my seat so I awoke and we pulled out. It was a different bus with a different driver. My “D.W.” driver was just along to get back to Santa Cruz. It was just as well he wasn’t driving. The different bus was as barren of icons as an Alberta evangelical church after a week of revival meetings. We had none of that extra protection needed to handle the “D.W.” driver. Not having to drive left the “D.W.” driver free to chat up the young women getting on at various maquila stops. Wow, if I had his ability ... well ... then again ... with my luck I would already be dead from AIDS.
Today we had a solar cooked meal. We have a couple of Solar Hot Pots promoted by SHE Inc. and made in Mexico. We had a rice, vegetable and sausage stew/pilau that turned out nicely in less than three hours of cooking time. The girls were a bit disappointed that it wasn’t ready at exactly noon but bore up well under the strain of an extra forty-five minutes cooking time.
The painter, who is painting something for me for a Christmas present, brought his finished product for approval and payment. Delightfully done. It has just the right mixture of originality, careful work and rustic quality that I had hoped for. A very pleasant outcome and one I had been quite concerned about. Everyone in the office was impressed as well. Now to pack it and get it back to Canada without breakage.
Three warm days in a row. +30 or more in the afternoons. It is still cool at night and I needed a sheet and a light blanket last night. It is easy to handle a few hours of heat if you have a cool night to relax in.
Leuceana seeds are sprouting already – three days. Moringa are now about four inches high. Stevia seedlings at Santo’s place are into the third and fourth pair of leaves. We stopped at Santo’s en route to Tegucigalpa to check if the seedlings were indeed Stevia. He could recognize everything else growing but wasn’t sure what Stevia looked like. I wasn’t a great deal of help but checked out the pictures on the internet today and Stevia it is.
A man was selling bundles of firewood today by the road to my house. One bundle of sticks 2 feet long and about 1 foot in diameter was selling for over $3.00. I suspect that one bundle would only last 2-3 days at most. That is a huge expense for people. Lots of opportunities for land holders to plant firewood as an income source. Don’t get me started on that. You have already read enough.
Bryan
Monday, January 5, 2009
Cultural Amphibians – January 4
In the foreword to a book I am starting (about different types of gardening – spell binding I know and on all your New Year’s resolution lists of things to read) the author talks about the need for people who are Cultural Amphibians. These are people who are comfortable living in two or more cultures and who are able to communicate the needs and values of each culture in ways that those within each culture are unable to see. Of course, when I think of amphibians, toads and salamanders come to mind first. So, they are not nearly as glamorous as Cultural Amphibian sounds. But, there is always the hope that if you kiss enough of them, you will find a prince or princess.
Yesterday I went in to San Pedro Sula for a day off. I checked out two movie theatres and went to see Australia. It was nice to sit in air conditioned comfort and watch the scenery and enjoy the happy ending. After the movie, I phoned a former teaching colleague and met him for coffee which stretched to a five hour visit. He is an American married to a Honduran and had spent several days with in-laws so was delighted for a chance to talk English with words of more than one syllable. He is a decidedly brilliant young man and so I always get to learn something when we talk. He is hoping to build a church building for the congregation he works with. We talked about design ideas and various building materials. If you can change a few parameters (like walls and rectangular shapes) there is so much of interest and excitement that can be utilized. When the only weather you need to fear is rain then the boundaries are even less firm.
For supper we went to a restaurant which is owned by another colleague who spent a lot of time in the States. He has an atrocious New York accent and is lots of fun to talk with. His restaurant serves the best ribs so I enjoyed that treat, sitting in the open air and watching NFL playoff football on a huge screen in between eating and visiting.
Oscar, the restaurant owner was gracious enough to allow me to sleep in his office for the night. I had, of course, by this time missed any chance of returning to Santa Cruz. Oscar has only a small, one bedroom, sparsely furnished apartment so couldn’t entertain me there. But, his office featured a comfortable (surprise) folding bed, high speed internet, a hot shower (yahoo) and air conditioning (which I shut off). The computer also featured flickering views of the eight or nine security cameras he has set up on his premises. Every so often, something would set off a motion detector and there would be a slight ping. Of course, that was a different type of noise so I immediately flashed open my eyes, grabbed my glasses and tried to see what was happening. There was a night watchman so I really didn’t need to get all that excited but ... sigh. Since the restaurant doesn’t close till 2:00 a.m. the night was a wee bit short. But, it opens at 11:00 a.m. so I got to sleep in.
A new mall has opened near the restaurant and I headed there to see what it looked like. It includes a ten metre (or so) Ferris wheel in one area among other bells and whistles. Everything looked a wee bit out of my price and need range so I caught a rapidito to the centre of town. There I went for brunch at a combination tourist market and typical food service court. Today they featured live music. The band was featured on a straw covered stage behind bigger than life size manikins still standing guard from Christmas. The singers were very good but I couldn’t help but think of the good news bad news aspects of their gig. Good news – you get to sing in the Plaza Típica. Bad news – your gig starts at 11:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning. Good news – you get paid to perform. Bad news – no one will notice that you were there.
Strolled around for a bit and then headed to the terminal for the trip home. The last couple of buses have featured large, gaudy “Party Girl” brand air fresheners. I don’t even want to go into that one.
In the city, there are boulevard crews whose job it is to keep weeds, grass and trash at bay on the boulevards. Each crew has several weed eaters, a number of machete wielders and then teams of men and women whose job is to hold up walls of white gunny sacks sewn together so that the stones and what not thrown up by the weed eaters doesn’t hit the passing vehicles. That ranks right up there in careers you don’t want to pursue.
We have had two days without clouds so the temperatures begin to climb very quickly. We’ll see if this is the start of the dry and hot season. But, as you know, amphibians are much happier in +30 than -30.
Bryan
Yesterday I went in to San Pedro Sula for a day off. I checked out two movie theatres and went to see Australia. It was nice to sit in air conditioned comfort and watch the scenery and enjoy the happy ending. After the movie, I phoned a former teaching colleague and met him for coffee which stretched to a five hour visit. He is an American married to a Honduran and had spent several days with in-laws so was delighted for a chance to talk English with words of more than one syllable. He is a decidedly brilliant young man and so I always get to learn something when we talk. He is hoping to build a church building for the congregation he works with. We talked about design ideas and various building materials. If you can change a few parameters (like walls and rectangular shapes) there is so much of interest and excitement that can be utilized. When the only weather you need to fear is rain then the boundaries are even less firm.
For supper we went to a restaurant which is owned by another colleague who spent a lot of time in the States. He has an atrocious New York accent and is lots of fun to talk with. His restaurant serves the best ribs so I enjoyed that treat, sitting in the open air and watching NFL playoff football on a huge screen in between eating and visiting.
Oscar, the restaurant owner was gracious enough to allow me to sleep in his office for the night. I had, of course, by this time missed any chance of returning to Santa Cruz. Oscar has only a small, one bedroom, sparsely furnished apartment so couldn’t entertain me there. But, his office featured a comfortable (surprise) folding bed, high speed internet, a hot shower (yahoo) and air conditioning (which I shut off). The computer also featured flickering views of the eight or nine security cameras he has set up on his premises. Every so often, something would set off a motion detector and there would be a slight ping. Of course, that was a different type of noise so I immediately flashed open my eyes, grabbed my glasses and tried to see what was happening. There was a night watchman so I really didn’t need to get all that excited but ... sigh. Since the restaurant doesn’t close till 2:00 a.m. the night was a wee bit short. But, it opens at 11:00 a.m. so I got to sleep in.
A new mall has opened near the restaurant and I headed there to see what it looked like. It includes a ten metre (or so) Ferris wheel in one area among other bells and whistles. Everything looked a wee bit out of my price and need range so I caught a rapidito to the centre of town. There I went for brunch at a combination tourist market and typical food service court. Today they featured live music. The band was featured on a straw covered stage behind bigger than life size manikins still standing guard from Christmas. The singers were very good but I couldn’t help but think of the good news bad news aspects of their gig. Good news – you get to sing in the Plaza Típica. Bad news – your gig starts at 11:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning. Good news – you get paid to perform. Bad news – no one will notice that you were there.
Strolled around for a bit and then headed to the terminal for the trip home. The last couple of buses have featured large, gaudy “Party Girl” brand air fresheners. I don’t even want to go into that one.
In the city, there are boulevard crews whose job it is to keep weeds, grass and trash at bay on the boulevards. Each crew has several weed eaters, a number of machete wielders and then teams of men and women whose job is to hold up walls of white gunny sacks sewn together so that the stones and what not thrown up by the weed eaters doesn’t hit the passing vehicles. That ranks right up there in careers you don’t want to pursue.
We have had two days without clouds so the temperatures begin to climb very quickly. We’ll see if this is the start of the dry and hot season. But, as you know, amphibians are much happier in +30 than -30.
Bryan
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Happy New Year
The pops and bangs of fireworks are gradually giving way to the quiet of evening. Last night the barrage lasted for several hours with extensive noise around midnight. I confess to contributing a buck’s worth of bang earlier in the evening. The overhang on my apartment and the surrounding compound wall made for a most satisfactory noise.
Tuesday saw us in the back of a pickup truck with three new medicine boxes for three of the locations where CPI has set up a first aid centre for a village. The carpenter did a superb job on the boxes and they look like furniture. Everyone was most pleased to get the new box with more storage space and something that looks attractive in the living room. At each stop we took a picture of the first aid lady with her new box. If only we had twelve ... we could make up a calendar.
At lunch we discussed with everyone some of the nutritive and fuelwood benefits of Leuceana. There was a lovely tree growing by the house we were eating lunch at. I nicked some seeds with a pair of nail clippers and they are soaking in a glass as I write. Hopefully that method of seed preparation will work and they will be ready to plant tomorrow. The other way is to use almost boiling water. For a small spoonful I didn’t want to go to that trouble. Leuceana has high protein leaves for birds, fish and animals. The seeds can be ground to provide a high protein flour that can be mixed into tortillas, ugali and other dishes. The green seed pods can be added to soups for a protein boost. They taste awful raw but when cooked with something else aren’t noticeable. Who cares if it is free protein?
On our way home, we took three buses to travel 30 km. The first bus stop was by a small truck selling pineapples so I snagged a couple for two suppers. The next bus was only headed 10 km but it waited until it was well filled before leaving. The funny thing about some of the buses is that they wait and wait and then, whenever that magic moment arrives, they are in the most enormous rush to get moving. My ‘magic moment’ sensors haven’t figured out when it arrives yet.
On the way, a little boy came back to say hello to me. He and his father were visiting family in Honduras. He was from Indianapolis. His dad came back to say hi as well and, I suspect, to show off to former neighbours how well he could communicate in English with foreigners. He has lived in the States for 13 years but his English is rather sketchy. Obviously, the crew he works and lives with is Hispanic so there is very little need to speak English. The second generation will change that.
While delivering boxes, a young man came and planted a plantain circle. Five young shoots are settled in their new home. Will see how well he did. I hope he trimmed the bottom of them well enough that they manage. Not being here to check is not the most helpful. Will have to add some more mulch to the compost heap in the center of the circle. Once the rains hit the compost pile and the bacteria begin to work, it settles very quickly.
Yesterday was another day to visit the bank. The line up was over 45 people when I arrived an hour before opening. It went moderately quickly once the doors opened. About ten to fifteen people were wanded for weapons and had their cell phones checked to make sure they were off before being let in to stand in line in air conditioned comfort. Once they were almost finished, the next group was readied and let in. While standing in line, I always try and figure out how many minutes it will take to get to the end. I average the number of minutes and divide by the number of tellers, etc. In the banks here, there is a special line for pregnant women and the elderly. When there are no customers in those categories, the teller serves the ones in the regular line. So, you are looking at the clock and counting the number of people left in the line when another special customer is waved into place. This happened about four times when I was in the final lap. Made it through in good time though. The teller had run out of $25.00 (equivalent) bills so I had to get $250.00 in $2.50 bills. It made a rather big lump in my pocket. I found a quiet corner in the bus depot by a cleaning crew storage room to transfer the money to a pocket in my bag. One hears that there are people who make a habit of watching folks come out of the bank and then come up with different methods of sharing the wealth. In the bus depot there are lots of armed guards watching things so maybe these sorts don’t have as much chance as on the regular streets. One can always hope that is the case.
Today, while working on office stuff (bookkeeping – yuck), Julia brought me two tamales. New Year’s and Christmas are special tamale events. These ones had rice and fried pork in them. They were well cooked and very enjoyable. On Tuesday I watched several ladies making a huge pot of them in assembly line fashion for New Year’s Eve festivities. Raisins, olives, rice, shredded chicken were all part of the mix put in with the corn meal mush and then wrapped into MacDonald turnover shaped bundles using fresh banana leaves. The tamales are then steamed until the mush sets and is almost like a polenta. The pleasant thing about tamales is that they are served in a lovely, sterile, biodegradable serving dish. Very handy.
The first Moringa shoots are peeping up. Hurrah. Will see what percentage of the seed makes it. So far it is looking rather sparse but a couple more days might see a change in that. As long as we get twenty or thirty seedlings that survive transplanting, we will be happy.
Time to run. Darkness is falling and I need to buy some things for supper.
Bryan
Tuesday saw us in the back of a pickup truck with three new medicine boxes for three of the locations where CPI has set up a first aid centre for a village. The carpenter did a superb job on the boxes and they look like furniture. Everyone was most pleased to get the new box with more storage space and something that looks attractive in the living room. At each stop we took a picture of the first aid lady with her new box. If only we had twelve ... we could make up a calendar.
At lunch we discussed with everyone some of the nutritive and fuelwood benefits of Leuceana. There was a lovely tree growing by the house we were eating lunch at. I nicked some seeds with a pair of nail clippers and they are soaking in a glass as I write. Hopefully that method of seed preparation will work and they will be ready to plant tomorrow. The other way is to use almost boiling water. For a small spoonful I didn’t want to go to that trouble. Leuceana has high protein leaves for birds, fish and animals. The seeds can be ground to provide a high protein flour that can be mixed into tortillas, ugali and other dishes. The green seed pods can be added to soups for a protein boost. They taste awful raw but when cooked with something else aren’t noticeable. Who cares if it is free protein?
On our way home, we took three buses to travel 30 km. The first bus stop was by a small truck selling pineapples so I snagged a couple for two suppers. The next bus was only headed 10 km but it waited until it was well filled before leaving. The funny thing about some of the buses is that they wait and wait and then, whenever that magic moment arrives, they are in the most enormous rush to get moving. My ‘magic moment’ sensors haven’t figured out when it arrives yet.
On the way, a little boy came back to say hello to me. He and his father were visiting family in Honduras. He was from Indianapolis. His dad came back to say hi as well and, I suspect, to show off to former neighbours how well he could communicate in English with foreigners. He has lived in the States for 13 years but his English is rather sketchy. Obviously, the crew he works and lives with is Hispanic so there is very little need to speak English. The second generation will change that.
While delivering boxes, a young man came and planted a plantain circle. Five young shoots are settled in their new home. Will see how well he did. I hope he trimmed the bottom of them well enough that they manage. Not being here to check is not the most helpful. Will have to add some more mulch to the compost heap in the center of the circle. Once the rains hit the compost pile and the bacteria begin to work, it settles very quickly.
Yesterday was another day to visit the bank. The line up was over 45 people when I arrived an hour before opening. It went moderately quickly once the doors opened. About ten to fifteen people were wanded for weapons and had their cell phones checked to make sure they were off before being let in to stand in line in air conditioned comfort. Once they were almost finished, the next group was readied and let in. While standing in line, I always try and figure out how many minutes it will take to get to the end. I average the number of minutes and divide by the number of tellers, etc. In the banks here, there is a special line for pregnant women and the elderly. When there are no customers in those categories, the teller serves the ones in the regular line. So, you are looking at the clock and counting the number of people left in the line when another special customer is waved into place. This happened about four times when I was in the final lap. Made it through in good time though. The teller had run out of $25.00 (equivalent) bills so I had to get $250.00 in $2.50 bills. It made a rather big lump in my pocket. I found a quiet corner in the bus depot by a cleaning crew storage room to transfer the money to a pocket in my bag. One hears that there are people who make a habit of watching folks come out of the bank and then come up with different methods of sharing the wealth. In the bus depot there are lots of armed guards watching things so maybe these sorts don’t have as much chance as on the regular streets. One can always hope that is the case.
Today, while working on office stuff (bookkeeping – yuck), Julia brought me two tamales. New Year’s and Christmas are special tamale events. These ones had rice and fried pork in them. They were well cooked and very enjoyable. On Tuesday I watched several ladies making a huge pot of them in assembly line fashion for New Year’s Eve festivities. Raisins, olives, rice, shredded chicken were all part of the mix put in with the corn meal mush and then wrapped into MacDonald turnover shaped bundles using fresh banana leaves. The tamales are then steamed until the mush sets and is almost like a polenta. The pleasant thing about tamales is that they are served in a lovely, sterile, biodegradable serving dish. Very handy.
The first Moringa shoots are peeping up. Hurrah. Will see what percentage of the seed makes it. So far it is looking rather sparse but a couple more days might see a change in that. As long as we get twenty or thirty seedlings that survive transplanting, we will be happy.
Time to run. Darkness is falling and I need to buy some things for supper.
Bryan
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