What bugged me was waking up and waiting around for the woman to come and plan for our preschool. She didn't come... Then I went to the school to get the list of "Outstanding Students" for October so I could take pictures and get them printed for the newsletter. I had given Natividad a list of the grades so she could get the list for me last Monday. She still didn't finish it. This teacher was missing. This teacher said there wasn't a single good student last month (not one...). Then this one had to leave. This one had training... Etc. and she mentioned that she needed a substitute for next week. Knowing she wanted me to offer, I left in silence...
Today I arose slowly, cleaned my house, and almost changed my mind about going arriba to visit my host mom and her family. I'm so glad I didn't. We hung out, watched TV, ate, shucked guandules (which I decided to do instead of leave at one point; another great decision), talked, and then went to the river to look for gold. Yup! It's legit. And so many people have been doing it in my site lately. So we walked up towards the mountains and Fredito showed me all of the parts of the river they had already sifted through. It was crazy, and is so much work. They start on one side of the river, moving all the rock to the other side and digging until they can't dig anymore; and then with their large wooden shallow bowls, they swirl them in a very specific way to allow the gold to sink to the bottom because it weighs more than the pebbles and sand. Seriously fascinating. And I was able to see a little piece of gold a neighbor of mine had found. One downfall I'll mention since it is now a lesson learned and avoidable, was a tree. Yup. I was climbing down from the path to get the the river. One part was steep so I leaned forward to grab a tree, palm wide open, fingers stretched. And as soon as I grabbed it, I hear, "Cuidao!!" And then the pain hit. The damn tree had thick spikes all over it. So while watching, I was picking out wooden spikes from my hand and sucking the blood. Hahaha
I begrudgingly returned home to change and look for the woman that wanted to help me with the preschool. She said her son had the fever and her daughter was sick. And then...proceeded to tell me that she can't help me after all. Her husband works during the days and they have no one to watch the kids. I left and went to see Manuela who wanted to see me. She said that even though Elva told me she didn't want me crossing the thruway three times a week, that I need to do it anyways (but pretend that we never had this conversation). She explained that she knows how much I want to help and she knows how badly these kids need it.
So after revamping my entire project and looking to finally get started, I'm back to square one. I had two days in the afternoon in El Batey and two here in Rancho de Yaguas. And my preschool in the mornings three days a week (none of which I've started yet but that was the plan that looked promising). And I was no longer in the school. But now it looks like nothing will ever get done in the school if I'm not there. My preschool just abruptly halted (after I made my caterpillar numbers and paint palate with labelled colors and calendar with changeable dates). Manuela wants me in El Batey three times a week. So what do I do here, on my side? Good question.
I think I've decided to devote my time to looking for gold with everyone else here. It seems to be the thing to do. And I get to hang out in a river all day and not have to sweat under my zinc roof. And chill with the people from my community and the kids still. And hopefully actually find some, keep some, and sell some for extra pesos. And then when I go talk to Ann or someone from Peace Corps, anytime they ask me something about my site and my projects, I'll just go, "Look! Gold!" And they'll be so impressed and in awe that I won't have to answer. Yea. That sounds good.
And with newfound purpose, I'm going to cook dinner by candlelight (the luz schedule has changed and we no longer have electricity at night...). Romantic, right? And since I don't have a TV to watch a movie or soap opera, I have what they called a "Christian Circle" right outside my house. They just borrowed my four plastic chairs and there are people sitting, pacing, everyone is chanting something different about God and sometimes bust into a song together. But mostly it just sounds like chaos. Way better than a TV.
Cue megaphone. I took sound clips because I can't describe what's going on out there in a way it would do it justice. But this damn blogger will only let me post pictures lol. Ah well.
Buenas noches?
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