More work happened

Boatswain’s Log November 8^th. .

 

Yep. The title is true, but before that let me tell you something. Last night I watched 2 films, the new Indiana Jones and the 3^rd mummy film. They both lack something in Spanish. For the 3^rd mummy film, it lacked subtitles for the Chinese. So about half the movie’s dialogue was missing. As we watched that my host sister came home with a large box of corn flakes. See, my dad had asked me what food I missed from the US. I told him I missed cereal and milk at breakfast, so they bought me cereal and milk so I could eat it for breakfast. I was blessed beyond my ability to express myself, and at the same time…gallopinto may have served me better for the maddening storm that was my day. However, I think it is safe to say that my family appreciates me.

 

We set out at about 8ish to start work. My dad showed me some bats that were hanging out in a big leaf, I took pictures. Which was a good thing, because a guy who drives the truck we used all day killed them later. Increasing the amount of mosquitos by a factor of 5. What a jackass.

 

So we went back to the big field with the pieces of tree. Huge pieces of beastly tree. Then we (host dad, Nano, and truck driver dude) moved them to a truck. It only took about an hour, as opposed to the 3 hours it took to put them in a truck-accessible heap. Then we took them back to the house where we unloaded them into a more conveniently located heap. I was tired by the end, but not as tired as I was about 4 days ago. My schemes to work out have disappeared. I have a job that is a work-out.

 

After lunch we struck out again (PS: Lunch juice was this strange orangish fruit-juice that comes from a bitter little fruit’s innards. It is a horrible fruit by itself, but makes lovely juice.) This time we were filling sacks with rocks and putting them in a place so truck guy could come and pick them up. I was getting frustrated again at this point. Yeiner (Jay-nor) is an irritating 11 year old, lots of times. That and I really wanted to go home. Still. Sigh. So I had about had it with Yeiner and wanted to shout at him to stop putting more rocks in my bucket when it had what needed to be there, when I started praying. I prayed for lots of you and it calmed me down quite a bit.

 

When we had filled about 50 sacks with a good 40 pounds of rocks each we loaded them on a truck. I lifted every sack with truck man and put them in the truck. Yes. I used my legs and not my back. Then we took the truck home and took the rocks off so they could go in the backyard and wait to become cement. I pulled the huge sacks of rocks to the edge of the truck where they disembarked. My little host niece helped me. Mostly she just said really cute things that are hard to understand in Spanish and I pretended that she did all the work while making sure that she didn’t fall, but it was fun nonetheless. I don’t know why it is that Javier from LASP talked about us needing to go to work on farms and stuff. I can do hard work, I have done it before, but I actually enjoy spending time with children. They are funny.

 

After sack-unloading adventure I called my real parents in the states and talked with them for awhile. It was very nice to have a conversation with people in English. That aside I really miss them a lot. My mom is going to Hawaii with my aunt until 4 days before Christmas and as a result won’t be at the airport to pick me up with my dad. That bummed me out. I was really looking forward to spending time with both parents. Still, my dad and I will have a good time and I will have to repeat everything a few days later for my mom. Here’s to a beer with Pops when I get home. I have been planning that beer the entire trip.

 

 I got worried all of a sudden that my mom might not come back from Hawaii and that I would never see her again. Stupid things like that happen to you when you’re a month away from coming home from 3000 miles or so. I’m not too worried, but boyhowdy do I want to get home. Such a strange feeling.

 

I spent so many months bemoaning the US, so many days saying to myself and others that I want to go live in Latin America forever…but now that I am here…I guess I really know where my earthly home is and despite its faults I like living there. I even want to make it better.

 

Anyhow, after calling the folks I ate dinner (at which I made my first tortilla! Not really all that hard. Although, getting them to be round may be a challenge. I get to learn to make the dough tomorrow!) and had pleasant conversation with my host family. It seemed that talking with someone from home gave me the desire to talk to the people here more. That is odd.

 

Then I went to Culto de Jovenes at my family’s church. I really enjoyed it. Much more than I enjoy Culto de Jovenes at CAFI in San Jose. There weren’t too many people, They were all nice, We prayed almost the whole time, and I think approximately 5 people laid their hands on me and prayed for me (a complete stranger). There was this one girl who was praying for my host brother and rubbing his chest. I sat down to make sure it didn’t happen to me, but she rubbed my back anyway.

 

After prayer time I met this girl Jennifer who is almost turning 15. She talks as though the world is about to explode and needs to say everything she is thinking before that happens. While at church I had trouble hearing her above the drums and whathaveyou and then once the noise stopped I realized how tired I was from hauling all sorts of crap today and then it got hard to listen. I find that when I am exceptionally tired or it is early in the morning I am not a good speaker/listener of Spanish.

 

Anyhow, Jennifer and her brother (didn’t get his name, so he is for the moment “dudeface”) took me next to the church to meet this old man who owns a cow farm and has a wicked fancy house. Even for the US. 2 kitchens, several cars, electric gate, more rocking chairs than you can shake a stick at…and full of old man ramblings. He’s a very nice man, but when I got more tired I could barely focus on a sentence that he was saying. At the same time he rambled and as a result I would refocus at weird times in the middle of the story and think that he was inviting me to his house the next day or something. Frick. He still might have. Anyhow, Nano and I left and walked home. Good conversation on the way back.

 

We got back and I cursed at a cockroach that had its dirty feet of evil and mandibles of sin on my toothbrush. I washed said brush with soap and cursed a few more times at the cockroach. Then I finished this blog.

 

Closing thoughts:

 

A) There was thunder and lightning today. It is always better in Latin America as far as I have seen. You always get to see the lightning in the clouds. Totally awesome. Wish I had brought my camera…I have thought that too many times.

 

B) My dad (Frank Handy) told me that he knew I would get worked hard since I was working at a farm. He was right. I am getting my ass handed to me.

 

C) The bloodsucking fly bites that I have itch like crazy. I asked God why He made them. I didn’t really give Him time to answer and assumed that they were just a part of the Fall of Man. That stupid sin gets into everything. Even flies…which I guess God called good…but there had to be a few angels who didn’t get that.

 

“Michael, why is He calling the flies good?” said Gabriel.

 

“I don’t know, but if that one bites me again I will smite it with this fiery sword.” Replied Michael, filled with angelic rage against his insect foe.

 

Okay, I am sure that didn’t happen. But it’d be funny if it did. I don’t think that counts as blasphemy. Oh well. Good night now.