Tag 48 - Mariana is afraid

Sometimes I eat lunch at the project. There's rice every day, often beans (actually a childhood trauma of mine, but I kind of like them here), the other ingredients vary. There's a basket of dishes we can use in the kitchen. The children have to bring their own bowl and utensils. Next to the big sink there's a barrel to collect rainwater. There are also sponges and solid detergent available for washing dishes. Everyone helps themselves. Anyway, the other day I sat down with Mariana with my little bowl. She's the one I often see at her house on my way home when she sells food. Faithful blog readers know this. Mariana is about 14 - 15 years old, a big girl with a powerful voice and a confident demeanor. As we peacefully slurped our soup (ah, it must have been last Friday), Silvana, my Swiss "compañera", came around the corner. Silvana is skinny, about my height, retired, and she speaks her mind with a loud voice. Recently, Jim mentioned during the "Moment of the week" without naming names that one of the volunteers had kindly but firmly reprimanded him. He likes to stand by the windows of the classrooms and say hello to one or the other child. It's very disturbing as classes are going on here. Everyone suspected Silvana, but she denies it. Well, Mariana suddenly had big eyes and tried to hide behind me (ha, ha). She is terribly afraid of Silvana, even though she looks like she could eat Silvana as an appetizer before breakfast. I had heard about it, but I thought it was a joke or at least an exaggeration.

Mariana wants to become a lawyer. But this year she didn't go to public school. Many people here have high goals, even though it's clear that some of them won't be able to achieve them. But dreaming is allowed, right?

Weather still humid...