May 24, 2017

tzama and maria have slept here on the mura for the first time in a long time. They came at night, sometime around ten. When I asked if Maria wanted the key for the cooking hut, she said no and gave me a Tupperware dish with rice and beans. I wasn't really hungry, so I took a few bites out of politeness, then put the container away and left it at the entrance in the morning. It's still there. I'll empty the contents, the chickens will surely enjoy the rice, and I'll wash the container, the cup, and the spoon.
Speaking of washing, this morning I waited for tzama, who had to take care of his chickens somehow. While I was lying in the hammock, I thought, man, these pants are dirty. It was the pants I've been using for work for almost a week and a half. I don't want to use a new pair of pants every day, so I came up with the strategy of putting these work pants in a plastic bag after three and a half weeks and taking them to a laundry in Quito. They should wash them properly, maybe even give them a couple of runs. But since I had time now, I thought maybe I could wash the pants myself in between. It won't hurt, right?
So I did it and I have to say, after half an hour of scrubbing, rubbing, kneading, and working, the pants look good. Although, I didn't expect that we would be doing a planting mission in the nearby area today. And this area is tough. I was glad to pull my foot with the boot out of the marsh twice. Which means, the pants I was wearing today are on their way to becoming as dirty as the ones that are now clean. Oh well, they can be washed.
Another oh well: as soon as we started the planting mission, it started raining. Neither Tzama nor Nanki, who was helping, gave any indication of stopping. I briefly mentioned that rain probably doesn't bother the Selva residents. But nope, everyone was determined to keep going. What gets wet will eventually dry.
The mission was relatively short, about an hour. Afterward, we had lunch at Tzama's house, but Nanki's wife cooked because Maria had driven to Palora with the Suzuki to get something. After lunch, I took a nap in my dwelling on the mura, Tzama did too by the way. I think he's a bit worn out from all the responsibilities and appointments lately. At three o'clock, I had the idea to document the path from the Tawasap village to the mura with photos, so I can use it as a sequence in a PowerPoint presentation later. I'm already expecting that after the summer vacation, I'll present the experiences here to all the school children, or at least those who are interested.
There are certainly more interesting things than this path, but it is a part. And I think I still haven't completely gotten over the trauma of carrying the 23kg suitcase on the first day.
Tomorrow is the village's work day. Everyone will contribute to community projects.