Monday in Chota

Apr. 24 - Happy birthday, Uncle Steve!

◦                Noisy night but I think I got a little sleep

◦                When I put off doing ALL my laundry and also washing my hair until "Monday when we're in Chota", I didn't realize there would be no running water. Actually, I guess it gets turned on around 10:30 or 11:00 in the morning or just whenever they feel like it. There's also no hot water option for hair washing unless you heat it on the stove. How important is it really to have a warm "shower" anyway? We'll see when the time comes.

◦                Leisurely morning - didn't get out of bed until 7:45 or so, washed my hair in a bucket shower, breakfast of 3 kinds of corn flakes with yogurt, papaya, banana and tuna fruit, hand washed clothes (as little as possible - Things will apparently dry faster where we're going.), finally wrote an email to the staff, did some music things, and then it was time to go to lunch.

◦                Lunch at Elvia's parents (Gilberto & Delermina) with five workers (Jairo, Olinda, Celmira, Elvia and me) and Elvia's sister (Elsa), husband (Porfirio) and little girl (María Cielo). I told about going to Ecuador, and we sang hymns.

Elvia and María Cielo

That pig found a shady spot.

◦                Walked back to the bach. Jairo, Elvia and I went out to find sunglasses for me (Goodbye faithful blue Portoviejo sunglasses!), a costal in which to put my backpack for traveling, ginger to cure my cough (Jairo's cure), broccoli for supper and olive oil for Elvia.

Author's notes:

1. A "costal" is basically like a giant flour sack.  Since luggage usually gets put on top of the vehicle for traveling, it's good to have something around your backpack to keep it from getting wet and really dirty.

2. I had come down with a supremely bad cold in Quito right before traveling to Peru.  I got over it remarkably quickly, but the others had apparently taken notice of the lingering cough and were determined to "fix me up."  

3. The olive oil was a recommended cure for parasites.  More on this later.

◦                Supper with just Elvia and me in the bach - leftover chicken and humitas from lunch and broccoli. I ate LOTS of broccoli! Héctor stopped by while we were still eating.

Author's note:

Héctor Díaz is one of the native brothers on the staff.  

◦                Didn't get to bed as early as I had hoped but not too bad a time. Set alarm for 4:30. We have to be at the place to catch the combi at 6:00 in the morning, which apparently means leaving the bach at 5:45. First had a nightmare about oversleeping until 7:00, but when I woke up, it wasn't even midnight yet. Back to sleep until I heard Elvia get up to take her olive oil remedy, which had to be done right at midnight. Didn't stay awake too long for that one. Then, a little after 2:00, I heard a rustle of bedcovers and a frantic sprint to the bathroom. The poor thing didn't make it all the way to the toilet before becoming violently sick. She retched for a good long while as I lay in bed wondering what in the world I should do. Should I try to help or is it better to stay out of the way? I opted for the latter. Anyway, she apparently wasn't sick sick; it was her reaction to the olive oil. I found out later the following day that she had taken the whole bottle!!! No wonder her body ejected it! Between all of that and the screaming neighbor baby, I didn't get much more sleep after that, so I want all that excited about getting up at 4:30 the next morning.