So this is what purgatory feels like: A weeklong visit to my
new home. Unable to do any real work,
awkwardly organizing my room, hesitant to go outside in the constant rain from
Tropical Storm Sandy* passing over Cuba and Haiti to the Southwest.
Trying to make the most of this limbo going on strolls along
the campo road with Kendrik, my project partner, I have met many community
members and members of the cacao association I will be working with. A visit to both schools and two of the three
churches has afforded me a good introduction to the town. I have yet to see the pley, baseball field, and the road leading to Arroyo Blanco and
then Fundación, my CBT community.
Guaranal is a very quiet, mostly catholic, campo of around 250 people. Just a single dirt road littered with
potholes, tied-up burros and wandering chickens, and off shoot passages into
all the cacao fincas, and friendly
neighbors. It won’t be difficult getting
to know just about everyone. They are
all always available on the front porch, interested in meeting me for the most
part. The general interest up to now has
been English classes for the kids. I may
be spending more time in the classroom than I expected. However, everyone here seems to be motivated
and hard working so I hope to have some success in Construye Tus Sueños (CTS, or Build Your Dreams business
competition), the women’s group and consulting for current businesses (which
are a few colmados and a banca…who knows, maybe we can start some
new ones!)
I feel lucky to be with a friendly family on a cacao
finca. It’s me, my host parents, Don
Francisco Javier, Doña Albania Lendof and their son and his wife, now due in
December for their first son. There are
three buildings on the property and I am in the middle one, which is comprised
of my room, the kitchen and dining room, thus only sharing space with the family
during the day. There is rarely electricity,
although we have a battery that powers all the essentials – the TV and a light –
and I still haven’t seen running water, though there is an aqueduct that was
constructed by a PC volunteer a few years ago.
We have three mangy, working dogs (main responsibility the capture and
disposal of rats), chickens, both criollo
(ones free to roam) and gringo (in a
pen, limiting movement and encouraging plump tastiness), and a few fighting
cocks – two brother roosters in adjacent cages that absolutely hate each other
and may one day meet in the ring until only one remains – I got a preview of
the bout yesterday. The property is
beautiful with avocado trees right outside the kitchen window and vistas of
cacao fincas and greem mountains as
far as the eye can see.
Well I’ve got three months to learn the ropes and get to
know the community and for the time being I will be taking the role of a very
proactive learner with the cacao association, getting involved with the school
and kids with some English classes, playing softball and trying to spark some
interest for my favorite pastime, soccer, which is painfully lacking here.
