I spent the whole day building a chicken coop in my host family's house. Partly because I want free eggs, but mostly because they have such little protein in their diet. Having free eggs and chickens there that they can eat whenever would only be a good thing (it is free because I am paying for it).
As I was building it with my host sister my host father came back from he fields and started to help. I LOVE when he helps build because he has so much more experience with the local materials than I do. However, today he was not so helpful. He kept changing the design. I am always subservient to him in the household. There are multiple reasons for this 1) it is the peruvian way for women to be obedient to men, and peace corps spends a lot of energy convincing us we can be more effective if we work within their system instead of trying to conquore it, they are right 2) it is his house I am making changes to and he has every right to have the last say. Being so submissive is a HUGE challenge for me, but I have a great relationship with my host father. Anywho, the changes he was making to the design for the chicken coop were not beneficial. He was trying to get it done faster instead of do it well, in my opinion. As I was watch the chicken coop get less sturdy and less sturdy my heart collapsed. I was so looking forward to building this for the family and now it looks like a ramshackle house that will only survive 5 rainy seasons or so, not a lifetime.
I bought all the materials for the coop and will be purchasing the chickens for the family and probably their feed when we don't have corn at hand. I imagined this expensive and laborous project would be my Christmas gift to the family. But, my host father asked me, as we were building, jokingly what I was going to give him for Christmas. I was crushed. I can't just say, "all this wood, in your hands!" I don't know what I am going to do about that, it isn't like I have the funds to buy the whole family presents now.
Then, we finish the coop. It turns out pretty lovely, and I am proud of it. It will do.
My host father says, "Now we can move the guinea pigs in here, and when we have time we will build the second level for the hens."
NOOOOOOOOOOO!! my brain screams. This is not a cage for guinea pigs that you already have! This is a CHICKEN coop! For CHICKENS! So you have eggs to supplement your family's meals every day! It is not so the guinea pigs you eat twice a year have more space to run around and poop. If I thought he was actually going to build a second level for the guinea pigs I would be totally down for both because that would get the guinea pigs out of the kitchen. But, the problem is I don't know how to build the second floor, and I know he won't do it without me pestering him about it. Also, it is dangerous to put guineas and chickens in the same cage because they can infect each other very easily via their poop. If there are too floors in the coop it needs to be VERY well done, and I just don't have faith that he will do this.
After an entire day of chicken coop building and dreaming about eating eggs everyday I find out that the coop might be used for the rodents. UG!
Feeling exhausted from a day of hard physical and mental labour, I went to the closing ceremony for the high school. Their last day of school was last week, and they are on summer vacation now until March. I didn't have much umf to go as the ceremony was supposed to start at 6 and when I arrived with my host sister nothing was set up and about 3 people were wondering around waiting. We helped lug chairs and what-not into the building and the ceremony started around 9. I was exhausted and not interested in listening to a long-winded graduation ceremony. But, my face needed to be there. I needed to show my support to these kids and their teachers.
Towards the end of the ceremony they handed out special certificates to the student in each grade who had the highest and second highest grade point. Half asleep, I start to notice with the first couple classes the kids that are going up there are the kids I work with on their homework every night. Another class' caum laudes are called up and two more of my students walk across the small stage. Every one of my students was the top of their class. I am sure this is a combination of them being motivated to learn and that is why they come to me in the first place, and the actual help the received from me, but boy did it feel good. This was an opportunity for me to see that the kids I am working with are accomplishing and there is always potential for more.
This little nugget of pride was like a massage at the end of a rough day. Seeing their smiling faces with their diplomas wiped away the frustration in my body and sent me to bed relaxed and looking forward to tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment