18 Marzo 2011

Today I spent the day doing laundry (for the life of me I cannot get my whites, white).

Then, I spent the entire afternoon trying to fix the family’s standing water problem. A problem that I did fix, but it wasn’t too pretty in the end and I think the family was a little confused why I did it in the first place. So, we have two faucets in the house, one next to the toilet, and another in the courtyard as our primary source. There is no drain, so the water just fills the dirt and then settles. This wouldn’t be an issue if our front door wasn’t downhill from the faucet. So, your “welcome home” is a sloppy muddy mess. I decided to make a little irrigation tunnel that would funnel the water by the flowers and out the side of the door. Like I said, it worked in the end, but it really isn’t pretty. But, hey, my shoes are!

I think the family actually missed my cooking more than anything while I was at PDM. They were kind of feigning noodles. So, I went to the store to get tomatoes and alpaca leg to make us some spaghetti (and when I say alpaca leg, that is what I mean, I got the knee and joint this time). There are a series of children always playing in the street on my way to the tiny shop. Today, only one was there, about 3, alone, and wailing. When I walked by I saw that her grandfather was at a loss on how to make her stop crying and was seated just inside his front door with very worried eyes. He appears to be about 70 or 80 years old.
-“allianchu kashanki. Su mamai?” : “how are you? Where is her mom?”
-something in quecha I didn’t catch, then, “chacra”: In the field”

probably the first “conversation” I have had in quechua… but then I had to fall back on Spanish. I offered to walk her to the store with me. Immediately her tears stopped. Her wide, swollen eyes couldn’t soak up enough of that strange white girl that always walks by. The weird white girl card is always in my back pocket ready to be played. Lordy, children make me feel good.

So, dinner: spaghetti in alpaca marinara with fresh made cow milk cheese grated on top. All of it was a new flavor to me, and it was a big hit. That and me running from the fire to my gas stove and back over and over was also a big hit.

I think more than anything else, at this point in my service, I entertain the citizens of Madrigal.