This week has been delightful. Gray decided to come back to
the canyon for a little while. While I continue running the after school
program in the evenings, by day we have been working at the house. We built a
new door and patched the chicken wire in the walls of the coop, then lured the
chickies into their new home with greens and corn. The 3 hens and 1 rooster are
comfortably set up in their new, hopefully permanent, home. Doña Juana and I
split responsibilities in feeding and watering them. After only three days in
the coop, they started to lay again. No more wild chickens wondering around the
house and laying eggs everyplace from the garden to the shit hole!
With the chickens put away we could plant a garden before
the rainy season starts. Gray surprised me with about three seasons worth of
seeds, and we began tilling. It took about one full day to clean all of the
garbage out of the space that could be used as a garden. I even found an
antique coin amongst the manure, broken glass bottles, and plastic bags. By the
time all the soil was flipped and watered, it was time for me to go teach. When
I got back that evening I found Gray building walls for a tiered garden. It is
going to be a lovely and productive
little space.
The following day, we planned to plant, but the water in
town had been turned off yet again. So, I continued studying to get my TOEFL
English teacher certification, while Gray continued perfecting his garden
walls. That evening the family came home from the fields excited to see what we
planted only to find some dry aerated soil. Hopefully there will be water
tomorrow.
Which, there was. We planted spinach, lettuce, cabbage,
chard, carrots, green beans, red peppers, radishes, beets, parsly, mint, and
cilantro. The woman who owns the corner store has already insisted we sell her
spices when we harvest.
This weekend, the Peace Corps volunteers in the canyon will
be dancing in the huaititi festival in Chivay. So, I will dress myself up in
pollera and traditional hat, and bounce around in the streets for a few hours
to build some relationships in the district capital.
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