La suite...

Vendredi le 5 février... J'ai creusé des trous pour planter des concombres toutes la journée, et ce fesant, je me suis fait pleins d'ampoules aux mains. Avec Jean-Marie, un horticulteur québécois, nous avons montré à Santos comment faire du compost végétal. Malheureusement, je ne crois pas que ce projet partira avant mon départ. Peut-être une autre année. Les habitudes içi sont différentes et on ne peut pas les changer aussi rapidement que ça. Comme quoi le progrès ne se fait pas en un jour. Il faisait si chaud cette journée là, que j'ai opté pour la technique de mouiller mes vêtements pour me rafraichir un peu. J'imagine que ca l'aide à mieux supporter la chaleur.

Saterday the 6th of february... We went to Puerto Barrios. It was not a very nice day, slightly rainy. At our arrival, I found out that that city is quite unatractive. A portuary city with lots of trucks and commercial buildings, lots of banana exporting. We had planned to take a boat off to the Manabique Point but due to the weather we canceled that and went to the Hotel Del Norte, one of the few nice buildings in Puerto Barrios. It was founded in 1896 and still has that old feel to it. After a coffee, realising that the rain had stopped, we decided to follow our original plans after all. Better to do something then nothing. So we took the boat and left. Visited the english canal on the way, which was very nice. It used to be a canal that the english had dug out to allow easy passage from the ocean to the bay but its now overrun by vegetation. We were told that manatees come by sometimes but I didnt see any. We then arrived at the village where we would eat. After visiting this very nice village entirely with its "gym" and coal making spot, we ate an amazing meal of fish that had just been fished. They were out of beer, so the belgian woman who operated the place, and who is very active in that communty offered us a bottle of whisky instead. We would have gone to the beach a bit farther but because the weather was so enjoyable, we decided to get back earlier. The boat ride back was very fast and we all got very wet, even though we were holding up a sheet of plastic to stop the water from coming in the boat. On the road, Pierre showed me the hospital in Puerto Barrios (the closest one to Rio Dulce at at least an hour drive) and back at Rio Dulce we had a nice coffee and then went to eat at a restaurant called Backpackers. My enchiladas were quite good.

Dimanche le 7 février... un groupe de bénévoles partirent et les autres furent à Linvingston. Moi, je suis resté à la maison. J'ai travaillé sur la comptabilité, j'ai lu, et j'ai travaillé sur mon blog, une chose que je ne fais certainement plus assez souvent! En après-midi, nous sommes partis pour Rio Dulce et avons croisé sur le chemin une voiture complètement à l'envers, avec un homme mort, encore dans son siège....

Lundi le 8... On s'est levé avec une étrange nouvelle, Aura, la cuisinière se serait fait attaqué par un homme cagoulé avec une machette ce matin! Aussi incroyable que cela puisse paraître, elle s'en sort très bien. On se demande bien ce que cet homme lui a voulu. En route vers la ferme, on aperçois un homme nu qui coure dans la rue! La journée commence définitivement d'une drôle de façon. Rendu à la ferme, j'ai écrasé un peu de charbon pour faire une poudre qui sera utilisée dans le mélange d'engrais, j'ai aidé dans le ciment, et j'ai creusé un trou dans le mur pour placer une boite électrique. Au soir, j'ai assisté quelques minutes à une des ces cérémonies religieuses communautaires avec beaucoup de chansons.

Tuesday the 9th... I didnt sleep very well and felt sort of sick. I didnt go work and pretty much slept all day. In the evening, the kids from the school organised a small party for us and the other volunteers that left. On wednesday,Thursday and Friday, I mainly digged holes again. Im beginning to be an expert in digging! I also decided to go talk to the lady who's job is to make tortillas, all day, from before we get up to late afternoon. An average Guatemalian eats about 30 tortillas a day! And I have trouble eating two... I also cut sugarcanes and ate them right away, that must be one of my favorite plant! I also tried a "zapote", a fruit that came from a tree that was very good. So good, I decided to plant a seed in back of the house... and a month later, it had started growing! On friday night, it got very cold and was very windy.