1. Water update

 

Thanks to all of you who I know must have prayed for rain for us after my last update. One evening at the end of February, I noticed that the winds had shifted from the standard southeast to coming from the north. That often signifies a cold front coming in. Sure enough, by morning the sky was heavy with dark clouds and the rains had begun. I attached the downspout, and by evening the water tank was full to overflowing - 800 gallons of fresh rainwater! I couldn't help but smile; I hadn't been that grateful for rain (or any particular weather) in a long time.

 

We've had a few showers since then, so the tank has stayed topped off. However, we've continued to go to the creek to bathe and wash laundry, wanting to conserve water for the imminent dry season. ("Summer" here unofficially starts with Holy Week.) The overflowing tank seems like a symbol for my life these past six weeks while Autumn has been here with me: I feel like God has been showering me with blessings. It has been a good Lent, and I'm looking forward to Beth's return on Wednesday and celebrating the rest of Holy Week and Easter with her.

 

2. Garden update

 

First the heat and then the rain have been good for the garden as well. A tomato plant that had sprouted voluntarily near the orange tree seedling we'd planted (the seed must have been in the compost we used for fertilizer), grew at an amazing pace and is now bearing small, flavorful fruits. In January we'd planted some okra seeds, and the largest of those plants are also beginning to bear. I'm so excited to have fresh vegetables from our garden - the selection has been slim in town recently. Plus, 10 of the 12 original pineapple plants (planted in May '06) now have blossoms and fruit on, which is encouraging. Sometimes I wonder if the slower-growing plants (like pineapple and banana) are really doing anything at all, and if our feeble efforts are enough, but patience pays off!

 

3. Visiting a campesino family

 

Every Monday while Autumn has been here, we've had someone to walk with us (or give us a ride) for at least part of the route to or from Limón. Three weeks in a row, we walked home with various members of a campesino (peasant/farming) family that lives further up the desvio, near the village of La Fortuna. The following week, Santos Emilia, the mother, sent us some tamalitos with one of her sons who was on his way to Limón that day. I was feeling a real connection with the family, so I suggested to him that Autumn and I would like to visit them sometime. That Friday, we did.

 

It was almost a two-hour walk up the desvio from the monastery to their home. I knew where the path toward their house was, but wasn't sure how far they lived off the road. The path impressed me: it was two tracks and had obviously been built by a bulldozer. After we'd walked a ways, a boy appeared at the top of a hill and called out. We realized he was telling us to come that way; the path we were on led to someone else's property. So we climbed up, and found a much humbler footpath which wound down the hillside to their house. To the north was a stunning view of the Caribbean and Limón - we could even make out the shiny rooftop of the monastery on its hill; La Fortuna is in a valley to the south from there.

 

The modest wood house is situated on a hillside with a fenced-in yard to keep out the cows. They have chickens and pigs running freely in the yard and are continuously shooing them out of the porch and kitchen. (The only other room in the house had three or four twin-sized beds in it.) Santos invited Autumn and I right in to the shaded porch area. With her were three of her daughters (ages approximately 14, 10 and 5) and her youngest son and grandson, both toddlers. Her husband Fransisco and the other four sons (16, 13, 9 and 8) were out working in the field; the oldest daughter (18) is going to school in Tocoa. They cultivate a variety of crops including corn, beans, plantains, yucca, and other root vegetables like melanga and sweet potato. Four of the kids currently attend the elementary school in La Fortuna. They have to walk (or ride a horse) an hour each way on the three days a week there are classes.

 

After we arrived, Santos invited us into the kitchen for a snack of corn flakes with fresh warm milk and sugar. There were two small tables, one on each wall, each with a chair, so we sat separately to eat. We chatted about various things and ended up staying till the afternoon. We were quite interested in seeing how they lived, going about the daily chores. Two middle daughters took laundry to wash in the creek. (They pipe water to near the house for kitchen use.) Santos reigned in the kitchen and spent much of the morning preparing lunch, which included rice, beans, corn flour tortillas, and a potato-like root vegetable called yame. She also fried fresh eggs for Autumn and me. The boys came in from the field for lunch, each being served in turn a bowl with food and finding a place to perch and eat it. When the girls returned from washing, they served themselves.

 

Before we left, Santos gave us a few pounds of dried beans which they'd been sorting, as well as some elote, or young corn. She told us several recipes for using it, besides eating it as boiled corn-on-the-cob. So we had fun experimenting with that the next two days. One cuts the corn from the cob and grinds it in the mill; then there are various dishes that can be made: atol, a drink in which milk, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla are added; a type of tortilla cooked between banana leaves; fritters; and tamalitos, stuffed and boiled in the husk. She even gave us cuajada, a creamy soft cheese (technically curds) which she'd made from their milk. She said they get some 10 liters a day from three cows, and easily use it all.

 

They seem to do pretty well with their little home farm, raising food for themselves as well as selling some - yucca and other root vegetables - in town. Unfortunately, after living there for 18 years, they expect to have to move in April. The creek that runs near their house is considered pristine, since they are the only people that live along it, and the government in Limón plans to build a dam to collect the water and pipe it into town, as the current water source is contaminated from the many cattle upstream. Francisco has been visiting City Hall to try to get some recompense for their move; I'm not sure what's come of that.

 

In the end, it was certainly an interesting visit and well worth the walk!

 

Love,

Prairie