escape from the insectos

A trip to the internet is always welcome. Our home is right at the end of a very badly beaten track, so Buenos Aires, collection of shoe shops around a dusty bus station that it is, seems like a vibrant bustling metropolis. More importantly there are far fewer insects here! I had to remove a scorpion from the wall in my room last night before I went to bed. It probably wont kill you but "¡Se duele mucho! Hmm ugly arachnids as you can see!

I am going to transcribe a little here from my ink and paper diary, a bit about the project and how we have been feeling and getting on with the whole thing:

Initally it seemed very disorganised as we arrived and there was noone here -bar our host families, who have no involvement other than putting us up, and Sara, who has been out here volunteering since the summer- to introduce us to our work. In addition to the rain that really left us with very little to do. All of us as people who had joined the project to learn new skills, with a view to contributing to the community whilst doing so found this state of affairs disenchanting.

Since the rain has stopped and Raoul, who works full time on the Kan Tan Project, has returned form his course in Spain there have been more things for us to do. At times there have been some watching while others work due to a lack of tools, or people with the knowledge to take some of us off to work in other areas.

There has been some discussion as to what extent the Finca is a "vanity" project for Jose Louis and his wife Leilah. Personally I think it would be naive to think that there isn't an element of that to it, it's only human nature. We are here though, we are being productive -if sporadically- and it certainly isn't going to have a negative impact on the community. Another thing to take into account is that the Kan Tan project is very much a work in progress, far from completion. When it is complete, if managed well, it could become a valuable resource for all of the indigenous people of Cotsa Rica, with the potential to continue to grow and diversify.

Over the past few days Jose Louis, and Leilah's older son Chiriani (which incidantally means strong hairy man in the local language) has been here with us which has been good. He shares and understands his parents vision, and speaks excellent English. Our time with him helped us to see a bit more of the longview for the place, and we learnt a few interesting titbits along the way. A long chat about the upcoming elections here, provoked thought, for example concerns that Costa Rica's lack of Military, a matter of national pride, leaves open the possibility of private security companies -of which there are many- growing into private armies, with little to resist them doing what they want are growing but I digress. Before I step away from this digression though check out the picture of the local police station, yes that is a creeper growing up through the latch! So back to the track: In addition to Ciriani's influence, we are starting to become a bit more aware of what needs to be done and thus able to work with a bit more autonomy, making it a bit easier to focus anyway. For example yesterday was a holiday in Boruca, as they celebrate the immaculate conception... yes we have chuckled, "what two weeks before the birth of that immaculately concieved child?" yes yesterday, holiday, but we went up to the finca to put in an extra days work top earn credit for a long weekend away, and there was plenty to crack on woth... earth moving mainly, and a bit of painting work on them there gates.

From the point of view of focus too, having cut stripped and brought out of the forest the majority of the timber, prepared the ground and dug the foundation holes for the major supportsof the Rancho we are to build, as well as nearing the the completion of the amphitheatre, there are some tangible fruits to our labourswhich is satisfying.

With respect to dorect contributions to the community, or perhaps better put -dorect involvement with the community- there is little formalised activity. We did help to build a new bridge last week which turned into a farily mammouth undertaking of sheer physical exertion, but more of that later. Suffice to say we built something in the village that will be appreciated by all who tread that particular path. For the bridge building we joined forces with a group of Artisan lads who make masks this is a major source of income within the community. On thursday Louise and I spent the afternoon in our first mask making lesson. We have made a respectable start now on masks of our own in the traditional "Diabolito" style. I mention this here because the creation of a sustainable supply of balsa, the principle material used for the masks, is something I feel needs to be addressed. At the moment they are forced to buy the wood inhaving cut all the trees growing naturally in the local area. At some stage during our lessons I aim to find out how the guys feel about setting up some sort of tree nursery and planting program, of if such a thing already exists, with a view to either helping them get started, or being of assistance in the ongoing process.

There we are... a bit about our work. It is generally becoming a routine now: Meet at the old bridge at 7, stroll up to the Finca, dogs in tow, chop, dig, plant, but not before the fire is lit -which is a skill in itself- and down for a bit and smoke a cigarette and recover from the effects of walking uphill under a sun which even at that time of the morning can be like the yolk of some radioactive egg being fried in a pool of molten blue steel. So dig, sow, chop, tea when the kettle boils, more digging, more tea, more digging combined with ever more shovel leaning in direct proportion to the setting of the gas under that pool of molten blue steel. Plenty of insect swatting and repellente application thrown in, then idle banter whilst walking down for lunch. Our afternoons vary, between walks to various waterfalls and out in the jungle, and mask making, often with a siesta thrown in for good measure. Last week we did the bridge in the afternoons, to make up time for our long weekend in Panama.



The Bridge, ahhh the bridge!! The existing one was a rickety pile of concrete sewage pipes that required so much calmbering to get on and off you may as well have hjust jumped in and paddled! We pulled it down and reset a nice lavel double row of these massive hunks of concrete. Unfortunately, we were four short. No Matter said the Muchachos, there are more in the plaza... okay, off we went. They are big and heavy, and half a mile away from where we wanted them. Not phased, no "My mate has a van" headscratching, we set off rolling them over the playing field to the river, off the bank with a colossal splash, and through the river. It took the four strongest of us to get them up the opposite bank. Then they were rolled along behind the school, and up a hill; again serious force required, and down to their new home. More application of brute force, not without finesse this time , the killing of a snake, and they were in position. The final stage was to build it up to a level surface with earth, tree trunks and rocks gathered from far up and down stream. Jobs a good un!