The thing about living in a place that feels more like a farm than a school and where the animals roam around free, is that you find yourself in some interesting situations that remind you that you're not in Boulder anymore. Here's a few from this week:
1. Diods gave birth this week, for the third time since Jonathan has been here so we now have seven new little puppies in residence in the bathroom. They're all pretty cute, one of them who we named Falcor bears a striking resemblance to the flying dog in "The Neverending Story". And another, who has an especially active appetite has eaten so much this week that her belly is now larger than her little legs and she is constantly high-centered, having to roll everywhere.
2. Jucanewa, one of the puppies from Diods' last litter who belongs to the neighbor but prefers to spend all of his time at Jonathan's house, has a keen habit of chasing everything that moves….pigs, chickens, trucks, you name it. He finally learned his lesson though this week when he defied death by running directly in front of a moving chapa, tumbling underneath the wheels, and then reappearing again on the other side unscathed. Meanwhile we stood by, jaws dropped, helplessly watching the events unfold.
3. A simple walk to down to the road to buy coconuts is never actually that simple. First of all for being surrounded by a sea of coconut trees you would think that it would actually be possible to purchase coconuts…not so. But on our way back, empty-handed, we passed by the home of another teacher who was having a pig roast, and of course invited us over to join. It started out normal enough…a gathering of about five people and a handful of children running amok around a charcoal fire, directly beside the pig pen (who, from the sound of their squealing and sniffing snouts, had no idea what was actually being cooked). At the time they were cooking the spinal cord, with the tail still on. Then came all the insides. All of it. After a taste test of every single internal organ, you would think we would be done. But no, then they were all mixed together and cooked again, this time with a blood and flour marinade. After a little personal pep-talk that it was just barbecue sauce, down the hatch they went. It's a delicacy after all.
4. A simple walk down to the chicken coop is never actually that simple…just kidding. The school is raising chickens now and if you can track down the guy in charge, it's a bargain. He happened to be there today as we walked by, apparently controlling detention more than the chickens because one apparently naughty student found herself in time out…in the chicken coop. Apologizing profusely, she made her plea to be let out because it smelled like pee inside. Luckily for her when we returned less than 5 minutes later she had been set free.
On a lighter note, here's a few pictures from the past few days: A couple really cute boys collecting water from the tap to carry home with them, students "pruning" the trees at school, and a couple of the puppies.
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