22/03/2011 (posted 03/04/2011)
I slept fairly well considering I was on a concrete floor.
My back hurt slightly but all in all, I wasn´t too uncomfortable. Apparently it was far too windy for mosquitoes to come out so waking up with my face not covered in bites was an unexpected bonus.
However the biting insects were in full force for the most part of today. Apparently we´re going to get ripped apart by them out here as they just love our white bodies - the indigenous guys don´t get any hassle at all. I hate mosquitoes.
We waited for a local who knew the way to the village to come along (our guides who helped carry our bags yesterday left without us which was nice), and we then walked on.
It took just under an hour to get there but when we did, it was such a relief. We are all still tired and I reeked of sweat and accumulated dirt.
We were shown our home for the week. All eight of us are sharing a classroom in the local school for the week. As a massive bonus, there are freely running taps and even a shower so we should be able to keep clean as well. The latrines really really smell but at least they solve the problem of having to manually flush.
The village is called Cerro Javilla and is a handful of houses plus a little shop selling basics like toilet paper, rice and biscuits. It´s very similar to Bonyic (week three) except the river they have here is harder to get to - we went there for a quick wash as rivers are way more fun to wash in than showers, but it was a ten minute walk down a sheer hill to get there.
We were served brekafast and lunch in fairly quick succession - breakfast was locally grown incredibly juicy oranges and lunch was rice with sardines. I went easy on the sardines but I´ll never reject a big portion of rice.
The women who live in these indigenous tribes all wear the same distinctive style of dress, and each of the four girls in our team were lent one to wear for the week. They look hilarious.
The afternoon was ours to do with it what we like so we went for a wash in the river and then just sat around in the shade, chatting and playing ´I went to the shop...´.
I'm yet to find a shop that stocks french knickers, the remains of a dead cat, the Qur'an, indigenous slave girls, statues of the Virgin Mary and used leather gimpsuits but perhaps one exists.
We continued this merryment until dinner at 6pm, which was boiled yuca and beef. The yuca tastes kind of like potatoes and the smoked beef was truly delicious. Albin bought the beef and it's enough for three days - after that, it's onto spam.
We then went to a larger building made of wood where people from the village and surrounding places convene almost every night for a meeting. It was pitch black except for one light that focussed on one spot where people spoke from.
It was so fascinating to see how these people that live so far off the beaten track still unite together each night to praise God. It's awesome.
We were asked to do a two-hour service but just about managed to fill an hour and a half. We have loads more services to do this week so didn't want to use up all our dramas at once.
Ryan and Albin then called us for a group discussion about our time so far and then said their farewells - we're on our own again for the last week and a half. It's been nice seeing them again and it's really given us all a boost for these final days.
Towards the end of last week a lot of people were seeming drained of energy and motivation which made it hard to lead, but everyone seems in better spirits now after the visit of two familiar faces. Plus, Ryan and Kelly's new baby, Jake, arrived while we were away so we can see him when we get back to Volcan.
After the meeting, we retired to our classroom and went to bed.
JG
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