At the end of the day!

I am currently sitting in my office (I share one room with four of my co-workers) listening to the rain pouring down on our tin roof. It has been thundering and lightening for a while now, but the rain just began. It begins to fall so hard that it is virtually impossible to hear what others say. But with the rain everything cools off and returns to a much more pleasant temperature. The rain also means that part of our office will get wet and puddles will appear on the floor. We have a couple of leaks in our roof that have not yet been fixed, so water drops onto the floor or runs down the side of two walls.

My co-workers and I are rather tired after our day in the community. We went to the community of La Hormiga where we had a couple of activities scheduled. First we weighed and measured the kids. All of them are very excited for this event because they learn how much they have grown. It is a sort of competition, like most things between kids, and they laugh and boast about how many pounds they increased or how many centimeters they grew. Thankfully today almost all of them gained between 2 and 5 pounds. When asked why they said, it is all the beans I am eating. (The beans have just begun to be harvested so every house has tarps lying on the ground with beans drying on top.) After getting weighed they excitedly run to the back of the house where there is a huge pot cooking over a fire. Inside this pot is a drink called atoule. It is made from grains and soy milk with sugar and is served steaming hot. They all grab their cups on the way and stand, somewhat patiently in line for their share. Many of them have never had atoule with soy milk. It is more common to make it with cow´s milk, but we are trying to improve the nutrition of the kids and so are encouraging mothers to use soy milk instead.

As they were drinking their atoule I sat down next to a 7 year old girl named Jennifer and a 9 year old boy. We talked for a while and they told me all about the animals they have, what they like to do after school, and how many siblings they have. I pulled out my camara to take a picture of them and of course more children gathered around, anxious to be part of a photo.

Slowly the kids began to leave and return to their homes, but not before finding bottles and other glasses to fill with atoule so they could have some when they got home. Many of them drank two to three cups full before leaving and took more with them. Reyna, my boss, said ¨Now they will certainly have gained weight.¨

My co-workers and I waited around on a bench outside under a trelice. We were suppose to have a meeting with the community´s committee to discuss plans and ideas to improve the community for the year, but three of them never showed. We waited for about an hour and a half. While we waited we talked with two of the boys left at the house. They told us about all the hard work they do at their houses and how big and strong they are getting. One of them wanted to play a game with me where each person has a coin and throws it against the wall. Whoever´s coin goes the farthest wins and takes the money. I said I didn´t want to play that game because I didn´t want to lose money. But I said we could play another game that I would teach him. He and I then began to play swords. (In this game you hold the opposite hand of the person and with your index finger you try to touch their body. Whoever touches the other person first wins.) We began to play and quickly everyone was laughing. I won the first one. He didn´t like that and so said ¨let´s play again¨. We played several times - alternating who won. I then taught them thumb wars and various hi-5 games. We kept playing until it was time for us to leave.

We ate the food the boys´mothers had prepared, which consisted of tortillas, rice, beans, two slices of cooked green bell pepper, and chorizo made from soy. We then thanked them all and the boy made me promise to come back so we could play again. I told him to practice so he could beat me everytime the next time I come. He started laughing.

We walked about a quarter mile up the road to the truck. The road was too wet and muddy to bring the truck to the house, so we parked it in a higher area. We got in and drove back to the office, where I am currently sitting.