Trouts ponds and the maca

The last few weeks have been busy, but have also had times for relaxation. I was only able to spend 10 days in Totorani due to meetings scheduled the following . The 10 days I spent in Totorani were full of work and new projects.

          I arrived in Totorani just as the sun was setting and all of the farmers were coming back from the fields. I talked with German and his family for a little while before retiring to bed.

          The project we started on the following day was constructing the frame for a greenhouse. The greenhouse is made with simple materials, with the most expensive part of the project being the special plastic used as the top. All of the parts will be transportable, sort of like a tent. I spent the majority of the day bending rebar into loops that will be used to fasten the plastic and the frame to the ground. I bent the rebar by hand using a cheater when I could, then I hammered the rebar into shape after bending the loop.

          I was only able to accomplish bending the loops during the 10 days, but I hope to continue on the project the next time I return. The greenhouse will be used to grow tomatoes, peppers, and maybe strawberries. These can only be grown in the summer months when the temperature is higher during the night. In the winter the greenhouse can produce onions, carrots, lettuce, beets, garlic, and few others, these can be grown at a faster rate than they would outside.

          Another project that we completed was constructing two trout ponds that have cement linings. The trout ponds used before were only dirt and were much smaller than the new ones. The ponds are 2x15x1.5m, and each can hold about 100 trout depending on the size of the trout.

          We took a break in the middle of constructing the ponds to clean maca in the river. We did this by placing the maca in woven plastic bags in the river and letting them soak for a few hours. Then we came back and began washing the maca by pressing on the bags with our feet. The water was cold, and only became bearable after my feet became numb. After washing the maca in the river we set it out to dry in the sun for a week or so depending on the size of the root. The maca harvest isn’t over, so I know more foot washing will be present in the coming months.

          I was able to speak to some more of the community members during my time; I was trying to gather information about the history of Totorani for a presentation I had to give the next week. I talked with Francisco, a potato and sheep farmer that lives across the river, about the history of Totorani. Like the rest of the people I have talked to about this, he only knew the age of the community, nothing specific. I still enjoyed the conversation even though I didn’t gather new information.

      A picture I took while walking around on my free day. The adobe brick is the material used to construct houses in Totorani. 

          One of the days I worked on the school’s garden, preparing the soils for carrots, onions, beets, and winter lettuce. The work is hard because of the large amount of rocks that are in the soil. I found that breaking up the soil with a pic and then using the shovel to sort the soil from the rocks was the best method. My hands were full of blisters after that day, and I had only prepared a small portion of the plot. I want to remove the majority of the rocks because carrots and other root vegetables will produce better if there are fewer rocks.

          I left Totorani feeling like I was leaving home, which I think is a good feeling to have. I am slowing becoming more accustomed to the culture and the calm life that Totorani offers. I am also becoming more excited about the upcoming projects, and I am slowly building stronger relationships within the community. 

Jibber Jabber: from the other day.

The wet season in Cochabamba as come to end, about a month ago, I hear. Tonight it rained, and tonight I stayed inside. 

I bought four movies the other day, each was about 35 cents, and each was the product of a pirate, you know the ones with the a hook for a hand. The guy that sold it to me has a patch over his eye, but that might have been just an act, but I don't know. I didn't look too hard at his patch, but I swear there was a functioning eye underneath, wait the patch part was just a figment of my imagination, and maybe that dream was in Spanish. How do you know when your dreams are in Spanish? Is it when you wake up with an Aguayo as a blanket, or maybe a bottle of Campos de Solana at your side? 

The plastic sleeves the movies came in are fragile and translucent, so every dealer of the "hook for a hand" movies must sell them in the shade, or at least have a canopy to place them under. As I watch the last part of "Her" I wander if the DVDs were made in a basement or maybe the top floor of the high rise that sits next to the main avenue. Could the fabrico be right next to the factory that produces the "precious white stuff", simultaneous production, it’s beautiful if you ask the right people. Maybe the people slinging the "pretty white stuff" can't make the same dough they would by helping some summer youth, and maybe they don't have the capacity to contemplate best way to live life. I mean, I didn't find that nut until after I saw the truth. Maybe the simple cassette player showed me a little bit of the way to life, thanks Lord Finesse. 

On the soft table cloth decorated with roses sewn by old eyes and calloused fingers rests my 21st century piece of machinery that can teach you everything about this world, but maybe not the empathy or how to say hello, but at least it can play my favorite music and hold thoughts that might not be found the next day. Can computers give love, if you don't have the answer to that question please watch "Her". Do we have pachamama to thank for all of things we have, or is it just human invention? 

The past few weeks I have been living with a family that thinks past the next meal, but this only comes when the family knows the next meal is on the way. Thoughts on how we should live enter the minds of those who don't worry, or they could enter those that are hungry, but they didn't say. They only gave a genuine smile that meant the same as the philosophical conversation; it can be easy to find the smile not worth the same. 

I watched "The Book Thief" tonight; it was one of the plastic sleeve movies I bought. I really enjoyed the movie, and I found that it might be an acceptable path to approaching humanity. I say that it is approachable to most people because the "Death" character is usually accepted by everybody, no matter what faith the person carries. We all close are earthly eyes and never open them again. 

During the film I wrote down two of the quotes by Death that meant something to me, and both express problems that occur during our lives, they might not have the same impact that occurred during "The Book Thief". 

I will leave you with the two quotes that impacted me the most; the quotes Death made stuck out a little more than the quotes by the main character because they occurred at breaks in the film, in subtle moments. 

"It’s always been the same, the excitement, and the rush to war. I have met so many young men over the years who have thought they are running to the enemy. When the truth was they were running to me." "In my job, I am always finding humans at their best and their worst. I see their ugliness and their beauty, and I wander how the same thing can be both."