Chris, Jackie and I left Q yesterday, and CB and Jackie left San Cris this morning. I miss them! Its strange not to be together, since we were together night and day for 5 weeks straight.
I'm here for one more day to sort out everything, and then am heading off to Palenque tomorrow, and then Oaxaca for two weeks for language school.
I was, and am, sad to leave Q. The past 5 weeks have been hard, but they have also been very happy. We have been welcomed into the homes of so many families. It has been amazing getting to know the health promoters, chatting about everything and nothing, and working hard together.
Brief recap of the past week:
CB and I went up to Yabteclum last Saturday at 5am to wait for the stoves to arrive. Jackie stayed behind due to her inflammed foot. The stoves, of course, did not arrive at 6am as previously anticipated, but rather at 1pm. We spent the morning going to Puebla and Chuchtik to tell them the stoves were actually arriving, and to collect people to help unload. When the stoves finally arrived in la tortuga after a hellish voyage in which Fernando was unable to sleep for 2 nights, we had about 15-20 men to unload the contents of "pinche carro viejo" into 9 nissans. The whole process was amazingly fast, with Fernando and Hermelindo coordinating everything. I was basically prohibited from participating, so there are lots of photos of this process. Rodolfo arrived around this time, and he, CB, Eri and I went to Puebla to install 4 stoves.
The next day (Sunday), we went to Chuchtik after church. . . we being CB and me. Jackie had arrived in Q on Saturday night, but unfortunately was stricken with major diarrhea, and we left her in Roselia's capable hands. Jackie didn't end up leaving Roselia's house (and Eri's bed), for two days, but now she is fine.
Monday was our major major stove work day. CB, Eri, Hermelindo, Tomas, Fransisco and I installed 18 stoves in Puebla. It was tons of work, and knocked CB and Eri out so badly that the next day they could barely lift their heads, but it was also very satisfying. Wile driving home from Puebla drinking beers and listenng to Moderatto, one of Eri's and Herme's favorite bands, CB and I agreed that we would not rather be anywhere else.
On Tuesday we were joined by Jackie, and we finished up all the houses by around 3pm. Despite the fact that CB and Eri (the hombres de hechos, no palabras), were falling asleep in their chairs, and that there was no electricity in all of Q, Jackie and I decided to invite all of Fernando's family to eat dinner with us. . . . this may not have been the wisest decision, given the circumstances, but I think in general it turned out well. We had great attendance! All of the healt promoters were there with their families, and even Fernando's parents showed up. Unfortunately, this was our first experience witht the ONIL stove, and we didn't expect so many people, and we had no electricity, so it was quite an adventure. In all, I had a great time. I wore my "vichin" blouse. It was nice to be able to cook for all of them, since they have spent so much effort taking care of us. We cooked pasta and eggs, which has been a constant here, and I think it tasted pretty good, except for the second bach, which we kind of burned. Everyone was quite gracious, though, and Hermelindo told me "lek mum, vichin" (delicioso, hermana).
We left on Wednesday morning after a luxurious breakfast send-off of beef stew, and lots of picture-taking. I can't believe it's over.
Lots of photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/aumorgan/Stoves (be forewarned, there are lots of stove pictures, mostly for Rodolfo's benefit).
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