June 24, 2009
Hello Friends and Family!
Just a quick update this time…
At the Center, the newly-minted cooperative (yay!) Las Mujeres Solares are getting ready for a big visit from a UN Development Program representative tomorrow morning. Because of this, the Solar Center is much better landscaped now than in the picture, but at least you can have a general idea of where we are working. It´s a really beautiful building, and I´ve been having a lot of fun talking to the women about their families and what its like to be in Las Mujeres Solares. They are all very sweet and don´t mind my pretty grotesque US accent. Also, the autoclave testing is going better, as there has been much more sun lately. However, we are looking into ways to make it more efficient, so it can be used when there is less sustained sunlight.
Also, last Sunday I attended Mass in the local Church in Sabana Grande. I wore my Easter skirt and a clean shirt (clean=fancy when I do my own laundry). The Church was pretty big, actually about the same size as the main Solar Center building, with about 15 rows of wooden benches flanking a wide center aisle. The walls are made of plaster-covered adobe and the roof is a mix of fiberglass and tin. When we arrived, a woman was in front reciting the rosary, with the congregation repeating after her. For next week, I´ve copied down the Our Father and Hail Mary in Spanish so I don´t feel so strange speaking English. Also, before Mass began, the same woman read from a prayer that I have never heard in which she says a phrase that describes Mary, like ¨Reina de los angeles¨and the congregation says ¨Ëscuchanos¨¨. It was really beautiful, because she used the most beautiful words. The Mass itself had the same format as I´m used to, but again the language was a lot more colorful and intense. Oh, and there were lectors for the first two readings, then a man who´s title translates to ¨Word-Giver¨read the Gospel and gave a really nice homily. Later I asked Mayra if he was a priest, but she said that he was training at a seminary to become one. Since there aren´t enough priests to come out to small rural community churches, he is in charge of reading and speaking within a region. Really, that was the only difference. And I knew the words to Glory, Glory, Hallelujah, so I could sing! It was a great experience for me to have something that I knew would be familiar, even in the midst of a completely foreign environment.
Ok, quick story time. There´s this chicken. More specifically, there´s this rooster. It is enormous, loud, black and gray, has mean little eyes, and I´m pretty sure it sharpens it´s beak in preparation to eat me. It also pecks at the other chickens and likes to chase after me when I go to the latrine, so that I have to run and shut the door really quickly, much to the family´s amusment. Anyways, so just after dawn I wake up to chicken squawking and feather ruffling, so I think it´s just the big evil one being mean to the others. Later at breakfast, I ask Adelina, ¨What was going on with the chickens this morning?¨ She says, ”I killed one of them for us to eat for dinner.¨ At first, I was kind of horrified because I just kept picturing one of the nice chickens with only a stump above its body, but then she said, ”Don´t worry, it was the mean one that scared you¨ and hugged me. She thought Í’d be really distraught about the chicken, so she just laughed when I smiled really big and said ¨Öh good, thank you! I´m so glad!¨
Also, a quick slightly inappropriate story: Last time I was in Ocotal, I had forgotten to wear sunscreen on my chest and arms. When I got home, Lupe (the 89-year-old) says to me, ¨Erin, you have burned your tetas.¨
On that note, we´re all heading to Granada for the weekend, so I´ll write about those adventures on Monday or Tuesday. Thank you all for the comments! I save them and load them on my computer so I can read them again in Sabana Grande when I´m missing all of you.
Besos y Abrazos,
Erin
Comments
5 Responses to “A Picture…”
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Gee, Lupe sounds like Janice Morgan (g-ma) thats something she would have said….probably in Spanish too
Have fun down there sweetie….stay safe (no burning your tetas)…and Happy Anniversary tomorrow
Love you to bits and pieces,
Sean
HI Erin,
Hope that old rooster tasted good…and the tetas comment…I laughed out loud on that one. Just so you know Deb Twe is the coworker that wrote a comment to you in Spanish…actually we used Internet translation b/c it was taking too long to do it ourselves with an old fashioned book. You are a very good writer…I enjoy your descriptions and humor.
Thanks for the photo-is nice to see where you are….
What an experience, sweetie! These experiences will be with you the rest of your life! I’m so happy for you. We all miss you very much – especially Sean
. Take care and stay safe!
Sean’s Mom
Hi Erin! Dave loved the rooster story. It reminded him of the days when he helped on his cousin’s farm. Chickens were not his favorites. He preferred the strawberry picking. Hope you’re feeling much better by now. Love, Terry and Dave
It sounds like you are having a great time and wonderful experience – I’m so glad! These are memories and stories you’ll have and tell forever!
In the less exciting adventures of life – I thought you’d like to hear some research updates. I just got back from Italy where I presented my work about falls – there was a lot of interest and ideas we can use for next year. I also became a co-chair for the International Committee for the Standardization of Posturography (i.e. the group that will make world wide recommendations on how we should best use a balance plate). That should make for some fun and important work for our lab group. I also heard that construction is going to begin on our lab so it will be done this fall. Hopefully it will be already by the time you are back on campus in the spring (if you still want to be involved–I hope so!).
Have a great rest of the trip.