Gringa! Gringa!

I am glad to report that all five of the kids are healthy now. Nick was the holdout. He stayed sick for three days. While he remained in bed waiting for the earth to end or his stomach to cooperate, we worked hard. Tuesday's work was, by far, the hardest I have ever done. We continued planting las frutas, but we also had to plant hardwood trees to reforest an area that was destroyed by fire. I am pretty sure that I single-handedly planted 100-200 cedar trees. Child's play! Oh wait, did I mention that we were planting on the side of a mountain? The Nicaraguans would have certainly laughed at the name "mountain" for this hill, but for a Florida girl, this was, in fact, a mountain. While I love mountain climbing, I have never before done it while carrying little trees. My first job was digging holes, but I broke the tool, snapped the steel in half at the welding. The Nicaraguan men all commented on my fuerza, but relegated me to tree carrying and planting all the same ;)The earth was so dry that I slid constantly, cascading dirt on anyone who had the audacity (or lack of foresight) to stand below me. I only really slid a few times. The danger was minimal . . . but then there was the cacao.

You must understand that planting cacao is a whole different ball of wax. We planted the cacao up the walls of what could have only been called a ravine with a small river running through it. The strong men and women (these abuelitas could take you any day) carried in dozens upon dozens of cacao seedlings and placed them at the river bank. Then, one sack at a time, I carried them up to the hole-making crew. I could only carry about 10 at a time and still safely climb to where they were high above me, but apparently that was impressive. It wasn't until later that I realized that there was a man there who could have carried them up for me to plant. But I like to work hard, and they liked talking about me working hard while they rested from hole digging. There were 4 men on my team, and every time I brought up a load, they gestured and commented and laughed heartily at my lack of understanding. I must defend myself here. My understanding of Spanish is quite good if you are patient enough to speak slowly. But the people in Banco, as a rule, have poor dental hygiene, so they are missing a lot of teeth. Add to that their dialect and pronunciation, and it is no wonder I was lost. In fact, I was pretty sure by the end of it that I was being offered in marriage to a man named Nikito, no front teeth. On Wednesday, I met Nikito's wife and EIGHT children and my heart was at peace. They are not big believers in polygamy here!

The day was extremely hard and extremely rewarding. When I got home, I was stricken with feverish cold and such tiredness that it consumed me. Not gonna lie, I was a little concerned. Thankfully, my hosts are doctors, and they treated me with a liter of a FOUL electrolyte solution that nearly made me gag, but left me feeling better in the morning. The diagnosis: too much sun . . kinda hard to avoid. I reapply sunscreen 4-5 times a day and I am still una gringa roja. Oh well :)

Wednesday was more planting, but back on flat land. It was actually a really easy day in comparison, especially because it started to rain and we quit a little early. Unfortunately, the rain did not last. Instead of working, we spent a few hours with some of the 14 families of Banco de Tierra who had come to have lunch with us. They had dressed in their best clothes and looked perfectly lovely. I fell in love with Nikito's family, especially his only son (out of 8), Emmanuel, age 6. Oh my goodness, I adore this kid. He spent hours on my lap imitating my every move and facial expression while "teaching" me Spanish words that I pretended not to know. When I walked, he followed me. When I sat, my lap was occupied. His whole family was loving and gentle. I developed a special tenderness for Flora, the oldest at 19, who was quiet and shy, but always wanted to know when she would see me again. Johana, 16, was pure joy, laughing and smiling at everything, eager to learn words in English. These are a simple and happy people and I am more in love with them each day. It is hard to imagine, given how much we have in America in comparison, that anyone could ever be unhappy and sour. They would say that God has given them a song. It is one I am starting to hear in my sleep, and I am happy for it.

Today was a break from planting. In fact, we are done with planting. When lunch finally arrived yesterday, it was a celebration of everything we had accomplished. They said we had planted 1000 trees in 3 days. WOW! With our work done there, we moved on to a sports program with the kids of La Conquista. It was a brilliant day of playing sports and teaching kids a few words of English. And even though I got more sunburn, it was great to work with these kids who are mostly uneducated and likely to get in trouble if left with nothing to do. Cue Robin, the German volunteering with this program for 2 years. He is a great soccer player, full of good humor, and obviously in good with these kids. After spending the morning in La Conquista, we returned (with much joy) to the home of Nikita. His kids screamed with joy, as did all the others of the community. "Gringas, gringas!" Emmanuel came springing into my arms and all the world was well. People poured from the doors of what would only be termed shacks in America, but which, here, are the homes of which they are so proud. I, too, am proud, proud that I have added even a little joy to their lives.

Reclining once again in my adopted hammock, listening to singing (mostly off key) at the church across the large field beside me, I am humbled. I am so blessed to be a part of this adventure, so blessed to have been given this opportunity, and so aware of the wealth of my own life. Tonight, I will sleep with the music of laughter and the song of the Nicaraguan people as my lullaby.