Karma

So the day after my last post, I burn the S*&%t (sorry Granny) out of my finger while making soap with one of my women's groups...I am totally aware that that's karma for burning the dog, no matter how gross and dirty the dog is.

Live and learn.

It still burns though, so warning chemical burns hurt for a long time, and don't put anything greasy on them...it just makes the burning worse.

PUES....

It's pouring with rain, and I got stuck on the phone with the Peace Corps language teacher, and am therefore not going to go to work this afternoon....I was meant to walk up to the Puesto de Salud (not the centro where I normally work) which is about 7 km UPHILL from here and give a charla to a group of women who may or may not show up (it's my newest women's group), but honestly the thought of walking uphill for an hour/hour and a half in the pouring rain does not appeal so I'll go when it's sunny and reschedule, as it is the rain is probably sleet up there as it's so high, (As I told Shivvy, work ethic is my middle name).

So, the plans for the rest of my afternoon go as follows:

• Eat homemade bean and rice burritos
• Soak underwear to hang up later
• Do some spanish work in your spanish workbook
• Prepare charlas for this weeks visits to schools
• Make shopping list for items needed for women's cooking class in Chihuitan
• Clean chicken poop off of floor underneath computer table
• Do washing up (preferably after the rain, as the Pila's outside)
• Buy cheese from Adalee - as I saw her milking the cow earlier today
  

My life is pretty exciting.

Oops

Just FYI....If you are ever making soap with lye, it is better NOT to use a metal saucepan to stir the lye in with the water, and let it sit for an hour. And if you do, and you leave the room for the hour while it's sitting, be prepared to have a hole in your table when you return. It would also be advisable not to have any live animals in the room, as it tends to burn flesh (dear PETA...Capi will be fine, I cleaned his wounds).

Just FYI.....

Live and learn.

Some Videos from Battle of the Bands in San Vicente

Laundry Aldea Style: Rainy Season Edition

So some of my women groups have been asking about making laundry detergent to clean their clothes, as it is too expensive for most of them to buy. I've therefore been trying out different recipes (some of which require the use of Caustic Soda...a toxic corrosive...Ferney was not entirely pleased when I asked to use his kitchen pots for that one)...trying to find the one that makes the best soap. On top of that I have perfected my laundry skills PILA style so I've decided to give you step by step instructions (rainy season version) of how I wash my clothes...because I'm lazy...

1. Fill plastic container with Pila water and pour in powdered detergent
2. Leave container by Pila and dip first item of clothes into the soapy water, making sure it is soaked through
3. scrub the item of clothing on the serrated bottom of the pila getting the dirt out
4. Place item in bucket of soapy water
5. repeat steps 1-4 with all items of clothing
6. Leave clothes to soak overnight and through the morning in soapy water
7. Hang clothes up on clothing line approx. .5 hours before rain begins to fall (you don't want to get wet while hanging!)
8. Allow rain to rinse all soap from clothes
9. Allow inevitably sunny morning to dry clothes
10. Remove cloths from line BEFORE the rain begins again.