I wanted to give people a sense of what life for me is like during these vacation months. Currently, I am working on a farm in the next town north of Juticalpa, se llama (called) San Francisco de la Paz.
the farm, called Hogar del Nino (home of the child)
One of the things I have been able to learn about is growing platanos (plantains).
Here are the guys I am working with, (right to left) me, Mario, Olsman, Rigo and Manuel. Great group of guys. Also to note, the Coke on the table, you will hardly find a meal without soda included. They drink it like water down here.
Or pulling weeds with Mario and Olsman in the carrot area.
you have to be careful with them because they bite hard. here's my finger without an ant bite...
and with an ant bite
Days consist of making beds of earth for planting. Here is Olsman showing off his beds ready for planting squash.
Or pulling weeds with Mario and Olsman in the carrot area.
My older brother wanted a blog section that included creepy, crawly things. Well, I haven't encountered any snakes or giant spiders on the farm lately, but this is I have found. Un sapo (frog).
and the ants are everywhere.
and the ants are everywhere.
you have to be careful with them because they bite hard. here's my finger without an ant bite...
and with an ant bite
however valle la pena (it is worth it)....squash
and pineapple.
Sometimes we don't stay on the farm, but instead go out to the surrounding villages and help families or communities make their own gardens. Here is one from last week. This was a really cool experience. Here is one of the community members breaking ground.
Then irrigation ditches had to be made.
Next was forming the beds. You can see that not just the men were working, but also the children and women...everyone was involved...people were laughing and helping each other .... it was great!
then we smoothed the tops of the beds
then we smoothed the tops of the beds
put in the irrigation hoses
and planted yucca...an incredible plant....all you need to do to grow it is chop a piece off the trunk of a tree, stick it in the ground and in a 6 months you are ready to harvest
Here were are after the garden was finished. With everyone working we took a piece of dirt covered with weeds and made it into a beautiful garden in about 4 hours. Great experience.
After farming in the morning and early afternoon, Mario and I are doing tutoring a couple days every week as well as giving an English class in the afternoon. Here are Mario and I with the other tutors in San Francisco.
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