Day 2 Villas

Day 2

As I write this I am still recovering from my first time using the esteemed composting toilet. Could no one have warned me?! I slipslid my way up the rock paved mud path, then removed my chacos at the door and entered what appeared to be a semi normal toilet room, just made of wood, and with a barrel of sawdust next to the tp. I decided to check out where everything went and when I leaned over the pot with my headlamp I did not see a dark pit, or even soil as I expected but a huge mound of squirming, living, moving grubs right below me! Needless to say, what had to be done was, and I could not resist the urge to look again. It was quickly covered in sawdust and I stumbled back to the bunk stifling little screams as I thought about what I had just seen.


Now that i am safely back in my luxuriously draped mosquito free bunk, and still slightly sticky with river water and hair as stubbornly wet as I know my boots will be in the morning...I can relax. I think tomorrow will be a shower day as my stomach is still stamped redbrown all over due to an overly excited and muddy Chihuahua named miguel. He is 1 of 3 black and tan Chihuahuas and then there is Toby, who looks like a midget lab. We started really late today since javier was gone and made a breakfast of rice and beans and the best coffee ever, that I have been enjoying black. Lucia invited me to collect some eggs and on the way I met the resident hens, a very vocal turkey, some geese, a brama calf (I met the cows and bull on my earlier potty break) and the gas-producing hog. We weeded the sweet potato plants until noonish, interrupted by a short water break and lots of sustainable/recycling/reuse talk. Afterwards we were given a farm tour and saw the trees that are used for biodeisel, the sugarcane and its juicer, yucca, a crazy contraption that turns the pig poo into gas for the kitchen stove, this tree called picadillo palmito that they eat the marrow of and supposedly tastes like chicken?, and the path to the waterfall. After lunch it was adventure time and we all headed out to the falls. The hike was nothing less than treacherous and downhill and heavy rain did not help but it was a fun challenge and soon enough we were swimming at the base of a good sized waterfall! We swam around and after some pounding water, were on the backside of the fall looking out. After some swimming and hanging out we realized the falling water was coming a lot faster and was much muddier. We watched as the rocks we had been sitting in minutes before were swallowed by water and the creek downstream turned into a river! Needless to say, we were back dressed and hiking back quickly...on the way back creeks that had barely covered my boots were now up to our thighs and we were holding on to eachother to cross....adventure time proved itself right! For the rest of the night we all chilled/stretched/read books for a while. I started a Michael pollan one that is really interesting so far, and the dogs kept us company. For dinner, I came in to help and ended up preparing 4 batches of fried plantains, kevin made the salad with what looked like sour oranges for the dressing and everything was delicious. Now that javier is back I hear tomorrow will be an early rise and harder work so I should get to bed, 930 here is far past bed time! So far so good, and looking forward to what adventures tomorrow brings!