This morning I woke up to the sound of Pablo’s voice and the thwack of an axe on wood. An interesting alarm clock I can assure you. Without a clock, I had no idea how late (or early) it was. So I stumbled out of my borrowed pj’s and I put on my old clothes and headed out to the main area. I could see Oneyda in the kitchen and see the vague outline of Pablo outside of the kitchen making the racket. When I groggily said good morning, I couldn’t believe how chipper everyone was!
Pablo came in and assured me that I should stay for breakfast, which was made by Oneyda. Andy, Oneyda and myself sat down for our breakfast together. Which included rice, a salad (for me) and orange juice. Afterwards I played with Andy once again, in part waiting for cues on when I could go. You see, to protect my belongings they had locked my bag in the most secure thing Oneyda had, a suitcase. But this meant this morning that my bag was still inside said suitcase, and thus a captive of it.
While waiting for the correct moment to politely ask for my stuff, I decided to play with Andy some more. He had held onto the balloon he found at mass last night and he threw at me in an air of “let’s play”. However due to the balloon’s small size it was difficult for little Andy and his yet fully developed dexterity to play with real gusto.
So I blew up another balloon. However I had not considered that a very full balloon will ultimately pop very quickly with repeated bashings by a 4 and 22 year old. Thus it suddenly exploded in my face with a fury only balloons can deliver. Then we returned, for a brief period of time to baseball throwing, with my continued amusement at Andy’s genuine discomfort at a hard ball being thrown in his face.
In what appeared to be a “how to amuse Andy” morning, I ended up then pushing him on his bike outside. For 10 minutes of bliss, Andy could be seen chasing the sleeping dogs, beaming like a child on Christmas. That all lasted until I pushed with a little bit too much gusto and he toppled over. Like any stoic young man, he managed to hold himself together. I do what I do best at that point. I spun that kid around, superman style, until a smile reappeared on his face. Once Oneyda cleaned him up, he was ready to go back on.
Pablo was trying to convince me to stay for the afternoon so I could partake in the true Balguean Christmas experience. Bull riding. However, I had some duties back at the farm. These related to feeding the animals. Pablo, being the sweet man he is (and possibly to ensure my attendance at the festivities), offered to go feed the pigs. Yet when I reminded him of my obligation to Dukie as well, he resigned with a sigh. And off I went back to Totoco.
In fairness, I had also neglected watering the plants and fumigating. And so it was with these tasks to consider I made my walk back through Balgue. Made a safe return to my humble abode and got my work clothes on. The pigs were fed. The plants watered and freshly fumigated. Then just before I decided to start doing laundry I took a seat in the hammock. A fools mistake. Within seconds I was asleep.
When I woke up I had lost most of the light, and I still had dishes to do. Being the lame person I am and not really wanting to go through the effort of leaving my comfortable lodgings and head into town, I stayed home. While certainly I could have headed up to the Lodge or down into Balgue, I was perfectly content to stay and read my new book.
The book I am reading is “The Joy Luck Club” by Amy Tan. In a perfectly serendipitous moment, I found this book. The same day my family back home was gathering for Christmas Eve at my Grandmothers house. The reason this is serendipitous and incredibly strange is that one of the last times I saw my cousin we started watching “The Joy Luck Club” movie. To have found that book on the same day that that side of my family would be gathering somehow made me feel like somehow I was with them in spirit.
And so, with a book in hand and food on my plate I sat down to eat my Christmas Day feast. My companions? The howler monkey not 10 feet away in the tree. I feel this was an entirely welcome addition.
Seasons Greetings!
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