Sitting in my own sweat, though overcast and a bit of a
breeze blows through, I have worked hard this morning pulling the sheets of
plastic off the remaining rows of dead crops. Rolled them up with Ian’s help
(he was the swashbuckling guy with the machete!) and added mulch to the row of
eggplant. Asked the plants to produce enough for 8-12 kilos per day. The
eggplants are between three and five inches. Very small according to our
standards. There are four enormously long rows but they are being consumed by some
insect and have a fungus. Poor things!
Worked until late last night, past 9:00 anyway, preparing
the veggies for delivery to Santos.
Dario and his friend (who supplies the broccoli and lettuce-nearly always short
of the requests) went along. For the ride, for companionship and to keep him
awake since they left at 3:00am. They brought three small boxes to deliver to
individuals and several for the guy who was purchasing for a number of
restaurants. We put together carboned receipts with an address on the top,
individual prices and a delivery charge, equivalent to $1.50. I think the
receipts totaled just over R$400.00 (in dollars is half of that value.)
Imagine, a full days work for such a small amount of money! Having to deliver
it 250 kilometers (?) one way.
Woke up to sweet cornbread, fresh bread from the break
maker, coffee and papaya. Yum! Toiled in the fields for a few hours to work up
my hunger for a lunch of beans and rice (of course!) with manioc crumbled over
the top, steamed manioc, squash and eggplant and dark, strong coffee
afterwards. “Where is the dessert,” is my question.
Renato is weedwacking, Ian reads in his toddler bunkbed,
Ana’s mom is probably curing cancer in the Main House, Paulo is constructing
the bunkers and remodeling the house, Dario hasn’t returned from Santos, Cuta
the dog has been released from the kennel since there was an army of gigantic
ants lined up in and around his quarters. I put Burt’s Bees insect repellent
around his head since the big flies were like a halo around his ears, Preta is
scoping the area for more bones from the bean pot. A noisy and productive
afternoon…plan on heading back up to the fields (surely I will lose weight after
traipsing back and forth a quarter mile to the fields a few times a day! Without
dessert…
Few items divide the wall space in the houses. More often
than not, the bedrooms have a bed, small nightstand and a dresser of some sort.
With a light above it isn’t such a comfortable place to read before dozing off.
No knickknacks, no pictures or decorative items. There are a few handmade items
on one shelf, presents from clients or friends of Ana’s. Most are actually
pretty hideous. We had a good laugh over the two frog statues Ana brought home
last week. She told me her friend insisted she choose a few treasures. On top
of a conch shell stood two frogs plastered with bright green eyes (resembled
Fruit Loops cereal) with plastic umbrellas. Horrible!
Off to the fields!
No comments:
Post a Comment