Trees and Bottle Bulbs

Vista Alegre downtown

Sunday Joy Ride Recon took me to the hinterlands of San Luis. Los Olivos is my most remote and smallest annex, and last to be visited. Unlike most of the other small communities, which are relatively compact, it is very spread out – more like a US rural farm area. The houses are also nicer looking. Then out to Vista Alegre, where the Catholic NGO “Caritas” built several very nice little houses – all adorned with their logo. One lady told me families who attended church more got first built, a sneaky incentive, indeed. And they built a water system, complete with chlorine pump and two large plastic storage tanks. Only problem is, somebody swiped the water pump. But, one old man has a little 1/2 hp pump that sends a trickle up to the tanks from the crystal spring below. At 4pm every day, he lets whatever water has accumulated flow to the town. It usually lasts about an hour. Caritas feels they are not responsible for the errant pump and has suggested that the residents all chip in and buy a new one. I’ll see what I can organize or work out. After the ride, I treated my trusty transport to a well-deserved bath, rub-down and lubrication. Then we both had a nice nap – in separate rooms. I LOVE my bike, but not that way.

In Mexico and Puerto Rico, the expression of alarm was “AGUAS !”. This is roughly the equivalent of English ‘watch out’, ‘heads-up’ or ‘Hey’ or ‘Cheese it – the Cops’. I never quite got it, until today. I was walking down the street and heard AGUAS !, which was followed by the sound of a splash and splatter of water/mud on my legs. I was victim of the Peruvian custom of watering the street, by throwing pails of water. Some folks have elevated the water-throw to an art form – beautiful arcs of water loft through the air in striking symmetry. And, I suddenly got it : AGUAS = “I’m throwing some water here, Watch Out !”. It’s like yelling “Fore” on the golf course when your ball is headed toward another player(s). When I got to the tienda, I excitedly shared my revelation with Paulina, the white haired, grandmotherly proprietor. She rolled her eyes and gave me a look that said “Duh…” or “You figured that out all on your own, Huh, Gringo”. She further explained that, when she was younger, Aguas! meant more than water. Before the sewers came to San Luis, folks used bed pans and threw the contents into the street, with a (somewhat euphemistic) Aguas! warning. So, there you have it – another linguistic mystery solved.

I’m surprised and delighted to learn that, while I’ve spent the last weeks mostly at the computer, my weight is DOWN a kilo – to 84.

Well, maybe I haven’t been all that inactive.

In addition to regular service projects, another Volunteer, Bike Guru “Obi” Ben Masters and I have been hatching a plan to improve the PC bike policy here. I’ve gotten to write a slick spreadsheet budget forecaster and an online questionnaire. God, I love technology. Anyway, Ben and I both got Trek 3700s and feel like everybody should get one. As it is, PC has very few great bikes to give out. In lieu thereof, they give Vols 600 soles (about US$222) and have them go buy a bike. Vols buy a cheap bike (or no bike) which quickly deteriorates on the rocky Peruvian roads and the money is lost. Not only that, they have to search in pretty seedy parts of town and most (like me) wouldn’t even know what to look for in a bike. So, we figure the Corps should just make a bulk purchase of a quality bike. And give us some training in how to maintain and repair a bike. This would extend bike life and save them big bucks in the long run. Hopefully, our little two-man lobbyist group can make some changes to improve bike quality for others. Whatever happens, it’s been great to work with a bike fanatic like Ben, who built bikes of bamboo when he was a PCV in Africa.

Our PCV Bike Survey got approved and was emailed to all 235 Peruvian Volunteers – 47 completed after the first 48 hours. I used Kwik Survey online service. What a great free service. I really don’t understand how sites like this exist – no ads, but enabled me to produce and distribute a really slick survey with all sorts of diagnostic tools for the results. Also, discovered that my bike is one of 40 Treks that PC bought back in 2005! They bought another 10 in 2006 and 45 of those bikes are still in service 5 or 6 years later. Certainly makes the case for buying QUALITY bikes.

First "pilot" tree planted

Katy Sater, an environment Vol from up the coast helped me plant the first Poinciana tree in a “macetero” planting hole in the street just down from my house. We were joined by the family who live right in front of the new tree. The soil was hard, but diggable. We went down about 20” and refilled the hole with a blend of soil, compost (from an Eco-Bano – but we didn’t tell the family) and sheep pen sweepings, with the dung sifted out. It should be pretty good stuff.

Three cane poles support the tree and a green shade cloth cover. A little liquid fertilizer was added to the planting water for good measure. Photo attached. 37 more empty holes remain to be filled. But, that will wait until we organize groups of student “Tree Guardians”. School starts next week.

My 61^st birthday celebration was with 7 other Vols from the area. We ate at Pollo Cilindro, where they cook chicken in a smoker. And it’s good. Carrie Seay made some sweet carrot cake cupcakes in her little toaster oven – also delicious. It’s always great to have the gang together. We support each other all the time and often work together on projects. It is truly a Brother (Sister) hood.

I found another good use for empty plastic bottles. They make great sprouting jars. I started with lentils – ready in 24 hours. The kids like ‘em and stop by for “semillas” seeds, often. Maybe too often. I really look forward to some quieter work time when school starts next week.

 

The bottle bulb

Yet another cool use I found online, uses a plastic bottle, filled with water (and a little bleach). It gets put into a hole in the roof, ½ in, ½ out, and brings in a large amount of light. Experimentation is in order, but could be sweet simple upgrade to the many dark Peruvian rooms. In town, the houses are side by side, so room windows are only in front – usually the living room. All bedrooms, baths and kitchen have only windows that open to a hall, or none at all. It goes along with the whole aversion to open windows on busses and combis. A breeze will make you sick, doncha know.

Yet another visit from PC staff, this time from Enrique, the affable head of Security. A large, barrel-chested ex Army tank Colonel, he is an absolute delight to visit with. Kinda reminds me of my beloved grandfather, Col John. He, like my APCD Jorge, loved all my innovative creature comforts I’ve built. PC has come a long way from the day when Vols got dropped off in site and didn’t see staff for 2 years. We get staff visits and four in-service trainings, not to mention monthly regional meetings. I’ll be headed up north to Trujillo for a WATSAN training. It will be great to be with all my Peru 18 homies for a week.