Day Three: Surprises- June 28th 2007

It's about 9pm and my body is screaming at me! Sore! Sore! What an exhausting day! Followinng breakfast, I had my first ride at the back of an open truck! Love it! Bumpy and full of smoke! I had a feeling that there were more joy rides to come.

We were on our way to the "Finca". The farm was an intiative my John and Sabrina to create a sustainable long term enviornment. They had cows, pigs and chicken on the farm in addition to the fields they planned to cultivate. they would lend these animals to the locals while growing food on the land as well. All of the end products would be shared within the community or sold to benefit the community as a whole. Their dream is to eventually have a hostel set up at the farm for volunteers and make the project a permanent effort.

I was glad that we didnt have to see the pigs being slaughtered. By the time we got there, they were in the process of chopping the meat and I dont think it bothered me much ( I will spare you guys the pictures). We were quickly seperated into our groups and my team was going to work on building a trench arround the open chicken pen. This was mainly to keep the water away from the chickens. I was glad to be under the shade even though i was stepping in chicken poop. We were all grateful to enjoy our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the coop while it started to rain in the afternoon.

Team work baby! (Me, Iris, Kelly, Nia and Martin...can't remember everyone!)

See, I can bring it too :)

Well, needless to say my day would not have been a day without one accident occuring. So, the night before, I had falled three times carrying chicken cages. You might be wondering what happened to me today? Trust me folks, nothing pretty. While is digging this trench, one of the locals was trying to be helpful but was really gettting in my way. He proceeded to shovel the dirt in an upward fashion while i continued to dig. Did i mention, it was in the direction of my face??? So, he accidently ended up shovelling dirt into my face! I managed to get most of the dirt out but sadly, a tiny piece of rock ended up scartching my eye. So, lots of flushing and eye drops.

Aye Aye Matey! Yup, I was a pirate for the day

I really was not upset about the incident. After all, it was an honest mistake and things happen. Keeping in mind my experiences at the orphanage, I refused to sit down and just take a break for the rest of the day. Instead, I decided to put my good eye to use. Trying to be optmistic was hard given the circumstances. Miss Patty came to my rescue naturally. She made sure i was properly taken care of. At that moment, I realized how a long term intern might feel being far away from home- the comforts we take for granted.

I decided not to let the situation put a damper on my moods. Instead, using my good eye, I walked with the other teams and began to remove the weeds with my hands around the maize. When it came time for dinner, thats when my weakness showed. I couldnt touch the pig. so, i settled for a tortilla with some leaves and hot sauce. It's probably just as well because i couldnt hold much down today anyways.