Day 4: Work, Meat, and Alex's Last Night

---

We have meat tonight. For days we have been talking about executing a rooster, and we finally did it.

It started at 6:30 this morning when I woke and joined the others for breakfast. We all agreed that we had waited long enough, and that today was the big day. I was more that supportive, because I particularly hated the bastard we killed. While I was shoveling his shit for the compost pile yesterday, I watched this rooster ambush a little chicken and molest it, then strut all over the place. I made sure to point that one out when the time came.

First, though, we had to work. Alex and I dug some more beds and philosophized a bit about life. He's a college graduate who majored in genetics and worked in a lab for about 9 months before coming here, so it was interesting to hear his perspective. Mid-conversation he jumped back cursing; apparently he had seen a snake. We described it to Henry our Tico handyman and found out that it was venomous, then got back to work. The beds took a few hours, then we took a break for brunch.

After brunch, we mosied around for a bit, slowly finishing the list. I spread carbon around the chicken coup to keep the smell down, then grabbed a machete and joined the others chopping down brush in the surgarcane. We have to keep the brush down or the snakes will get out of control.

The sugarcane brush was cleared by 1, so we decided to use our extra time preparing for the rooster execution. We grabbed our machetes and headed for the lime trees for a lively game of fruit ninja. Two of us would pitch limes to the machete-wielder, who would try to slice them up in the air. Typing this, it sounds really lame. But trust me, it was fun.

Afterwards, we boiled a bunch of water, sharpened the machetes, and grabbed the victim rooster. Mike, the college student from Buffalo NY, beat me in a game of rock-paper-scissors, so he had the honor of doing the deed while I held the rooster's feet. He whacked it, and blood sprayed everywhere. The rooster then hopped up with its head dangling by a bit of skin and took of running, flapping its wings and terrifying the dogs. We captured it, finished severing its head, and dunked it into the hot water to make plucking it easier. Then we cut open its anus, ripped its guts out, and put it in the oven. We're feasting tonight.

It's good that we're feasting, because it's Alex's last night. This is something that I will have to get used to; making good friends and then saying goodbye so quickly. It's not hard when you only spend a night or two with them in a hostel, but working, living, eating, and playing with them every day makes it different. Everyone gets incredibly close incredibly quickly.

So tonight we're eating a delicious meal, drinking beer, and socializing around good music. Tomorrow I am going to go to the market in town with a few of the girls to purchase some ingredients, and Alex will get on a bus to head to Puerto Viejo, where he will continue traveling.

We're getting two new workers on Monday; one from Australia and one from Brazil. I am excited to meet more awesome people.

---

Photos

That damned chicken coup
I believe the white rooster at the bottom is the one we killed

Mango Tree
Apparently mango trees are related to poison ivy and can you a nasty rash if you climb it

Vegetable beds
this is what i've been working on and what gave me my nasty blisters