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Roasting Cacoa
Here I am sweating over the stove "Ometepe" Style. Hi everyone,
Life here is good on the Island. I have a routine this week. I have been getting up at 5 am when the birds are making lots of noise, having coffee and breakfast and doing volunteer work on the island. It has been hot and dirty work, but I am learning a lot and speaking as much as possible with Spanish speaking guests and the workers. I am also attempting to study 20 pages of my Spanish grammar book which is really helpful in trying to formulate sentences when trying to ask questions. I can´t say my speech is any better, but I am understanding much more of what people are saying.
After my breakfast I go to work. I have been making soil from chicken compost and rice hulls, making mango juice and bottling it for the guests, roasting, sorting and shelling cacoa (pronounced Ka Cow´ - accenting the second syllable). Today I used an old hand grinder to make chicken feed from old stale bread. I really don´t understand why chickens can´t just eat the dry crusts, but we are working and not questioning the methods now. Of course, everyday I help make compost myself
Cacoa
Here is the cacoa after roasting. One bowl has been shelled and the other is ready to be shelled. I tasted the roasted beans and they taste bitter and burnt. Hey, Cathy Duff I was thinking you might be able to tolerate munching on these! using the composting toilets.
Last night, for the first time, we had rain. It was especially nice because I have moved upstairs to the top of the casita. I have a balcony with hammocks and a small room with a double bed. I was paying $6.50 a night downstairs and have to pay $10 per night with the nicer accommodations. My room is up in the thatch with a vent hole above for ventilations. It was nice to lie in the hammock and relax before bed. I could see well with only the light of the moon and then the clouds came (thankfully with the breeze) and then the lovely rain. It sounded and felt great! I had to close my windows in the thatched room to keep the rain out. I do receive a 20% discount on my room for working. This amounts to $1.30 for 4 hours work or $0.33/ hr. But now that I have better digs I get a salary increase to $0.50/hr. Estoy feliz!!!!
Before the rain I got new hutmates in the two beds below where I was sleeping. They had been traveling for most of the day by bus from Costa
Dom from Israel
Here is Dom with his dreadlocks standing in front of the oven on Pizza night. He is a real nice guy and is having a bromance with a Belgium (they are traveling together and splitting room and food costs). Rica. They are married and she is German (from Hamburg) and he is Venezuelean. They went to the kitchen to make food and ended up drinking and he was puking in front of the hut until after 1 am. So, once I finally get my new room, I still didn't get great sleep. It was cooler in the night and I fell into a deep sleep at 5 am and slept right up to the time I had to report for my work. Today I was cracking the roasted cocoa shells and extracting the bean. I imagine we will be grinding and mixing with sugar and nuts to make a nutella-like spread that they sell here.
Ok, Hope you like my pictures.
Love,
Dawn
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Patty
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Showers??
Okay, gotta ask, what about showering, or cleaning up after all that hard work? As always I am behind on my emails, but Happy Belated Birthday. Patty