Big party on the weekend

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At Minerva's her entire family (7 kids +spouses +children) are coming for a big surprise party for her daughter who is getting married. When Vladimir got home he told me his brother Robert will be arriving later in the evening with 2 goats. My stomach lurched. It wouldn't be for the milk,..

So I had some supper and there was Minerva's little granddaughter Hemena. She is between 2 and 3 I'd say. Beautiful curls and lots of talk. She is Robert's daughter. And his wife was there too. Don't know her name yet. After supper I went to read my camera manual a bit in my room with the doors just pulled together when there was a huge commotion outside, the arrival of a truck. About 5 minutes later a lot of squealing. Not human.

I went out to see Robert dragging a large sac containing a struggling pig. Oh, the smell! He dragged it over on the grass just outside my door. We all congregated on the sidewalk to watch. In the background, I saw the large liquid brown eyes of a calf looking out at me. They waited for the pig to settle down in a little ditch between the sidewalk and the grass. Eventually he pushed his snout out the top and began snuffling around on the ground. They brought over a bowl of water for him.

I asked Vladimir about the butcher - what butcher?? I wanted to make sure the slaughter wasn't going to take place then and there in the dark. No, he told me, they'll wait till 6:30 am and they'll do it just there on the grass. Stick them with knives. That way, well, I could have bacon for breakfast maybe?
My stomach was doing flips by then. I have a hard time passing a squashed frog on the road, nevermind these guys. Then Vladimir told me they would hang the bleeding carcasses from the roof just outside my room. Did I mention he is a TERRIBLE tease???

Later I came out again and observed the pig, much calmer now. A few times in a row Vladimir made a big noise as I peered at the poor creature, and I rewarded the gesture with a jump and a scream, as is my unfortunate tendency. Vladi found a rope to go round the neck, and they pulled off the bag.

During the night I heard the calf bawling for its mother,.....

This morning I took some videos and pictures of the ill-fated animals. And >choke< I couldn't say good-bye as I dashed off for my 8:15 bus,..

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Photos

Meet the menu
Minerva encouraged me to take some photos. This poor fellow was wailing for his mama in the night. Ach!!! I had to plug in my MP3 player to distract myself with a book on MP3.

Look at those eye lashes!
I made sure that all the slaughtering would be over when I got back. Maybe I'll stay a bit late tonight to make sure. This is now my background pic on my computer,....

This fellow was industrious
Looking for munchies and grunting away. Minerva told me he is three months old.
>sigh< I guess by now I should be saying WAS 3 mos. old,....

Not much to say
about piggy eyes.

The Spanish word for
his shape is "gordo".
Fat.

Another guess here
I mentioned it before today. This is the holder for the shower curtain rod. The wire is very adaptable, as far as materials go. It can also hold up a stove pipe, and regular curtains in rooms. We have some at the Learning Centre as well.

At Selva Verde
I got off the bus a stop early, at Selva Verde, to have the exercise of the walk. This time I went on the paths through the Selva Verde property - and saw a few interesting things. This is a feeder to attract bugs which attract birds. By the way, a guy at Selva Verde told me he has NEVER seen a monkey eat a banana.

What is this object?
Take a close look, then look at the next picture.

Identify this
Here is a view from the side.

Your last chance to guess
Well, you have here my height adjustable computer task chair! Costa Rica style! Today for a walk on the wild side, I added a whole new height. Gives me a different perspective on things,......

My turn for clean-up
Here is the coffee I made and set out the cups for the afternoon. Thanks to Bev, our neighbour in Oro Station, we have these placemats to use on the tables or like this.

Not much room for drying the dishes
so they usually get left in a heap. This was the third heap I did that lunch time. See the large white cutting board at the back? Also donated by Bev.

School packs for local children
The eco tourist person here, Kattia, put together many packages of school materials. There is a list of the children needing them to the left. So, tourists dropping in from Selva Verde can donate $10 for each pack, which provides school materials for a child who would otherwise have very little.

Kitchen Renos
look a bit different down here. Minerva got a new counter made of concrete, and now it is tiled. Here Vladimir is helping to take down the old stove pipe and install a new one. His brother Michael is a Math teacher and now is summer vacation, so he is over to help as well.

My entertainment over breakfast
Michael stops by at about 7 am. Vladimir works in a rafting company as a videographer and so does this before heading off to work. Put in a new stove pipe, and off to work.

The new tiles
All done just in time for the big celebration this weekend.

and again
Uh, I was pretty fascinated by the whole process,....

I really have to
get out more.