Cassava Farming

This is Uncle Chris, Auntie Leonie, and Kateri at the farm:

I don't think I ever told you, I got to finally go to the farm! One word: Cassava! Cassava is the basis of the Amerindian diet. It is a bitter root vegetable that is grown, chopped down, grated, scraped, soaked, squeezed, parched, and then eaten! Why you may ask, all those steps? Well, the cassava is actually poisonous and the poison must be taken out.

It is a long process, but one that has been going on for centuries. The Amerindians practice rotational farming in the forest to grow cassava, as well as a little banana, plantain, pawpaw, and possibly pumpkin. Every weekend, most people take off to their farms - about 4-10 miles out of the village in the forest. They work for a day or two. It's not an easy job, but a person has to eat.

Mangoes are coming back!

Mango season is a glorious time of year in Aishalton.

Mango tree

Chris climbing the tree to get mangoes.

Savannah's Creepy Crawlies

Apparently, the rainy season brings out these beauties. Giant green Caterpillar, quite lovely to see.

They like to hang out on cashew and mango trees. And they like to leave a mean mark if you touch them. One day, Chris went to put the neighbor's parrot back in the mango tree, and a few moments later noticed some burning. Soon, there were about three of these on him:
Left by the cute green caterpillar. Ouch!

This morning, our dog played with one. She looks quite pitiful! I will try to get a picture up soon.

An Ode to Laundry

Forever with us

Graced with green banana* stains

Evidence of our blood wood* pains

Pilling ever higher

Out to make me a liar

Yes, I’ll do the laundry

Every wear means a wash

Here, no one’s posh

We sweat and sweat

A big stinky mound

No machine to be found

And a dryer? Pshhh…

Hands we must use

The water we must haul

Careful down the well not fall

Or to the creek we must hike

Flowing water we do like

Wash on the rocks

After a good rub

On the stains a good scrub

Wring and rinse

Out to the line

Hang in the shine

Crisp and dry

A little larger they might be

For they stretch you see

No dryer to shrink

Before you finish

It has started again

Landry will never end!

*Items which leave stains

Rainy day

Greetings from a rainy Aishalton.

Rainy season kind of came in December, it has been a little reluctant to leave.

Now, the old folks are saying rainy seasons is already here again.

It's not enough to keep wells full, but it is enough to keep our garden going strong and our rain tanks full. Full rain tanks mean running water in our sinks - yay for not having to haul water to wash dishes!

Cassava Commotion!

Cassava Commotion!

8 Excellent Kids

1 African Beat

120 Strips of Red, Yellow, and Green Cloth

2 Crazy Chaperons

1 Trip to Lethem

My kids danced so well - a modern interpretive dance about the Cassava. The Cassava is the local staple food, farmed by most people in the village. The kids danced each step of growing, harvesting, and preparing the cassava: Planting, cutting, pulling it out of the ground, carrying it home, grating it, and poaching it. They worked so hard and danced so well! Parents, teachers, and villagers were impressed - it was a fairly complicated dance and the kids pulled it off. Here's some of their pictures: the first one is from the dance itself and the others are from practices!

Dancing in Lethem!

In Lethem, we walked to the bridge that connects to Brazil
We considered these huge shirts as costumes.
Crossing the bridge. (A paved road!)
Aishalton sunset.

Carnival!

Lights, camera, action!

It was a little bit much - leaving peaceful, quite Aishalton and...

BAM: Carnaval.

We went to Brazil for Carnaval (Mardi Gras). It was a great time - full of good food (Cheese and ice cream!!), beautiful, colorful costumes and floats, and lots of gorgeous Brazilians!

This is me... and a float.

An impressive costume.
We walked like an Egyptian. And bummed costumes from some amazingly nice Brazilians after the parade.
There wasn't just one of each costume... there were dozens.
Can you spot the beauty queen?

We found an amazing Mexican restaurant - with delicious Watermelon juice!
Chris loved it, too.
Carnival's beauty queen and fat king.

An impressive Carnival float.

We really had a great time, it was a nice break. But it was also a little overwhelming and it was nice to come back to Aishalton. Although, we came back to a wonderful surprise.... Our apartment was wired for electricity! Wowza! After a year of no electricity, they finally wired our house. Now, we are connected to a generator which runs 3 hours a night. (And, incidentely, broke down two weeks afterwards and has been broke since). It was a blissful 2 weeks - lights to cook dinner and tuck in to bed by! Outlets to charge cameras, computers, and flashlights! We're hoping the generator gets fixed soon - we got spoiled!

What kind of celebrations are happening in your neck of the woods?