A Productive Day

20 Nov.

I feel like I did a lot of important things today.

I picked out and organized geographically the pictures that need to be printed and distributed.

Cleaned my pen drive of a pesky virus so the pictures would all fit on it.

Watched The Mouskateers with Alejandra (the 6 year old daughter of the caretaker).

Made up rules with Alejandra as we played a game with incomplete sets of checkers and Clue.

Stayed around La Morada till lunch so I could appreciate Doña Celia’s awesome Sopa de Maní (a creamy peanut soup) made from scratch. I ate two bowls with plenty of llajwua (a tomato based freshly ground ((with a big round rock)) spicy sauce whose active ingredients are locoto and quilquiña) and thin crunchy french fries, like witch fingers.

Took a nap.

Visited the Villa, told jokes, remembered names, danced a bit, generally, made adorable little
Bolivian kids laugh.

Asked around until I got a key to the old storage shed and found a motorcycle buried under wheelbarrows, paint buckets, broken pick axes, and other broken things that no longer resemble what they used to be.

Unburied it, moved it outside, cleaned it and stowed it under a piece of roof at the back of Casa Copacabana.

Also found and unburied a classic blue women’s road bike, inflated the tires, oiled the chain, tuned the gears and breaks and let all the guys in the Villa ride it around the soccer court.

Climbed on the soccer/basketball goals and did pull-ups and skin-the-cats with the guys.

Taught the guys to play hacky sack. Some were pretty good. They liked it I think, but just because I was there. They had real trouble staying in a circle and passing to each other. I didn’t realize hacky sack could teach such important lessons in geometry, cooperation and encouragement.

Road the bike down cobblestone hills, along a sweet smooth flat road and up some of a steep hill. Walked the rest of it. I could really get in good shape if I keep this up.

I hope these are things I will do regularly. But I feel like I’m going to get really busy next week. Lord, save me from busy.