For the last several years I have been sewing and beading, making many gifts and even selling a bit at craft shows.
Here are some samples
Tuesday morning Fernando and I took the boat down river to Sapo Playa. It was the day that I mentioned how we bivouacked through the jungle to get up to the sidewalk to the town. Whike we were there we worked briefly with the two Library workers, Graciela and Gilder. we made plans for me to come back again the next two afternoons to work on getting the books in order and begin an inventory. This time Fernando would let me off at what they are now calling the port which is a landing on the river that the people of Sapo Playa are using to get to boats on the river.. The access was a series of steps that have been dug out of the dirt and mud of the side of the river and Fernando was quite worried that I would not be able to handle this. He explained to me that the natives would be doing it with bare feet and they could grip through the mud better. I told him that my sneakers had lots of tread and I would bring an extra pair of shorts to change into in case I wound up sitting on my butt. As it turned out with Gilder’s help I got up and down twice with no problem..
The work in the library was pretty difficult as the books were not in good order. As in the main library they divide their collection into three sections by age level. I don’t know how many books there are all told, but I do know that in the lower levels there were tons of those skinny little children‘a paperback books that like to stick together and go inside of each other etc.. We managed to finish the entire project just as it was time for me to leave on Thursday. As Gilder and I returned to the river, two of his sons and joined us. I’m posting a picture of them and also I’ve posted a picture of Gilder and his mother-in-law who we saw the day before. She is 87 years old.
My worries were unfounded. Yesterday we did our first flower pounding, using leaves and flowers found near the library. The kids enjoyed it, most made two bags. They did a much better job than I did.
Hope this short video works. It took a long time to load here. IMG_0815
I love this activity! I’m going to try this up here in Michigan with all the fall leaves. I was able to see the video and it is such a gift to see them all in action in that little clip. Thanks, Jane!
I’ve been rethinking my craft plans. I’m thinking my thread spool doll idea
may be too difficult for this unexpectedly young crowd.
Hi Jane
Glad you made it there okay. Seems like you’ve been very busy although you’ve only been there a few days. Didn’t realize you had brought so many books! Your photos and comments are appreciated, as always. Enjoy your stay. I’ll be keeping up with you.
Carol Lansdale
When I walked back to my room after breakfast a movement caught my eye and I spotted a monkey in a spot I haven’t seen any before. As I stood there, I saw quite a few more. There are probably close to a dozen in this clump of trees.
can you see the monkey in this picture? I’ll show you at the end of the post.
I had taken a banana for a mid morning snack, but I shared it with them, hoping to lure them out for pictures. Although I stayed around at least 10 minutes, they didn’t come out.
It rained most of the night and after it stopped it started again about 6 o’clock this morning and rained most of the morning. This is the rain forest but it is supposed to be the dryer season…it’s nice to hear as I’m falling asleep. Mmmm, I guess if it rains this afternoon I should take a nap!
here is the hidden monkey Yes, I know it’s not exactly the same picture, sorry
When I arrived here on Wednesday, David, the lodge manager, told me it has been very dry recently. The river near the lodge is too low for most boats to navigate so we would be walking the mile or so to the river each time I left. That’s not a big problem for me as I enjoy that walk.
But all that has changed! It has been raining a lot, mostly at night. It started raining again about 6 this morning, it was very heavy for a while, but now it is just dripping. I have nowhere to go so I will not be getting wet, BUT Saturday is supposed to be laundry day for me. That usually involves moving newly washed clothing from one sunny spot to another. Obviously, that’s not happening today. Even after 3 days here, there is quite a bit of laundry. By the end of a day, everything I’ve worn is saturated with sweat. So I will probably do the essential wash and hang it around inside my room and second bathroom.
And on a positive note, I saw a hummingbird this morning. First one I’ve ever seen here.
Today I am going to concentrate on figuring out how to teach the new library worker, Danitza, how to put books in correct Dewey Decimal order, and how to shelve them. In Spanish, of course.
Here’s a fellow I saw in the public rest room last night. I wonder if it is injured.
Always told kids, “to shelve decimals, look at ONE digit at a time – all .1 come before any .2 – even if it is .19999. And NOTHING comes before SOMETHING. 398 comes BEFORE 398.1”. Hope your lesson went well. There were some exercises online I used to use also. Will look for them.
Again, thank you for your service, Tia Juanita! I’m glad to see that you, Graciela and Gilder were able to accomplish so much in so little time – great teamwork! I appreciate you taking the steps, quite literally, to be able to help at Sapo Playa!