I have had bad internet connections for several days, sorry for the lack of postings.
I’ve been spending lots of time getting books in order, making progress.

While I do that, others do this

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’ve been rethinking my craft plans. I’m thinking my thread spool doll idea

may be too difficult for this unexpectedly young crowd.

• 
• And my other idea doesn’t seem to be working too well either. My first efforts at flower pounding leave something to be desired. First I couldn’t find any small flowers. Second, the leaves I did find didn’t transfer much color. Hmmm

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.

This morning I accompanied four tourists from OAT to see the library. First we walked through the village, then we walked to the clinic and after walking a little further we took a boat to the library.  It was morning so there were no children there but they were happy to see what it looked like.  I went back in the afternoon and as it was Friday they were watching a video, they were watching Aladdin.  I started working on some of the shelves and the new young woman who is working there, Danitza, came to join me so I was able to show her a little bit about proper shelving. She has been working there since January but she still not up to par on the Dewey decimal system. I am going to have to figure out some methods for helping her understand it better.

I was told my boat would pick me up at four which is actually earlier than usual but I was there and my boat driver was not. After about 15 minutes, Danitza’s father offered me a ride back to the lodge.  I think someone told Danitza,  and possibly she sent the kids home a little early so that she could ride with me so I would not feel uncomfortable with her father. It was a very generous offer.  We passed my boat, he thought he was supposed to pick me up at 4:30 which is actually the normal time.
I took a few photos while I was waiting.  There is a picture of the dirt from the Riverside. This is because someone did not believe that there are no rocks or stones in the soil in this area.   If you look carefully you will not see any rocks or stones.