cause i'm easy, easy like sunday morning

ah sunday, the day when everything just sorta slows to a crawl and even the cockroaches can be seen relaxing by the pool, sipping a couple margaritas.

ok, so no pool and the cockroaches are still milling about although i sure as heck can't see them (they are there, trust me). apparently we've also got mice but they're more shy than the ones i had in guatemala - those puppies basically darted back and forth right in front of me, these ones only leave small turds in the drawers.

the termites, or some wood eating bug, loves this house. there is a small pile of termite poop - mostly wood fibres in small chewed up form - at the entrance to my bathroom. it's kinda weird, but you see it everywhere - they love using wood for framing - doors and windows, and the termites love to eat the wood. the circle of life, without the disney tie in.

anyway, yesterday was fertisa day (number 3). we were expecting to go with gisel, the secretary of the group - a staid 27 year old, friendly but all business - but instead, at the last minute andy decided to join us instead. i think he felt it was penance for our meetings this week that brought a lot of problems and concerns to the fore.

the reasoning behind the chaperone is that the area where we are working is kind of dangerous, especially if it looks like we are lost or carrying valuables. we don't get that impression at all - sure the place is poor but we've received nothing but warmth and good wishes from the people so far. but really it's the buses... they can be a wild card because, while rare, there have been holdups on the bus routes. but fertisa, while poor, is not as poor as other areas and people go about their daily lives without incident.

we've decided that the problem is really that of the people we're working with. they are generally the upper crust of guayaquil society (or the kids of the upper crust) and therefore have a biased view of the other half. safety is a huge concern, and while we're always careful - especially since we stick out like sore thumbs at times - they're somewhat neurotic.

so, anyway... fertisa. this week was going to be an introduction to certain basic health themes and a workshop on recycling. we had asked them to bring garbage - plastic bottles and such - for this week and prepare to make artesanía for x-mas (crafts). well... i did some tooling about and came up with some ideas on how to use plastic bottles, and i also got an idea for an origami project - cause paper waste is always a concern. it's interesting cause those two things are also the potentially recyclable items. a canadian compamy - repac - recycles a certain percentage of the garbage in guayaquil, dependent on demand. they give money to people for large supplies, and therefore if we were able to get the people of fertisa to collect all their paper and plastic they could make a few bucks.

so, anyway, i made a crab out of a plastic bottle as an example of what could potentially be made with garbage - an alternative to throwing the stuff in the street which, at the moment, is a very popular option. it's very cute and i tried to take a picture but it does it no justice and is very blurry so i won't post it but let's just say that the people there thought it was better than the sequel to star wars - the adults were dragging the kids over to play with it - and if you tapped it's back (which was also a lid to hide goodies in) it would dance and people would smile and life was good.

jane brought back recycled cards and paper from bahía and the kids were busy playing with those and although they were supposed to be learning about the importance of finding alternatives to throwing things away i think they just liked playing with the toys.