¡Yeah for Estufas Ecológicas!

June 12, 2018 0 By admin

(Originally posted in August 2007)

Hi Family and Friends,

Greetings, once again, from Cuetzalan, Puebla. I almost didn’t make the two hour trip into Cuetzalan today because I’m not feeling well. It’s hard to spend two months in Mexico without catching some sort of stomach/intestinal bug. Yesterday and today, both Rosa and I have been struggling through this little illness. Hopefully we’ll get through it soon. Watch out what your eat around here, especially the mole. Rosa is sitting next to me here at the Internet saying “No más mole, no más mole.”

My group and I have been working incredibly hard on building the ecological stoves: six stoves in six days. On Monday, our bosses visited us and we built the first stove today. Yesterday, we finished the last one. I like building stoves better than building tanks, I think. Building stoves is a cross between construction, ceramics and engineering. One of the most enjoyable parts is mixing the materials together (cement, limestone, earth, sand, ash and water). As recommended in my official SEDEPAC stove building manual, one should kick off their shoes, turn on some music and dance in the mixture until it reaches the correct consistency. Unfortunately, the manual doesn’t mention that you should quickly wash your feet after, nor does it mention that you shouldn’t dance in cement and limestone on a daily basis. Turns out that regularly having one’s feet and hands covered in the mixture causes little painful cuts and burns. Our feet, in between our toes and fingers, and our fingertips are covered in these painful cuts and burns. Ouch.

Throughout this week of stove building, we’ve encountered a few comical moments. In one stove, we couldn’t pull out the chimney tube after the mixture had dried some. Juan and Candi had to climb on top of the stove and pull with all their force. Naturally, this ended with the tube flying out and both the boys flying backwards. Also, when mixed to the perfect consistency, the mixture is perfect for throwing across the room at a friend. I’ve learned not even to look at Santiago when he’s near the mixture if I don’t want to end up covered in it.

This is our last full week in Copales. On Wednesday, we reunite with our compañeros from all the other communities in Zapatitlan once again. This week, our evenings have been filled and we´ve been sleeping less and less. One night was the birthday for a young man that’s been helping us with our projects. Another night, we had a bonfire down by the river. We were invited to another friend’s house to watch Pirates 3 on DVD. For another gathering, our group made a special meal to share: pancakes. I spent a long while flipping pancakes for fifteen people. Caro was impressed that I could cook more than one at a time. We may not have tortillas in Wisconsin, but pancakes I can do.

Yesterday, while passing through the kitchen, I accidentally touched the top of the chair and within a few feet my hand was stinging and burning. I had no idea what had happened until I looked at the chair and saw this innocent looking, neon green caterpillar. Turns out, it’s not so innocent, as I had passed by, it stung me. One of the people in my group, quickly grabbed a stick from the firewood pile, put the caterpillar on the ground, killed it and passed me the stick with it’s guts on it. By putting it’s guts on the area that was stinging, it calms the pain.

After living with five Mexicans in a small village in Mexico for the past two months, it’s not too surprising that I’ve picked up some Mexicanisms in my speech. That nice Venezuelan accent that I used to have is now filled with vocabulary like “Guey,” “No manches,” “Mande,” “Chavos,” “Chido,” and “Cabrón.” Don´t worry, it goes in both directions. The other day, I heard my co-facilitadora, Yssel, say “Okie-Dokie.”

Our baby kittens are doing well. They’re grown a lot in the past eight days. I think they’ve doubled their size and are starting to open their eyes. So cute. In the past few days, we’ve discovered some other pets as well…rats…not so cute.

That’s all I have for this week. Just nine more days and I’ll be home. Minneapolis a few days after that. I´m getting sad to leave here but also very excited to see everyone back home.