Steph it Up!

1.12.19

SPECIAL NOTE: It’s an especially happy day today, as we are about to be joined by two legendary DIRT vets, Jenny Tolcher and Steve Stiekema.  They met on the 2015 trip to the Brazilian Amazon (Jenny’s second trip and Steve’s first), returned to the Amazon in 2016, and are now engaged to be married later this year.  Yay!

SPECIAL NOTE #2: We love comments.  We read them aloud to the whole group whenever they hit.  And we especially love to know who posts them.  So, please leave comments.  And if you can’t figure out how to post under your own name, please provide some identifying information in your post so that we know whose comments we are appreciating.  And just for the record, you can know right now that Joanie Ryan is going to be the supreme leader of all posters, so don’t even try to take her on; she is prolific!

Today began gloriously because NO ONE HAD TO GET UP AT 6:30 AM!  Or even 7!  We got to sleep and remember what it’s like to just let your head stay on the pillow. Jesse and Shawny made breakfast for us to spare the kitchen team an early wakeup. The plan was to make pancakes, but for a number of reasons, they had to make the ultimate DIRT move and PIVOT. They had to resort to powdered eggs, sweet potatoes, and avocados, which turned out to be a fine plan. They even used the sweet potato water to make a pot of coffee, which might be one of our greatest DIRT inventions. For some reason, Stephane woke up rather early and became part of the ad hoc breakfast team.  In doing so, he inspired the creation of a new motivational phrase by Jesse, who started to urge people to “Steph it up” and do jobs that were not their obligation, as Stephane did this morning.  As people wandered in, they ate some breakfast and joined in to help if they felt like it. The Chanclas Fuegas (the assigned breakfast crew) still got the honor of cleaning up.  

In case it’s not clear, we have four teams and each team rotates through a series of four jobs. One day, a team might produce the daily video.  The next, they would be the water crew, using our solar powered water purifier to prepare jugs of water for all of us to drink. Today, the water crew’s job also included sterilizing all of our water bottles, by making a concoction of mild bleach water to dip and clean them all before refilling them with fresh filtered water. The next day, that team would become the kitchen crew all day, which means making breakfast and serving lunch and dinner (cooked by someone else), then cleaning up after all meals.  The fourth job is “camp,” which basically means that they clean up our house and its surrounding areas.  

Our yard has become a world of laundry lines so we don’t even try to make that area look neat. (Our economist visitor was lucky that there were no drippy bathing suits right over his head as he was speaking; it was early in the morning, after all . . .).  And in the house some of the main challenges are keeping the bathrooms clean and dry and keeping our common area from becoming a huge pile of junk. So far we are doing pretty well, though we have a few messy moments to be sure.  

Speaking of bathrooms, we have become big fans of the product called Poo-Pourri, which is a bath spray that you put right into the toilet bowl before you make a . . . significant . . . deposit.  That little spray makes things stay pretty tolerable most of the time.  We might have some people overusing it but we aren’t complaining about the moments when the smells in there are TOO pleasant.  

We played salsa music all morning as we prepped to leave for the Kings’ Day festival in San Isidro. We knew that the festival would only go to mid-afternoon, so we also prepared ourselves to visit a different nearby beach with calmer waves.  So, our pre-departure time was full of getting our usual daypacks ready but then adding in swimsuits and beach blankets and pop-up changing tents.  

We headed out for the Kings’ Day celebration and got the word that Kings’ Day is a commemoration of the day that the three kings visited the new baby Jesus in the manger.  It is usually recognized on January 6, but San Isidro had some other things going at that point, so they bumped their celebration to now.  Here, Kings’ Day is the traditional day to exchange Christmas presents, though locals also give gifts on Christmas too.  But for a lot of kids, Kings’ Day is the day that they really can’t wait to arrive. 

We went to San Isidro and found an enormous pile of toys waiting to be organized.  Of course we jumped right in.  The toys were destined for the kids of the community, who were gathered under the canopies where we have met with the community members earlier in our trip.  They were certainly aware of the toys and their anticipation was palpable.  The toys had been donated by a bank, a church, and some individual donors. There was also a large pile of mixed clothing that had been donated, so we also helped to sort and organize those.  

Finally the big moment came and the community leaders asked us to line up behind the toys to help distribute them.  We felt a bit weird about getting credit for being the Santas of this festival, but we also wanted to cooperate with the wishes of the community.  So we happily gathered around and oversaw the parade where the kids got to go through the line and pick a present, and then go back through again and pick another.  There were more toys left after everyone had taken two turns, but no one got more than two. The clothes were a different story, as it appeared that anyone could approach the sorted piles and take what they wanted.  In any case, everyone seemed quite content (in some cases ecstatic) about the event. 

The celebration also involved a meal, which included huge servings of roast pork, macaroni, rice, beans, juice, and candy.  Everyone ate more than was reasonable, including all of us.  

We went from there to a different beach near our house, as this one is in a bay that spares it from the pounding waves that we experience on our beach.  We went right out into the water and cooled off as puffy clouds caught the sunrays in ways that looked like maybe Michelangelo was involved.  Some of us stood at the edge of the waves and discovered that this particular beach has some annoying sand fleas that covered our legs in polka dots.   We stayed until dusk started to fall and then headed to Walmart for two primary reasons: 1) to pick up some supplies that we need and 2) to use their huge public bathrooms.  To be honest, the second reason was way more important than the first. 

We came home to do our nightly reflection circle, where we talked about how our perceptions of Puerto Rico have changed and how our perceptions of ourselves have changed.  We talked a lot about our impressions of this island, including how important music appears to be to the people here and how closeknit and warm the communities seem.  Some of us wondered why our home communities seem less tightly bound than the ones we’ve visited here.  And as for ourselves, we noted that we have become more communal and collective, and less individualistic and isolated.  We don’t know if these impulses will last, but we like what is happening here and how our ways of being are helping our group to meet its goals. We said in our retreats that as long as everyone feels like they are doing more than their share, that’s just about right.  Let’s see if we can keep it up . . .

Tomorrow we go to the rainforest to learn about the myths and folktales that surround it.  (And also to hike and swim in waterfalls!) It’s our new friend Steve’s birthday, so we are honored that he has chosen to celebrate it with us!

Speaking of celebrating, we have a new member of the Order of the Purple Bike!  Stephane Splichal won the honor first thing this morning (though he didn’t know it until the night) by getting up voluntarily and helping with breakfast even though it wasn’t his job. Stephane is a joyous ball of curiosity and wonder, who is constantly in awe of everything around him. His exuberance is contagious, helping all of us to see things with a much happier perspective. Congratulations, Stephane!

This amazing photo captures the resilience of the island and its people. Puerto Rico Se Levanta (Puerto Rico will rise).

Sunburn or too much icy hot? Thomas woke up with a sore back. Thinking his pain would subside; he lathered his entire back in prescription grade icy hot. It seemed as though he received a little more heat than he intended…

We had the amazing opportunity to drink fresh coconut water from these gorgeous trees that are abundantly spread all over the island. 

Geese of San Isidro taking a dip in the pool.  

Paint weathering due to extreme water exposure from Hurricane Maria among others.

We spent some time at this beautiful beach nearby our home called Vacia Talega. The water was calm and warm!

A group of us walked through a pathway that brought us to a particular part of the beach surrounded by rocks. The views were amazing!

Paul and a couple other people were engaged in a serious conversation trying to figure out if we could assign 19 shapes for each person when we have to do a headcount. 

Meghan staring off into the ocean while eating a Cliff Bar.

Here is Josie and Jesse dancing to the beat of the music. Before people were dancing, we enjoyed a delicious meal cooked by Josie and helped her distribute toys for the Three Kings celebration.

A lolly to make you Jolly. 

Our beautiful guide and Lindsay trying to act hard. #2Cool4School

Our group was joined by Sticky and Jenny today! Sticky is a dirt vet from 2015 & 16, and Jenny from 2014, 15, & 16. What a joy to have family in town!

A photo of the destruction and restoration of San Isidro.