We did a big more garden prep and finished the palhas the hustled back home for our soccer jerseys for another "friendly." We again played their women's team with all of us, and we did all right, holding it to a 2-2 tie until the last five seconds of injury time, when they scored a miraculous goal to beat us 3-2.
As has often been the case following boat trips past, a few of us have somewhat queasy stomachs (one soccer player actually called for a sub with the added note: "I'm about to poop my pants!" [Important Note: No pants were pooped in the soccer match]). So we are blaming our gurgling guts for our soccer loss and not our total lack of practice or on-field strategy.
Our soccer game helped us to identify our next purple biker: Max. Max pulled off a bicycle kick on the field that was UNBELIEVABLE (and sadly, unfilmed) that now has the locals calling him "bicicleta." Max is a veteran in two senses: he is an actual Army vet and he is a veteran of a prior DIRT trip to Tanzania. He is one of the most reliable, dependable, stable forces DIRT has ever seen. And he is a good friend.
He has the oddest musical sensibility that you can imagine (Shawny says he has the mental jukebox of a 1970s teenage girl) and busts out lines to songs that you would NEVER expect to hear from him. He is also hilarious, both in laughing at himself and getting us to laugh too. He has been a rock for Malia and Nina and has helped to keep everything moving forward. Yay to Max and his second entry into the Order of the Purple Bike!
This morning we jumped onto a new job that extends one we started last week. All of those rocks we moved last week are the base for a retaining wall near the port in the community. Today we cleared the area where the new wall will go and dismantled some of the old walkways and concrete sections that helped people to get to the water. We salvaged every piece of wood and every unbent nail, knowing that these materials are more precious here than we might have thought they were back in California.
Jaron got a chance to sign with the two deaf brothers in town and Boo has picked up a little ASL (American Sign Language) as well, so she might also be communicating a bit. The regional sign language here is called Libras but these guys haven't learned it; Jaron was trying to teach them some of the big overarching signs that would be helpful to them. It was a beautiful thing to see and we hope the short tutorials continue for as long as we are here.
We were using pickaxes, sledgehammers, wrecking bars, nail pullers, a circular saw, a Sawzall, hammers, and more today. It was a truly DIRTy day.
We broke for lunch and Shawny focused on trying to make Malia and Nina's wish come true: they hope to attend Todd's funeral later this week in the Bay. So, after about four hours of frantic emails, texts, broken connections, and eventual luck, we found a way to get them home. It will take a van, a boat, a bus, a shuttle, and about six different planes to get them there but it's going to happen. And it will take all of those things (except the planes) to get Shawny back here after she delivers them to the airport starting tomorrow morning. They will stay in touch with us as well as they can and they will rejoin us in the computer lab when they return. We'll figure out the details as they unfold.
The rest of us went to the garden, where our lovely pile of nearly perfect lumber awaited us. The Living Pharmacy will begin to come to life today!
Our feet after a day of work – we love Keens!
This morning, we continued on the project down by the river. We demolished the blue ramp you see in the picture, some of the pier, and the old retaining wall. Here, Jaron is using is sledgehammering skills to break down some concrete!
Boo, Jaron, Katie, and Max waiting for the work to start this afternoon at the garden.
Here is the bones of the pousada in the garden. This was after the roof was torn off and the palhas had been cleaned up. In the future, we will add fresh palhas on to the new roof.
A view of a shortcut between the beach and the living garden in Anã.
Max and our friend Zé working on taking down the palhas to prepare for the new roof the DIRTies will work on tomorrow.
A little friend watches over the DIRTies while they work.
Lauren Soares standing with the wood that would be utilized in the plant beds.
After an afternoon of work, the DIRTies finished clearing off the old palha roof starting the week off on a strong note!
Safe travels for the the girls, and congrats to Max for his award. Rock on and keep your hearts high!.
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