Trying to....

have a comp day at home becuase I worked all day on Sunday, plus Micah doesn't have school today. But.....one thing after another happens. This morning our neighbor came over asking to borrow money. His daughter has been "sick" for the past two weeks and he doesn't feel like she is getting adequate medical care here, so he wants to take her to the next biggest city. His brother won't lend him money...could we? (I put "sick" in quotation marks because I see her up playing around, talking, being a kid. It's been clear for a long time that we have different definitions of what "sick" is, and that's fine.) So what do I really want to write about? I guess the struggle of being here and having access to money and the power that comes with the money. Also, I recently had some health issues and I went for tests and treatment. That's just one of the millions of contridictions I live, I'm sure.





My baking buddy

I told Micah that I was going to do some baking today and he eagerly agreed to help. I'm facilitating my first baking class in Chiaucingo tomorrow, so I'm making some samples to take along. (Mom - remember the cooking classes I taught at Hesston Rec how many years ago? Wouldn't Carl get a kick out of this?)
There has been talk about this for at least a year now. A group of women would like to learn to bake cakes and cookies. We've talked and talked about the cultural differences between our baked goods and the ingredients that we can and cannot get here. They have also talked about eventually opening their own bakery for some income generation. We'll see what happens.

(Side note - this morning Patricio from Zacango stopped by the house. We talked for awhile and he told me that he and his family are in the process of building an adobe oven. "Wow!" I said. "Do you know how to bake bread?" And he went on to tell me that he does know something about baking, and his uncle (who lives near us and has a bakery) would help him. They want to open a bakery in Zacango - to generate income!!!!!!! He also said that he's talking with a number of people about the details. So if something takes off in Chiaucingo, I know who to connect them to in Zacango! How do these kinds of connections always seem to happen at the right time? God IS at work!)

MIcah and I made a sponge cake (from More With Less), a chocolate cake (from Moosewood Cooks at Home), chocolate chip cookies (our own recipe), peanut butter cookies and sugar cookies (from the Kid's Cookbook my mom gave Isaiah for his 7th birthday) and honey milk balls (from More With Less). I also have a loaf of oatmeal bread (from More With Less) that I made on the weekend to take along.

Oh, and there's more to the story. So Micah and I are baking along when he says that he really, really, really want to go along to Chiaucingo tomorrow to play with his friends. (See earlier posts.) So I decide to call Aquilina who is heading up the group and ask if we can meet in the afternoon instead of in the morning. (HER grandchildren and the ones Micah wants to play with, and she loves it!) So we get that settled and then she asks when we're going to visit municipal president Rolando. Well....I didn't have answer, trying to have my day off and all. "I'll get his number and you can call him and schedule a time," I hear her tell me. I agree and hang up the phone. Less than a minute later she calls me back with the number. I immediately call the pres Rolando. His secretary sets up an appointment for tomorrow at 10am!!!! I call Aquilina back and we laugh that it's a good thing we've already change the time for our baking class :)
So tomorrow morning Aquilina and others on the dry latrine committee, and I, will visit pres Rolando and talk about how we can work together. Just in time for the community meeting we're having in Chiaucingo on Friday.

All in a day off of work.


They still enjoy sleeping together.