Let it all go

Monkey boy harvesting lemons.

The saying “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” has never been so true as in my recent house move-out.  I was lucky to be able to sell the majority of my practical household items to my follow-up volunteer (stove, gas tank, pots and dishes), but I was still left with a lot of not-so lightly used clothes, a machete (HIGHLY VALUED), and general junk.  There is no trash collection anywhere in the Comarca so I started daily burn piles to eliminate the paper trail.

The next day my neighbor asked me what I was burning.  I told her, only paper trash and some old underwear.  She jokingly told me to let her know when I was going to do my next burning.  The sad part is, I’m not sure if she was kidding because her son asked me about it later too!

My dog is so popular!

My host mom Chavela and me

I was comforted by the fact that everything else could at least go to use.  An air mattress with a hole in it serves as a good tarp to dry corn and rice out in the sun.  My stained t-shirt is still better than the 10 year old’s holey t-shirt.  All of you who have ever sent me a card, photo, or postcard, they are all scattered amongst 12 Ngabe families, perhaps nailed to the wall by now.  A neighboring  grandmother gave me a chakra bag she made, so I traded her back one that I had recently finished.

Baby Dania Carolina. Those stickers were part of the housing clean out

The process forced me to reject all of my pack-rat tendencies.  I am traveling for 2 months so I cannot physically afford to carry sentimental items with me.  Also, my community has been constantly giving to me for 2 years, so the least I could do was to give back a bit.