Thursday, February 18, 2010

Comings and Goings

It's been a quiet day in Lake Suchitlan. (Sorry Mr. Keillor.) The three of us are more or less back to full strength. Eric worked away quietly on the pig that poked Mario in the eye yesterday, weaving broom material into the wire armature. Frank ate a lot of sawdust ripping the timbers into strips for the nosing. With the help of our eager little crew I glued and screwed the 1" x 2" pieces to the face of some of the risers. The rest will be done on site at the chapel once we have agreed on the final configuration of the modular units.

After lunch, I challenged the students to build one additional riser on their own, a copy of one of the four foot square units. We had a sheet of plywood and some off-cuts left over and I reasoned that Ed would appreciate having another option. It was great to see the group applying the lessons I had been teaching for the past several days, striving for accuracy and precision. Even though they continued to joke and kid one another constantly, they were seriously determined to make their riser at least equal to all the others we had built together. My approval seemed to matter to them, but I could see that their pride in being good carpenters mattered more. When they had finished their perfect creation I gently flipped it up on its side on the workbench, presented them with a marker and had them sign their names on the underside.

Ed Daranyi, the playwright and director, arrived in town late this afternoon. Frank and Eric had been sitting out in front of the local watering hole when Tatiana, returning from the airport with Ed and his son Trevor in the pickup, drove slowly past. Suchitoto is like Mayberry, only smaller. Naturally Andy and Opie hailed them, and an hour later, when I showed up ( I guess that makes me Barney), the impromptu party was in full swing. Ed's assistant Patricia, a lovely Salvadorian actress from the capital, had also joined the gang. We regrouped at Villa Balanza (where else?) for supper and made plans to meet at the offices of Es Artes first thing tomorrow morning. Sans cerveza.

Sadly, eball has to fly home tomorrow. He has been an absolute treat to work with, to share food and drink with, to have in our corner. His kindness and patience in navigating me through the mysteries of the computer world have been invaluable. His youthful optimism about the project has never wavered. Thank you and God speed Eric.

1 comment:

  1. With all your free time ;) check out www.kiva.org some El Salvador connections can by found by clicking Lend, then search Guatemala, then Maria Rabay, then E. of N.H. There are a number of El Salvador people...hey, many tied into food production (right down your alley) and a taylor who could help with costumes.

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