Haircuts and Pupusas all 'Round

Not a lot to report on today. Frank shamed the local crew into finally cleaning up the scorpion nest of wood scraps piled up in the corner of one of the shops (see previous photo), although so far, the 'clean-up' has consisted of wheel barrowing the scraps out to the courtyard and dumping them in a new pile there. Someone is supposed to come and take everything away tomorrow, but we have learned that 'manana' doesn't necessarily mean within any particular span of time.

My two erstwhile (is that really a word? - spell check is currently having a siesta) amigos attacked the frightening electrical situation at Escuela Taller. Hemmoraging wires inspected, carefully reconnected and stuffed back into boxes hanging from the ceiling, new receptacles installed where needed, foil tape applied over gaping holes where knockout plugs should have been. There is a hardware store in Suchitoto but it's about the size of the washroom at your local Home Depot. Like the locals, we have been forced to make do with what we can find lying around on dusty shelves and hidden in crates in the storerooms at the school.

While Frank and Eric were busy with that, David (pronounced with a soft 'a'), Mario, Anselmo and Valentin helped me complete the final six risers. They are such a fun-loving bunch of guys, always laughing and joking, exchanging high fives, mocking our pathetic Spanish, teasing each other mercilessly. But they are also quick to lend a hand to each other and they perform the tasks I give them diligently and with quiet enthusiasm. Today when we returned from lunch they had strung out my 100 foot extension cable to the middle of the courtyard and set up a little barber shop there. One of them weilded a trimmer and a comb, another held a huge shard of broken mirror in his bare hands, as they took turns getting haircuts.

We left work/school early to allow time to cool down and clean up for our scheduled meeting with Mayor Martinez. We had begun to think he was a phantom and were considering printing tee shirts with 'Where's Javier?' on the front. Turns out he's a very busy man and a pretty decent guy with big hopes and dreams for his town.

Following the meeting, which lasted a couple of hours, Tatiana joined the Tres Amigos for dinner at our favourite restaurant, Villa Balanza. Delicious and satisfying pupusas for everyone, two beers each, and the bill came to $21.00. Try to find a deal like that in Stratford.

It's almost cool outside tonight. Perhaps the lower temperature will keep the barking dogs a little quieter. Oops. Having just uttered those foolish words, the yapping has begun. I guess it's not the heat that sets them off. The roosters will add their sonorous voices to the cacophony any minute now. But the beer is cheap and so far there hasn't been any snow to shovel, so I'm really not complaining.