Today I found out my cat is female. That was weird. I could have sworn the previous owner told me my Chinola was a "he", but when she came over today for a coffee and inquired as to the sex of little Chinola, I decided to do some investigating of my own. Now I'm no expert on cat genitalia, but let it suffice to say that there was something…missing. Now at least the feminine ending to her name (Spanish and Portuguese words have gender. This is the bane of my trilingual existence) is befitting.
So just when I thought Chinola couldn't possibly confound me any more - I finally took pity on her (HER) last night and climbed atop the termite riddled furniture to get her down from the roof - she does! Even though she makes it difficult to work, biting my fingers as they move across the keyboard, running around under my feet in the kitchen, she definitely makes life a lot more interesting.
I started, and nearly finished, a grant proposal for stoves today. I can ask for up to 3,000 American dollars at one time, and this goes a long way…20 stoves long to be exact. It's a complicated process of training masons, getting materials, and finding people willing to work or pay for labor, but I'm eager to get started. We have an interest meeting this Saturday in fact and I plan to clear up a few questions that are keeping me from turning in the grant tomorrow: how much does a wheelbarrow cost? A day's worth of labor? How many of you are SERIOUSLY interested? That sort of thing. Hopefully by March of 2009, the community will have at least 20 new stoves, and more importantly, a group of individuals who are competent enough to keep making them after I leave.
My bathroom, although still a work in progress, is getting there. A friendly, helpful señor who lives a few houses down came by to install a new hose under my sink, check out the toilet's many leaks, and finally tell me what I need to get on round 2 to the hardware store (I knew 1 trip was just too good to be true). As he was preparing to leave, we had that awkward moment that usually accompanies compensation. I offered to pay him, but he flat out refused, saying he does things for people, that everything isn't about money. He wasn't lecturing, but I felt a bit ashamed for evening bringing it up. But then again, I would have felt ashamed if I hadn't. What can you do?
I think I'll make him spaghetti.
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