Collected seca seeds.

August 1-7, 2005

Well, this week the house went from being full to empty as we had the three Canadians leave on one day. Now it’s just Jackie and me until David gets here next week, which is Jackie’s last. She has been sick with a stomach virus type thing and wasn’t able to work for a few days. It will be just David and me till the end of August, when an Australian couple arrives, and then 3 more volunteers by mid-September. I will be able to get help from some local volunteers if needed.

Last week we watered the Universidad Catolica, the 3 Maria Dolores sites, both Jorge Lomas sites and El Bosque. We also installed the rest of the watering pipes we had prepared at the Fernando site. That day we had help from Carley’s brother, Ajay, who was visiting for a few days.

I collected seca seeds from a friend’s property way down the coast past Punta Gorda (which is past Punta Bellaca). They are drying outside now. Also, the owner of a nearby soda bar rode by our house this weekend offering plastic bottles for transplanting. I picked up two rice sacks worth. We will be getting more from the Dept. of Hygiene and continue to collect from the U.C. cafeteria too.

We are in the process of adding all the new information we got for the Seed Bank into the excel table, which will then be translated and sent to Juan Carlos of Funadcion Futuro.

More improvements were made to the house – the small wall surrounding the window panes behind the stairwell was painted yellow to cover up some unsightly artwork. It looks a hundred times better, especially with the new color scheme. A curtain was made for the front bedroom as well. Our landlord got our water pump fixed for us, as our water pressure had been very sporadic. It is such a relief, and we can shower comfortably in consistently warm water now.

Our computer problems are finally over! (for now)  I was at last able to transfer the files from the old laptop to the new one. I went through all the files, consolidated the material on the new laptop, and the old laptop is now retired.

Till next time….Heather