After a long conversation late last night with both Hil and Matt from Berthaís house, with Bertha laughing and her dog yelping in the background, that included a long string of how great this is and how much fun that was, I asked, ìSo Matt, tell me exactly what incentive do you have to come home?

ìNone,î he replied, and then launched into, ìDad, we got to meet the president of Nicaragua in his building, and when the security guard asked for identification, Bertha just laughed at him and kept walking, and we were the only ones there, and Hilís vomiting was Hilarious, and weíre having pizza tonight and they have the only yard weíve seen so far, and … .î

Weíll all be at the airport Friday night. Will they?

And Day Brought Back My Night

It was so simple: you came back to me
and I was happy. Nothing seemed to matter
but that. That you had gone away from me
and lived for days with him– it didnít matter.
That I had been left to care for our old dog
and house alone–couldnít have mattered less!
On all this, you and I and our happy dog
agreed. We slept. The world was worriless.

I woke in the morning, brimming with old joys
till the fact-checker showed up, late, for work
and started in: Item: itís years, not days.
Item: you had no dog. Item: she isnít back,
in fact, she just remarried. And oh yes, item: you
left her, remember? I did? I did. (I do.)

Geoffrey Brock

Chrisís parents took us to see The Finn Brothers (formerly Crowded House), Martin Sexton, and Angela McCluskey last Saturday night. There was an attractive couple in front of us who danced next to their chairs, but were prevented from using the wide open spaces next to us by the ever present security guards. Absurd.
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“Where are those kids? It’s 5:30, shouldn’t they be back in Esteli at their stations?”

If there are any blog readers who have heard from the wandering wonders, please leave a comment.

Chris is away at baseball camp and will return for one week of work before he leaves again, this time for trips to Ohio and the Cape with his parents. I figure I have maybe two more stories involving Chris, and this one, which will put most people who are not blood relatives to sleep, is one of my favorites.

For two weeks, we hammered, cut, pried, smashed and sometimes bled, removing all the water-damaged wood from the side of the building. Finally, we began to reassemble what we had torn away. Thursday we nailed clapboards, and Friday when we arrived, I had hoped to continue. However, we found yet more rotted wood, this a heavy timber called a header that formed the supporting member above a window. I desperately wanted to continue the simple task of cutting the clapboards while Chris nailed. I didnít want to breathe in more dead carpenter ant bodies, or be showered with hot nail filings as we sawed out the offending pieces.

Chris had other ideas.

ìLetís finish with the rotted wood.î

ìNo, we can work around it.î

ìBut if we do that, weíll have to backtrack.î

ìBut not much. I need a break. I want to do the fun stuff.î

I was also worrying, given how hard weíd been working and how restless my nights, that I was too tired to know if weíd adequately supported the interior ceiling. Each supporting member we chopped away threatened the stability of the wall. On its own, the two stories had sagged to form a dip in the kitchenís hardwood floor.

Chris, an accomplished hammerer, continued, ìIf we finish it today, we wonít have to do it Monday.î

At some point I began asking myself the same thing you are. Who is the boss and who is the worker? Whoís the parent; who is the child? How did this child become so responsible?

I weakened.

ìAll right. Okay. I give. But grant me one wish. Letís first finish those clapboards ( I pointed to a space between the sliding door and the window). Then we can tear out the header and hope the building doesnít collapse.

ìIf we donít start now, we wonít finish by the end of the day.î

From last night’s concert at the Fleet Pavilion.
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No word from the peripatetic pair.
I assume they are squirreled away in the hold of a cargo ship bound for a life of white slavery in Shanghai, or too busy to write.

In the meantime, from the August issue of Poetry Magazine:

Skin Teeth

One good Friday night I come home-
tired bad-and I canít find me children
or me husband. The house quiet like somebody dead.
I call up he best friend. He say the children
wid the woman up the road, but he donít know where
they father be.
Or maybe he just donít want to tell me.
So I jump in me car and drive up Monkey Hill.
I gon catch him, the bastard. I park behind he jeep
and take me blessed time an let the air
our of one–two–three tires.
Then I walk in the stupid lickle rum shop
as if is me who lay down the foundation
and is me who pay the rent. And I see him
holding some girl hand. Laughing like the world canít end.
As soon as the little squeng see me
she up like she ready for war.
But I is a big woman–canít bodda fight
wid pickney who donít understand what is mine is mine,
I smile broad wid alla them.
Then I pour he drink over he head, and tell him never
leave me children with nobody again.

Neisha Tweed

I have just gotten back from leon and I don’t really feel like writing about it right now because i am exceedingly tired. We traveled for about four and a half hours, during most of which we were not sure that we were going home. The stress was a bit tiring. Leon was great though, exactly what i needed, a little rest and relaxation.

Anyway, I’m off to bed.

night
mateo

A weekend away with Linda and Dan.

Chris snapped this picure of one of many bird’s nests built atop those deck beams. This one, much sturdier than most, is made from a base of mud.
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For my birthday, some of the members of my family and I went out for a small dinner and then to a karaoke bar. It was definitely a good time and hil loved it all.

Ah yes, the trip to the quiejos sounded like a good time. And that dessert looked like something i definitely would have wanted in on. In fact, any good dessert or some food from the home front sounds pretty good right now. The hut we stayed in in miraflor had bunk beds. No water of course because there was no running water in miraflor, along with no electricity.

The temperature was unbileavable hot in the day, and really cold at night. So cold that i actually used a blanket for the first time since arriving. Anyway, looking very forward to leon this weekend. I am thinking that we are going to leave on friday morning, and stay till sunday so it should be a good time.

Wow, give adam my good luck, i remember hearing that he was thinking of doing that, but i didnít know that he actually went through with it.

Much love

Mateo

Copied from the last entry’s comments, which I know not everyone reads:

well, i know matt talked about miraflor a bunch, but i wanted to get MY two cents in too!
it really was the most beautiful place iÂ¥ve ever been, and juan carlos was great. Josh and Rebecca, our fellow travelers and hikers, were the best people we could’ve been with. i don’t know if all of you know this, but i got LOCKED OUT OF MY HOUSE FRIDAY and COULDN’T GET IN IN THE MORNING BEFORE WE LEFT. meaning, none of my stuff. rebecca lent me shoes, matt lent me clothes, and it was fine. minus the fact that i didn’t have my baby, my camera.
as matt and i walked up the road from the bus station and on a path, and through cafe plants and banana trees, and into an opening with this nice little house and kitchen, and to the right the forest,dressed in fog and rows of cafe beans, he said quietly to me ®thanks for making me come®. that was practically the best part.
and after the horseback riding, he said that it was worth it. even though he’s complaining ever since he got off the horse about how sore it is. ®hil, if it still hurts tomorrow iÂ¥m going to… to… gah!® was what he said last.
my favorite part was waking up sunday to find the fog enveloping us all, and to get on the horses and just gallop. rebecca described it as feeling like she was a princess. i felt as if i could leave the world behind. matts horse could tell he was apprehensive — when me and rebecca and josh were galloping as fast as we could, matt was trotting and our wonderful juan carlos was just chilling with him.
the waterfall was beautiful, and i managed to make a fool of myself. be warned: do not jump onto slippery rocks. i won’t do that again. i cut up and bruised my elbow like crazy, and got all my clothing soaked. ®whatever®i thought ®doesn’t matter now!®and took off my shirt and went swimming in pants and a bra.
wonderful.
the pictures are great, and i made matt take lots of flowers, knowing that all of you would like to see those.
much much much love, and especially to cortney for being THE CUTEST girl i know.
i¥ll write you an email later.
love and light (amor y luz), Hilary

Wow, was miraflor spectacular, and i saw the pictures from the website and they do not do the place justice. i got a lot of great ones, but nothing but being there can truly describe how wonderful it was. The day we got there we had breakfast, met a wonderful couple named Josh and Becca and then went for a long walk with them and our guide, Juan Carlos. Juan Carlos might have been one of the best things in the place, although it is hard to say because everything was so damn spectacular. He is 20 and just the nicest guy. We got back to the farm and had lunch. Me and hil stayed in a wonderful little hut and it was just a blast. I took a long nap after lunch, and then got up freezing (a new experience for me in nicaragua). Not only was it freezing, but storming as well. We had dinner and a long discussion with the guests (all 6 not counting us) and then went to bed. The next day we had breakfast – all the meals were great by the way – and then went horseback riding. This being my first time i was a bit apprehensive, but it was one of the most rewarding experience of my life. The views were just wonderful, and we stopped and went swimming in this beautiful place under a waterfall. The trails that we took these horses on were crazy, and i have to admit i was a bit scared as we were galloping down them. Although by the end i was able to gallop without holding on for dear life. Got some good pictures of miraflor and hil took some of me on the horse. Just a great experience in general.

At the moment i don’t exactly know where my family is, as they are not in their house and the door is locked…… the little girl next door just said No esta aqui…. so I’m not exactly sure what I’m going to do. I expect they will be home sometime soon though. Yes, i expect we will pamper ourselves in leon. God that hot shower will feel great. Anyway, much love from here in nica. and i will talk to you later

Much love
Mateo

P.S, not really all that homesick, and the spanish is getting easier, thank god.

Adios

************

Dear Matt & Hil,

I rode a horse once, or should I say I got on the beast and it walked around while I tried to steer it. I pulled the reins, kicked its side and twisted its ears, but he acted as if I wasnít there. When I finally dismounted, it stepped on my foot. Iím glad your horse was better behaved.

Yesterday we, with Mark, Ginger, Adam, Tricia and Dan, drove to the Queijoís in Hubbardston for an all day barbecue. We arrived at 1 PM and sat and ate and drank and talked until 7. It was then that Jan forced us to get off our ìLazy butts,î and onto the pond. They have two kayaks, one canoe, a rowboat (not unlike the one your uncle Peter and I used on Big Cynthiana Road) and a sailboat. We played on the water for another hour and then headed home.

Below are photos of our incredible desserts: a raspberry cheesecake Mark S brought and Janís homemade blueberry crisp. As good as they were, the best dessert was waiting for us at home – your email.

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Feasting on the above

Some might remember the last time I had to replace those supporting deck beams at Applewod. Then, it was with Mark Queijoís help, this time strong-like-bull Chris and I wrestled with the impossibly heavy timbers.

We replaced four, two at ground level and two over our heads for second floor decks. If you watch this movie youíll see me waltz into the frame and lift the beam as if it were a toothpick -camera rolling, adrenaline flowing. But it gets more amusing after that, although itís mostly a view of Chris’s back. Fortunately, my grimacing face is lost in the shadows. It took three stages to get this beam in place, and Iíve combined the movies from my digital camera into one. At the time, Chris called them Death Scene I, II and III, but unfortunately for the blog, there were no deaths.

This is a 3.7mb Quicktime movie which means you need a fast connection and QT installed.

Peter wonders what Matt will do next summer. Travel to Afghanistan? Clear unexploded ordinance from the Waikoloa Maneuver Area on the Big Island?

haha, whatever it was that i had or have, well…. i am taking the helen route of mind over matter. It makes things a bit easier to deal with. Tonight i am not sure when i will be home. but i think your best bet would be to call around… .hmmm good question. I am going out to dinner tonight, so i would suggest that you call at 11 ur time. That two hour difference doesn’t sound like much, but really makes a difference as to when i will be around. Now that i think about it, ur best bet would be to call around six your time. I will try my hardest to be around. Quiero halbar con mateo, if you didn’t know. this will probably be followed by a large amount of confusing fast words and then by them putting down the phone to find me. No esta aqui, means he isn’t here. at which point you could try again later tonight. I would kill for some steak from the 99 at the moment. Although i do enjoy the food here a lot.
Yes we did start work at the school, although i am not exactly sure of the name, but we are translating letters to american sponsors who give money to the school and to the family of the kids. It is not exactly the easiest thing to read spanish written by a seven year old. But it is doable and pretty fun. Anyways, we leave tmorrow at 520 for miraflor. Should be interesting to see if we can get up that early.

Much love as usual
matt

Hil’s email address – sun_moon_and_hilly@hotmail.com
Matt’s – abstudent16@hotmail.com
Matt’s Phone Number – 011-505-713-3274

°Feliz CumpleaÒos, Mateo!

Globos

Que tengas un buen dia!

(In Latin countries, girls get serenaded on their birthday–when is Hil’s?)