- R.W. Emerson
Its been roughly three months since I’ve been at my village. Three months of building, planting, repairing and basically making my hut into a home. I’ve built an outdoor shade area complete with a fire pit, made upgrades to my turkey crib, built an enclosing grass fence, made a few compost cribs and have drawn out blueprints for an organic garden that is currently in the making/growing. I’m busy everyday, and exhausted every night. With no building codes to adhere to, or landlords to gain permission from, I’m finding myself in a builder’s dream where creating additions and adding on has limitless potential. When farmers aren’t around, and I find my fish farming work slowing down, I take pleasure in directing my energy to partake in projects that focus on home improvement. In short, my small rickety nook is turning into my castle and I’m becoming more and more proud with every new project that is completed.
With that being said, not all is peaceful and duty-free in my humble abode. Threats are constantly presenting themselves and keeping things orderly and intact has its challenges. First and foremost, living in an organic establishment has many set backs. My hut is made from tree branches, mud bricks and roofed with grass. Termites are constantly eroding my ceiling beams turning them into swiss cheese. They also embed nests into the mud brick walls on the outside and when it rains they burrow out, so imagine dozens of termite nests and thousands of termites emitting from the outside of my hut during the start of heavy rains, which (since it is the rain season) happens about every other day. Sometimes the air is filled with maturing termites that are learning to fly for the first time which can make even going to the bathroom and egyptian wrath nightmare of swarming insects. No matter how much I spray, bugs are putting up quite the fight on making my home theirs.
With the rains also come (obviously) water. Not a problem if you live on a hill or even at least some kind of raised plain. But I am not so lucky. My hut is located within a depression that is just deep enough for the water all around to flow and gather, specifically in my outdoor shade area, even more specifically, my brick fire pit; making my firepit more like a soggy mud pit after the rains dry. On days of severe downpour, this outdoor leisure area is transformed into a hurricane katrina disaster site.
WIth the flooding of my yard comes the accumulation of grass seed, and within days, (if not maintained) a yard is prone to becoming an overgrown jungle enticing to rats, snakes, scorpions and centipedes. Keeping my yard weed free has become what I do in my free time and a constant never ending battle, yet in some ways I’ve found it therapeutic and a time for self-reflection and deep thoughts.
My battle with the elements and mother nature has been labor-some, but is nothing compared to my struggle with the fauna that the village dishes out. Though the rains bring a plentiful supply of grass, they also bring growth to my garden, and it has pleased me to see so many of my recently planted vegetables germinating so quickly. Not only have I enjoyed and am anticipating their growth and fruiting, but it seems that village pigs have also taken the time to admire it as well.
On a hot, sunny morning, I was bottling what turned out to be 14 bottles of wonderful mango-honey wine when low and behold, out in my garden, to my utter astonishment a group of four pigs help themselves to my sweet potato garden. They devour the leaves, trample the vines and decimate the fresh seedlings that have just sprouted. Evoked into a rageful fit, I grab the nearest club like object and charge them bellowing my loudest most intimidating war cry. The pigs scatter and I am forced to chase them each down one by one as they quickly evade my approach and repeatedly re-enter and trample my garden area. I successfully beat and chase two out of my yard in a squealing frenzy. But the other two I have a bit more trouble with. Not being the most intelligent livestock they both sprint headlong into my turkey pin’s chicken wire, destroying a whole wall of the enclosure and causing the turkeys to escape. Being even more dim-witted they fail to escape the same way they enter the pin and then sprint headfirst into another chicken wire fence on the opposite side of my turkey pin causing the entire pin to be downright destroyed. When it was all said and done (which was a matter of minutes), I was left to an empty destroyed turkey pin, a trampled garden with devoured sweet potatoes and a mood as sour as aged milk. Pigs since have established themselves as public enemy number one on my list of enemies.
And the animal nuisance doesn’t stop there. Being the dog and cat lover that I am, I have taken the liberty to adopt 4 village dogs within the village that were also nurtured and looked after by my previous PCV; 2 young pup females: Lily and Cricket and their father Snoopy. I feed them at night and sometimes during lunch whatever dish I happen to be cooking and it has made them consistent guests. However being the village animals they are, they are all prone to doing sly opportunistic deeds in order to survive. Having a quick reflex to snag food off a table when I’m not looking for example; I have lost many mango empanadas to their quick sneaky ways. I have also taken in a kitten that I have recently decided to name willie (I’ll explain why a bit later). Though advertised as a sweet lovable lap kitten, I have found that I have taken in a feline menace that likes to chew holes in tuna packages, powdered milk and is never satisfied by the portions of food given to her. Our relationship has highs and lows that quickly change from one to the other. One minute I’ll be petting her or giving her praise for catching a spider and working at becoming a successful hunter (as this is a main reason as to why I wanted her) and the next she’ll be climbing shelves and helping herself to things she’s not suppose to, (even right after she’s been fed), earning herself a lengthy stay inside of a small plastic basket that has become her holding cell with each naughty deed she performs. You’d think she be learning her lesson, but her lengths of stay continue to rise and seem to occur more and more often.
Other forms of discipline that I have found effective (or should I say the only form of discipline I have found effective) is the squirt bottle. Yes, my animals do and don’t by way of the squirt bottle. Which brings me to the reasoning behind why my cat is named Wille (because she’s always wet making her a ‘wet willie’). Despite all the imprisonment and super soaking of pets, without their presence, life in the village would be a very lonely place and I depend on them for companionship and entertainment during the slow dull moments. Lily and willie have become great pals and play with one another while I garden. Lily has become trained somewhat like a sheepdog in chasing any pigs that enter into my yard on command. And i'm convinced that in a few months cricket will be able to talk as he is quite the vocal pup (kind of like Jack for those of you who know what I mean). I still have nothing good to say of pigs though. They remain on my most wanting to beat list, and my craving of bacon has since become elevated.
The biggest challenge to maintaining a proud village home is patience and motivation. No matter how many weeds I have to pull, or how many pigs I have to beat and holes I have to patch in my fence, maintaining the attitude and avoiding frustration and giving up is the key. Staying on top of choirs everyday and not letting go of simple day to day tasks is the name of the game and what I am focused on the most. I hardly like to leave my site for more than a few days because I stress about the well being of my home and animals. Whether this is healthy or not it is giving me a sense of pride and worth in the village rather than neglect and apathy. I have had to fight for many things in life, but at this particular phase, I fight the elements and livestock in my effort at keeping my home secure and acceptable. Beating a pig, pulling weeds in an area that I just cleared a week ago and imprisoning my cat for the third time in one day, just another day in the village..
Its been roughly three months since I’ve been at my village. Three months of building, planting, repairing and basically making my hut into a home. I’ve built an outdoor shade area complete with a fire pit, made upgrades to my turkey crib, built an enclosing grass fence, made a few compost cribs and have drawn out blueprints for an organic garden that is currently in the making/growing. I’m busy everyday, and exhausted every night. With no building codes to adhere to, or landlords to gain permission from, I’m finding myself in a builder’s dream where creating additions and adding on has limitless potential. When farmers aren’t around, and I find my fish farming work slowing down, I take pleasure in directing my energy to partake in projects that focus on home improvement. In short, my small rickety nook is turning into my castle and I’m becoming more and more proud with every new project that is completed.
With that being said, not all is peaceful and duty-free in my humble abode. Threats are constantly presenting themselves and keeping things orderly and intact has its challenges. First and foremost, living in an organic establishment has many set backs. My hut is made from tree branches, mud bricks and roofed with grass. Termites are constantly eroding my ceiling beams turning them into swiss cheese. They also embed nests into the mud brick walls on the outside and when it rains they burrow out, so imagine dozens of termite nests and thousands of termites emitting from the outside of my hut during the start of heavy rains, which (since it is the rain season) happens about every other day. Sometimes the air is filled with maturing termites that are learning to fly for the first time which can make even going to the bathroom and egyptian wrath nightmare of swarming insects. No matter how much I spray, bugs are putting up quite the fight on making my home theirs.
With the rains also come (obviously) water. Not a problem if you live on a hill or even at least some kind of raised plain. But I am not so lucky. My hut is located within a depression that is just deep enough for the water all around to flow and gather, specifically in my outdoor shade area, even more specifically, my brick fire pit; making my firepit more like a soggy mud pit after the rains dry. On days of severe downpour, this outdoor leisure area is transformed into a hurricane katrina disaster site.
WIth the flooding of my yard comes the accumulation of grass seed, and within days, (if not maintained) a yard is prone to becoming an overgrown jungle enticing to rats, snakes, scorpions and centipedes. Keeping my yard weed free has become what I do in my free time and a constant never ending battle, yet in some ways I’ve found it therapeutic and a time for self-reflection and deep thoughts.
My battle with the elements and mother nature has been labor-some, but is nothing compared to my struggle with the fauna that the village dishes out. Though the rains bring a plentiful supply of grass, they also bring growth to my garden, and it has pleased me to see so many of my recently planted vegetables germinating so quickly. Not only have I enjoyed and am anticipating their growth and fruiting, but it seems that village pigs have also taken the time to admire it as well.
On a hot, sunny morning, I was bottling what turned out to be 14 bottles of wonderful mango-honey wine when low and behold, out in my garden, to my utter astonishment a group of four pigs help themselves to my sweet potato garden. They devour the leaves, trample the vines and decimate the fresh seedlings that have just sprouted. Evoked into a rageful fit, I grab the nearest club like object and charge them bellowing my loudest most intimidating war cry. The pigs scatter and I am forced to chase them each down one by one as they quickly evade my approach and repeatedly re-enter and trample my garden area. I successfully beat and chase two out of my yard in a squealing frenzy. But the other two I have a bit more trouble with. Not being the most intelligent livestock they both sprint headlong into my turkey pin’s chicken wire, destroying a whole wall of the enclosure and causing the turkeys to escape. Being even more dim-witted they fail to escape the same way they enter the pin and then sprint headfirst into another chicken wire fence on the opposite side of my turkey pin causing the entire pin to be downright destroyed. When it was all said and done (which was a matter of minutes), I was left to an empty destroyed turkey pin, a trampled garden with devoured sweet potatoes and a mood as sour as aged milk. Pigs since have established themselves as public enemy number one on my list of enemies.
And the animal nuisance doesn’t stop there. Being the dog and cat lover that I am, I have taken the liberty to adopt 4 village dogs within the village that were also nurtured and looked after by my previous PCV; 2 young pup females: Lily and Cricket and their father Snoopy. I feed them at night and sometimes during lunch whatever dish I happen to be cooking and it has made them consistent guests. However being the village animals they are, they are all prone to doing sly opportunistic deeds in order to survive. Having a quick reflex to snag food off a table when I’m not looking for example; I have lost many mango empanadas to their quick sneaky ways. I have also taken in a kitten that I have recently decided to name willie (I’ll explain why a bit later). Though advertised as a sweet lovable lap kitten, I have found that I have taken in a feline menace that likes to chew holes in tuna packages, powdered milk and is never satisfied by the portions of food given to her. Our relationship has highs and lows that quickly change from one to the other. One minute I’ll be petting her or giving her praise for catching a spider and working at becoming a successful hunter (as this is a main reason as to why I wanted her) and the next she’ll be climbing shelves and helping herself to things she’s not suppose to, (even right after she’s been fed), earning herself a lengthy stay inside of a small plastic basket that has become her holding cell with each naughty deed she performs. You’d think she be learning her lesson, but her lengths of stay continue to rise and seem to occur more and more often.
Other forms of discipline that I have found effective (or should I say the only form of discipline I have found effective) is the squirt bottle. Yes, my animals do and don’t by way of the squirt bottle. Which brings me to the reasoning behind why my cat is named Wille (because she’s always wet making her a ‘wet willie’). Despite all the imprisonment and super soaking of pets, without their presence, life in the village would be a very lonely place and I depend on them for companionship and entertainment during the slow dull moments. Lily and willie have become great pals and play with one another while I garden. Lily has become trained somewhat like a sheepdog in chasing any pigs that enter into my yard on command. And i'm convinced that in a few months cricket will be able to talk as he is quite the vocal pup (kind of like Jack for those of you who know what I mean). I still have nothing good to say of pigs though. They remain on my most wanting to beat list, and my craving of bacon has since become elevated.
The biggest challenge to maintaining a proud village home is patience and motivation. No matter how many weeds I have to pull, or how many pigs I have to beat and holes I have to patch in my fence, maintaining the attitude and avoiding frustration and giving up is the key. Staying on top of choirs everyday and not letting go of simple day to day tasks is the name of the game and what I am focused on the most. I hardly like to leave my site for more than a few days because I stress about the well being of my home and animals. Whether this is healthy or not it is giving me a sense of pride and worth in the village rather than neglect and apathy. I have had to fight for many things in life, but at this particular phase, I fight the elements and livestock in my effort at keeping my home secure and acceptable. Beating a pig, pulling weeds in an area that I just cleared a week ago and imprisoning my cat for the third time in one day, just another day in the village..
No comments:
Post a Comment