So Harold was sitting on his moto out front waiting for me before breakfast was done, so I scurried through the packing process and jumped on for my ride to the Artisan's Co-op. We arrived today to open gates so we were able to begin setting up right away. Artists began arriving, one to two at a time. We spent the first good hour trying to get all the fabric beads off the skewers. Lesson of the day: take them off the day before, after a day of drying and before a night of shrinking. ARGH!! Broke both thumb nails trying to push them near the base, and still lost probably 1 in every 6 beads as the outer bead moved but the inner layers stuck to the skewer. Nothing like starting the day unraveling the prior day's work. But we saved most of them by simply cutting off the inner loose fabric and having a larger hole in the center of the bead.
Then we began the process of designing the layout of each necklace: bead, doll, bead, doll, bead, doll, etc. Talked alot about color and pattern. The ladies did a great job interpreting their own piece. Once the design was complete, then we threaded cord through each of them, being sure each doll was looking in the same direction and we didn't have a back of a head, instead of a face showing forward. Next I showed them an easy way to make their own clasp with knots, a bead, and a loop rather than attaching a factory made clasp. They had a great time tying knots and figuring out the correct size of the needed loop. We had a fashion show with each finished product, admiring each other's work.
Next we moved to our paper beads and repeated the process of designing the layout, threading, and creating their own clasp. After giving this second assignment, I jumped on the moto with Francois to head to market. Market is only in action on Wednesdays and Saturdays, so this was my only chance to get a few supplies we needed for our projects. The sights and sounds are enticing, but I was on a mission and had a classroom of eager students back at the co-op waiting for me. I actually found one vendor with all the items I needed, except elastic. Never did find that. We quickly headed back to class with a bag of scrub brushes, tooth brushes, soap, and brillo pads for the afternoon project of cleaning the calbas.
As I arrived back, the ladies followed all directions to the T and were excited to show me their work. We moved onward to earrings and soon we were ready to begin scrubbing. A mother and her young daughter, maybe 8 years old, began scrubbing like wild women. It didn't take long for one of the elderly ladies to join in, and then another and another. Before long suds were a flying, and so were the songs. I asked Harold to ask the women if any of them sang...good. They all replied "yes". They weren't kidding. After they asked me what type of music I liked, they all started singing. Did I mention it was beginning to rain? There is something magical about a group of women on their knees, scrubbing like crazy, while singing in the rain. The more I swayed, the more encouragement they received, and the more songs I would get. Before you knew it, not only were all the calbas washed, but all the cocoye was stripped and smoothed. It's a simple process of using one shard of coconut to scrap another. Long strings loosen and can then be pulled off. Eventually the strings are gone and the texture can be scraped even smoother. A great base to begin making jewelry.
The sprinkles never really turned into a downpour so we cleaned up walked home together, sharing a can of Pringles potato chips. I even got a pic of me and a cow on the way. I call that a good day! When I arrived back at the HAPI complex, I headed right to the work site to take today's pics and help the team again. When I arrived, all in sight were Haitians. So I politely asked if a foto would be okay and began clicking away. The block had been laid in the bottom of the cistern and a bucket brigade was in action, loading fresh made concrete along the edges. Everyone was smiling and seemed to feel good about their accomplishments. They had every right. A good day's work, for sure.
When I returned to the pavilion, I found the rest of the team. When it began raining earlier, the bossman had released them for the day. When I told them the Haitians were still working, they seemed shocked! I told them to relax and know their work was appreciated. They shared stories of bucket brigade after bucket brigade, along with speed rock lines. Rocks were from baseball size to watermelons, weighing 1/2 to 10 pounds each. It seemed aim was not so good and several got hit. Luckily our team is all tough and a little loss of skin didn't ruin friendships. In fact, they were all laughing about their battle scars. Craig and Kevin seemed to make the grade today and moved up to bossman pets, as they were invited to work down in the cistern itself. So far all our team was kept at ground level. They felt pretty good about their accomplishment.
The rains continued here and there through early evening and the drying laundry wasn't staying very dry, so several team members help Ulrick begin bringing it in before they were as wet as they had begun early in the day. Dinner was absolutely delicious once again. I know it sounds like I keep raving about the food in a form of exaggeration, but I'm serious. I handed out hugs to the cooks tonight. It was that good. Black beans and rice, with red sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, fried plantain and chicken legs, and a tasty and beautiful beet/potato salad. Aimob brought us a platter of Casino cookies with strawberry, chocolate, or vanilla creme layer between two vanilla biscuits.
The girls are sitting around having language lessons once again, as other young people are playing cards or just carrying on conversations. The rest of the team is sitting around in pairs or trios, reading emails, sharing pics with family, or talking about the day's work. Earl got to see the first pic of his new granddaughter, Phoebe. What a joy! Another night. Another day. Day 7.
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