The Belgians are coming

There has been little worth reporting since Carnaval. Things have mostly been a steady routine as I enter the last trimester of my time in Tolte. Three months from today, I'll be on a plane to New York. heaven knows what happens after that. But the time here passes ever more quickly, and I'm definitely feeling a need to wrap up the school year in style.

But on Wednesday, Tolte experienced a death in the family. Although I feel that I know almost everyone here by now, I'm not at all sure that I knew the deceased. Certainly, I don't recognize his name; people called him "Cabo." But there are many people here that I still don't know by name, or by the name that people actually use. On the other hand, he was the brother of at least three people whom I know pretty well, and uncle to a whole lot more, so he certainly had his place in the sun. He was only 64, and seems to have died from falling in such a way that he fractured his skull. People wree talking about this accident quite a bit, but I can't say I captured all the details.

I was invited to join the grave digging crew on Friday afternoon, though I confess that I didn't do any of the digging. There were more capable diggers available, for one thing, including Reccion and Damasio, one of the Segundos, and an old fellow I see every day but still don't know his name. Others were present and not digging either, but all of us were helped along by modest doses of trago. As the garve was being dug, we all commented, as farmers will, on the richness of the soil. Damasio felt that there were decomposed remains in what we were digging, that the whole cemetery has been filled and refilled several times over, though there aren't that many grave markers. I discussed the idea that, in the end, we are neither more nor less than good fertilizer: humbling, yes, but not worthless. There was also a brief discussion of the concept of gay marriage, which is overwhelmingly alien to Tolte. The participants in this discussion weren't quite sure that gay people actually exist, though I have my suspicions that gay people are hidden right in the midst of Tolte. All I can say is, they're all going to need more time.

While I was up at the gravesite, I got one of my extremely rare calls from Carolina. After asking how things are going, she announced that a married couple from Belgium is coming to Tolte as volunteers, and would I please find things for them to do? The woman is a teacher, and the man is an agronomist. Also, could I find out if they can live in the house I live in, in spite of the fact that we're crazily in arrears on the rent.

I have to say I received this news with mixed feelings. I often do feel alone, though less so lately. Introducing two more foreigners into this situation, especially two whose skills overlap (and my fears say, "overshadow") my own makes me uncomfortable at the personal level. On the other hand, the idea is to deliver as much support and development to Tolte as possible. So if I really am devoted to Tolte's well-being, I have to do everything in my power to make sure these people are busy all the time. In fact, I think the woman will be a welcome addition to the K-1-2-3 class, where I do not work, or the day care center, which has little or nothing resembling an educational program. She can also teach reading, and I could open up both the library and the computer room every day.

The agronomist's situation is more complicated. There is no structured work for him, but I know plenty of people whose fruit trees need either pruning or disease control or both. The truth is that if he works on plants, and encourages people to have me look at their soils, we can probably get more done than I can alone. But I am still getting invitations to look at people's land and offer up farm plans, so I don't think he'll push me out of a job, at least not entirely.

I suppose there are more positives than negatives in this, much as I hate to share my adventure. I will meet Belgians for the first time in my life, and they must be people of good will, because, unlike me, they are here at their own expense. I do believe that the three of us can do more than I can alone. And I can put, "Supervised international volunteers" as a resume line under my Tolte experience.