Saturday 10 April 2010

We got up this morning for a full day and had no water. What a surprise! Usually the water tanks last us a month and it wasn't much more the two weeks ago we filled them. It wasn't until later I remembered that George had a houseful during Easter week. They must have used a lot of water. The only water we had access to was water Sanchez uses for irrigation; water we could use for washing, but definitely not for drinking or cooking. He brought us a five gallon bucket and set it in the kitchen. We also have a 5 gallon jug of potable water from which to drink. But... no water for toilets, showers, dishes.... and several house guests. Mmm.

Today was the first day of the rally car races out of Los Organos. The race route was to come down our road from Cabo Blanco to the south to El Nuro. To me, this seemed like a rather remote route, but I guess that's what rally car racing is about; finding difficult roads and traveling them as fast as you can.

First thing in the morning, we went into town for the groceries. We had heard the road would be closed to all traffic after 10 am. so we wanted to be sure to be back at the house by then. We picked up Peggy and Bruce, and Caroline and Jay in Vichayito. We planned on watching the rally car race and cooking up the fish the guys caught on their excursion yesterday. Koki had invited his wife to come up and she took the bus from Chiclayo to join us.

The races started at 2 in the afternoon. A car with a siren was sent over the course first to be sure it was clear. Then a car came racing by every minute or so. The starts are staggered, and the drivers race against the clock. There are two people in the car; a driver and a navigator. All together they might have been twenty-five cars. Some of them really seemed to be pushing the limits; sliding a bit in the corners and engine screaming as they took off down the road. Others were traveling fast, but seemed to be playing it cautious.

During all of this, the construction continued. The carpenter started laying OSB over the roof structure. Having that in place really made the place start looking like a house. Other workers were continuing to prepare for the pouring of the breezeway between the master suite and the kitchen/dining room. In total, there was a crew of 15 in place.

Koki also contracted with Juana, the cook, to cook for the crew for the next four Sundays. The crew had agreed to work half days on Sunday to try to get caught up. We still don't really have a schedule, but I think Koki realized he was behind when Bruce indeed showed up to install cabinets, and things weren't ready for him. We talked with Koki for quite some time yesterday about the delays; the slowness of the project. We know it has been difficult to find reliable workers that Koki has confidence in to come out here to work in the heat and the remote-ness. The rains in other parts of Peru have made getting materials difficult. But, we were feeling like the construction could last forever, with no end in sight. The push this weekend in the construction work was amazing.

Everyone stayed until after dark. Doug took Peggy, Bruce, Caroline and Jay back to Vichayito and I stayed here with Koki and his wife. Roseo doesn't speak any English so I'm sure it was difficult for her to understand all that was going on. Once everyone left, the three of us sat down along the wall and talked... in Spanish. We ended up talking until well after midnight. It was a great day with good friends.

No one complained about not having water, although we joked a lot about it. I filled a laundry tub with the irrigation water and just set all the dishes into it so at least they would be soaking. The water truck was all set to deliver today, but because of the rally races, couldn't ever get down our road to actually deliver.

This picture is of Koki and his wife Roseo.