We FINALLY got to go out to el campo today! As I mentioned in my last post, we were supposed to spend three days out there but that was before the biggest, most intense thunderstorm of my life. That lasted. TWO. DAYS. I would have been willing to brave the weather but the roads out there were trashed, so no dice.
But today, Fabi and I headed out! I got to interview families and water committee members about the water systems -and folks, I did this all by myself :) Etta Projects put in an expansive water systems in four villages a couple of years ago and it was amazing to hear how having clean, accessible water has changed these families' lives! One young mother told me that she used to have to carry gallon after gallon back to her house from the pump -in the blazing heat. I don't know if she took her young children with her or left them at home by themselves but either way, not a good situation. Now, all she has to do is walk out her front door and turn on her facet! So great.
It was soon after this visit that I ran into a man on my way to the next house. Fabi told me she was going to go find the president of the water committee so when this guy approached me, I assumed it was him. And then just in case it wasn't him, I asked him if he was the president of the water committee. He says yes and proceeds to tell me how he's in charge of blah, blah, blah. I'm starting to notice that he has a really strange accent...like he's slurring his words. And I'm thinking, "Shesh, this guy is going to be really hard to understand for a whole interview." But I've had some difficult interviews before so I ask him what he thinks of the water system. He thinks for a moment...and starts talking about my pink hat. Yikes. "Am I really that hard to understand??" At this point, Fabi waves at me to come from farther down the street. So I tell "the president" to hold on for a moment. Fabi tells me he's drunk. And I feel stupid. But HE TOLD ME HE WAS THE PRESIDENT. Gah. So dumb!
After I interviewed the REAL president, it started to rain, really hard. And then there was thunder and lightening and wind. Fabi was worried about us making it back into town. Remember all that dust I talked about earlier? (See here -Oooo look, I got so fancy posting a link!) Well, it turns the roads into the equivalent of butter and our truck has a hard time churning through that stuff. We booked it out of there really fast.
On our way out, two soldiers ran out meet us. And I'm thinking that a Bolivian prison sounds like a miserable experience (although it would be a great blog entry!) but they just want a ride into town. So they hop in the back. "Eeeeexcellent," I think. Not because I enjoy a man in uniform (and shesh, I have a boyfriend people!) but because if we get stuck -they can push us out!
But we didn't get stuck, and we all made it back to town were I ate the best piece of chicken in my entire life. And we all lived happily ever after until the next blog post.
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