We are off to the town of Villa Allende to help in an elder care day stay. Our bus drops us off in the township and Ellie guided us to our place of “work”for the next few days. I was expecting to find a bunch of decrepit old people struggling to get around. Instead I found a bunch of people, many younger than me happily sitting found four tables chatting, playing cards or doing handicrafts. When Ellie walked in they were all so happy to see her and once we went round and introduced ourselves they were equally as welcoming towards us as well. The majority were able bodied, and appeared to be of well mind, but it was right cheek kisses all round and hugs from them all. We were able to interact with them in whichever way worked for us. Out of the four of us I knew the least Spanish but that didn’t stop me sharing photos of Mom and all the little kids in my life. They were amazed that I was old enough to have grand nephews as old as I do and were blown away when I told them that Mom was 92, even more amazed when I showed them that she could touch her toes.
Soon some entertainment arrived in the door in the form of a female guitarist who did a singalong with them. I don’t sing but boogying to the music was fun and it was great to see the olds getting in to it so well. I took video’s and showed them later and could see the intrigue on their faces.
Their lunch was served so we were free to go, so time for a short walk to drop my laundry off. I had intended going for a long walk and checking out the township but Marcelena, one of the women on the project wanted to come too and I know she doesn’t like walking so we just headed for the main street to catch the bus. Eventually I thought we may have been going the wrong way so we turned back and waited at the bus stop we were at yesterday. There are a myriad of bus lines servicing the area. There are municipal busses, appropriately numbered with real bus stops, and then all the other lines stop at their own designated stops which are unmarked. So unless you specifically know that there is a stop in a particular place you’d never know where to wait. Talk about insane.
Anyway our bus arrived, we made it home and I went for a walk to the bakery to get some lunch. Dulche de leche croissant, and a crusty, crunchy, fluffy centre baguette. Oh yummm...
There was nothing to do in the afternoon. Saldan has plenty of houses, so not exactly village size, but the amenities are pretty scarce. I was hoping for a village with a cafe at least to go sit at and meet locals.
It does have a ‘supermarket’, which I visited today: 1 small jar instant coffee, jar of jam, 1litre coke, packet of herb tea, packet of cracker biscuits and two 750ml bottles of wine came to a total of $NZ16.56. The wine was $3.20 a bottle and damn good stuff too.
Other than the ‘supermarket’ there are a few corner variety shops, a couple of bakeries, vege shop, ice cream shop and a couple of shoe/clothing shops. If you want anything more you have to go to Villa Allende about 6k away. I’d have loved to be staying there, quite a lot bigger and it has more of a heart. But, oh well, its only for a few days and the good thing is that it is pretty peaceful here. A blessing but it would be good to have somewhere to go exploring especially at night.
Dinner again was superb; this time delicious vegetable soup with chicken schnitzel and salad. Senor Jose is a gem. We had our dance class tonight at 10pm. I thought we were going to do some salsa dancing but it turned out to be zumba and heaps of fun but not what you need late at night when ready for bed. Anyway it was fun and woke me up so there was no way I was going to bed afterwards.
Senor Jose sat and we had a very deep conversation till quite late. Remember he doesn’t speak English, I don’t speak Spanish but we agreed on nearly everything and solved so many international issues. The world will be a better place after that discussion. I’m so pleased.
Wednesday started very much like the day before. Breakfast, bus, elderly persons day care. The olds (most younger than me) were pleased to see us come back and it was hugs and kisses all round. Their activity today was a bit of dance and some exercises that we joined in with, and then we helped with some of the hand crafts. It doesn’t seem that we do anything but apparently the olds love us all coming in, even if like me we can’t communicate. I guess on that basis it is worth it and for the younger volunteers an amazing experience for them if they put the effort in, like most things you only get out what you put in.
Our stint over, I went to get my laundry which wasn’t ready so will have to wait for tomorrow, but I did enjoy a long walk which felt so good after so long without any exercise. There wasn’t very much to explore, just mainly residential housing. The town like Saldan didn’t seem to have a central place where people congregate so there wasn’t anywhere to go and people watch. It was pretty much deserted. I was going to do some shopping but had forgotten that everything closes between 1pm and 5pm for siesta, so that was the end of shopping, but I did find somewhere open for lunch; Dish of the day - Nona’s roast chicken with ravioli (which weren’t anything more than doughballs) and a coke (plus desert if I wanted it) for the princely sum of $6. Filled a gap nicely. The peace and quiet for that couple of hours was heaven and it renewed my energy. It changed once I got home (Remember, there’s always one!) but I managed to find a haven in my room and took the opportunity to repack my bag. Im so glad I paid extra for a single room otherwise I would be in a bunk bed in a room with young girls, who are all lovely but!
The place is pretty basic but has all the necessities. My room has bunks but earlier on when I bumped into the top on and it moved I realised that they weren’t bunks but two bed sitting atop one another! Ha ha. It’s certainly more luxurious than my volunteer digs in Kenya. Here there is an inside loo that flushes and there is a shower that with a new head (to stop the water spewing in every direction) would be great.
Peace was interrupted by the call for our Spanish classes. I suggested that I give them a miss considering I would only be here for a week - time for two lessons - and had already done the basics which did not help me for the travel spanish that I wanted. But the teacher thought it would be a good idea (I do have to pay for them) so I went along. We did cover much of the stuff I have done before but it was quite useful as it reinforced some of what I had been taught and forgotten and was something to fill in the evening.
Again the highlight of the day was our dinner. Senor Jose had made another delicious soup and an ever so yum lentil and beef dish. Scrummy and healthy. Thanks Senor.
Ellie and I solved some of the worlds problems before we called it a night. A lovely and restful day. At least I will be suitably rested and chilled by the time I get to the falls in a couple of days.
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