bowl number 37

Sundays we don’t have to work so after breakfast, Otoniel and I were even less in a hurry than usual to finish our coffee. We somehow got started talking about politics. It was awesome. I got such a great perspective from him. We talked all about agriculture and land ownership and government regulation and his childhood and the differences between how things were then and how they are now. We had both very similar opinions and also very different perspectives. When you are studying all of these things from a book, everything seems pretty straight-forward. I go the opportunity to here complaints and questions from the actual people that are living these lives and depending on these resources and being affected by these policies. I got to ask genuine questions, bring up points that countered his points and also got a lot of really good answers to some of the objections that I raised. We both have respect for the other person. Neither one of us viewed it as an argument because neither one of us was out to “win.” We were just having a good time venting our own frustrations about a common problem and enjoying bouncing our ideas off of each other to see what the other had to say.
I spent most of the morning killing time down at the eco-lodge. Alex and all of the naturalists and I just sat around and hung out, played Frisbee for a little while. It is fun getting to know al of them. Alex and Scott and I decided to go on a short run, so I went back to the house to change clothes. Marlen (Otoniel and Alicia’s oldest daughter) and her daughter Catalina were at the house when I arrived. I was excited to see them but they thought they would be leaving by about three which was right around when I would be getting back fro my run. I had lunch with them and got to visit for a little while before leaving. Our run was pretty short but really hilly and it was raining the whole time, which actually felt really nice. I did all right considering I was running with two guys that were in good shape but I had to stop at the lodge when we turned around and they kept going for a little longer. By the time I got back to the lodge, Geovanny was getting off of work and asked me if I wanted a ride back. I told him Marlen and Catalina had been there and might still be there when we got back. When we pulled up to the house it was fuuuull of people. Celimo (Marlen’s husband) and the rest of their children were there, plus Otoniel, Alicia, Lilian, and Julio. Including Geovanny and me, there were 13 people at the little house. It was a lot of fun to get to see all of them. I wasn’t sure when I was going to make it up to their house. I am never really sure if I will have anything to do on Sundays, but I got to talk politics, get to know the naturalists better, go on a run and visit with “family.”