Waiting in line

Oh, how funny! A shortage of diesel in Alberta! We love it!

It is November and it is time to harvest the soy and seed the rice. That means diesel! As many of you know, there was a complete shut down of deliveries of diesel, especially to more rural areas, during September. One the 'incidents' had died down, every returned to normal but there still is a great diesel shortage.

Our little truck uses diesel. We went into Yapacani, hoping that there would be diesel. We had some in a jerry can but things were getting pretty tight. It seems like one gas station would have diesel and one had to listen around town to find out which station would be open that night. Km. 9 was the station so off we went. Teodoro and Geraldo were already in line. Teodoro brought 4 - 200 liter barrels to the station at 8 a.m. and was waiting for the station to start pumping at 7. He thought we would have diesel by 8 or maybe a little later. Both he and Geraldo would have to be there when they were pumping since there was a limit of 2 barrels per person. Many of the people had brought their containers or their vehicles and left them in line. Everyone took turns watching each other's containers. Jake returned at 9 p.m. No diesel.

The next morning we went again to the station to find Teodoro and Geraldo still waiting in line. What do we do? Go to Santa Cruz and chance getting diesel there? We had a friend coming through that said there were station pumpind diesel in Montero, midway between Yapacani and Montero. We decided to try it. If nothing else, we could leave the truck at our friend in Montero and take a taxi to Santa Cruz. When we came to Montero, the wife of Zenon Flores graciously sold us their jerry can of diesel so that we could make the trip. When we returned in the evening we visited with them and they urged us to take their remaining diesel also, saying that they lived in town and were able to get diesel much easier than we could. What great friends! With that diesel we were able to get back to Patujusal (we would have to spend the night waiting in line of we wanted more) and then again to Yapacani.

We bought two barrels -- one had a crack in it -- but we now have one barrel of diesel. It took waiting two nights in line, a couple of hours each time, to get the barrels and the truck filled but we feel comfortable that we have enough for a couple of months.

And Teodoro? He got his 4 barrels that night and returned to buy more the next night. They are stockpiling so that they will have diesel for their tractor but they use 1 barrel each day.

Another Good Crop

Another harvest season is complete. The second soy crop appears to be better than last year, with yields of 2 to 3 tonnes per hectare. Although the price has weakened, our neighbours were still able to profit from their investment. They are paying back their short term loans and are investing their money in the clearing of more land.

When we reflect over the past couple of years we see many changes, the greatest being the amount of land that is being cleared for the mechanized production of rice and soy. Last spring most of the families in the community acquired a motorcycle, some purchased houses in Yapacani, one purchased a truck, and two purchased tractors.

Sad to say, the truck was not a good investment since the motor quit soon after purchase and Mario does not have the extra $1000 to fix it. He maxed out his loans with us so we were not willing to advance any more money. He will wait until he gets the profits from his soy, then fix the truck. His wife wanted to buy a house rather than the truck; I think she will have to wait another year for her house.

The two tractors in the community have relieved the tension over lack of equipment for planting and harvesting. Tomas and his sons purchased a new New Holland tractor with a sprayer and disk in the spring. Teodoro, his son, did custom disking and spraying this year. They have now added a seeder to their line of equipment and hope to add a different type of disk and a chimungo, a wagon for hauling rice and soy from the field. We have noticed the tractor hauling people out of the mud also!

It is good to see progress. We know that with progress comes problems but that is all part of the challenge.

Pink eye, Red Eye, Purple Eye

On Sunday morning my eye was very itchy but not bad enough to stay home from church. During the afternoon, it became redder and it felt as though there was something in it. I had spent some time sanding and had come upon termite nests so thought that maybe a small piece of termite dung settled in the eye and that it would soon disappear. My glands were starting to swell and I was having difficult swallowing. Why not just one thing at a time?

We already planned to go to Santa Cruz on Wednesday and while there I would pick up some medication. There was no reason to do to the doctor. I could buy antibiotic drops and Cipro for the swollen glands. Back home again, happy that things would improve.

But they didn’t -- they got worse!

Friday morning at 5 o’clock I told Jake that I thought my other eye was becoming infected. Remember, we do not have ‘normal’ electricity and I do not have many mirrors in the house. But when I looked – WOW! The whole eye ball was the color of the little red truck – and the eye lid as well! I guess the drops did not work. So back to Santa Cruz and this time to a doctor.

We went to the Eye Hospital, paid our 200 bolivianos ($29.00) for a consultation and waited. The actual consult was short – very short – less than 5 minutes. I was told that I had a very bad case of bacterial conjunctivitis (pink eye), that it was very contagious, that I should not shake hands nor kiss anyone, that I continue taking the drops but use one drop in each eye every two hours, and that I come back in a week.

(In retrospect, I am sure that I got the conjunctivitis from the little neighbour boy. A number of small children, ages 1-2 years, develop eye infections at this time of year. Why only now and not all year long?)

I looked at my eye in the mirror of the truck. Why do you forget the camera when you need it! The eye was changing color once again. It appeared that I had applied a thick layer of purple eye liner and accented it with yellowy-orange eye shadow. In addition, there was a purple mark along the side of the nose and another one arching upwards. Poor make up job or Jake hit me in the eye!

We were home 13 hours after leaving in the morning and I continued with the medication. Within another day the worst of it was over. The eye is still very tender and becomes sore with the salty sweat that flows down my face in the wonderful plus 30 degree weather. It is still ugly but I don’t think I am going to spend 10 hours driving back and forth to Santa Cruz to be told that it is healing.