work hard play harder.

and so it was: the last day of work at joyland. The day started later than usual i after the two days work there before my body was hurting and my mind tired and run down. Although i woke up with a new positivity for the day convinced it would be finished on this day and so it was.

We finished our hands cut but the ground cleared, blisters on my blisters but hard work no longer feared.

We finished with happy faces as we walked back over all the piles of grass and rain forest. We had worked so hard at with machetes and bare hands over the previous weeks. We laughed and smiled all the way back to the van my hands shaking red raw. We piled back in i took the front with mel, we joked the way we always do mostly using gestures and noises. Laughing as we watched the boys be thrown about in the back as we sailed over rough terrain. A knock at the window signaled the boys wanted to stop we looked round with puzzled faces. They ran out of the back i looked through the tiny 5x5 window until they came back into view. They were carrying three huge sticks of sugar cane each easily as tall as me. They threw them back in the cab as well as themselves and we set off back down the less traveled road. The boys set to work with the machetes stripping down the cane in the back. When we got back onto the main road and there was a knock at the window i looked into the back. They signaled for me to too reach round and get some they had stripped for me. So there i was leaning half my body out the side window and grabbing sugar cane from the back of the jeep. I sat the whole way back to daccutan Biting large chunks out of it and chewing it with a big smile. When we got back to daccutan a couple of the boys were waiting for the 6 of us. They had clams and fish they had caught that morning. Two of the biggest plates of rice i had ever seen in my life (and thats saying something) sat on the table. So we ate and joked all weary from the morning, but the food brought back the colour to faces and kept the smiles solidly where they were. Indang put two chillies on my plate, I smiled liking chili and thinking they wouldn't be too hot if she was offering them too me. Convinced i could handle chilies anyway. Well apparently i couldn't and from Indangs wicked laughter she knew i wouldn't either, as she placed three in her mouth and chewed them completely unphased. I knew then i was no match in this iron mouth comp and shoved as much rice in my mouth as i could to dull the heat.

Once the food had settled and the boys were washed i invited them back to the subdivision to have some driving lessons from mel. They were more than eager and so we said our goodbyes to Indang and several of the kids who had been hanging around. Gathered ourselves and headed home.
Once i was showered i watched the boys shakily set behind the wheel nervously chugging down the road outside the house. I watched the face of fear from mel as he sat along side them one by one. Fortunately the cab didn't end up in a ditch or wrapped around a tree. I think they stopped before this luck ran out knowing it was only a matter of time and asked if we could play basketball. I replied ofcourse and said i would pay for the court at the clubhouse. They refused deciding it would probably be too expensive so they wandered off, they came back with various bits of wood and some old hoop that they borrowed from over the road. Half an hour later they are up in a tree nailing in the basketball hoop they just made. Brace, backboard the lot. That was probablly the most rewarding basketball game of my life, even if it was stopped by rain. It just shows how they have learnt to be so resourceful and that you don't need money when you can find a few bits of wood and a hammer.
I wish i could be even half as fearless as they are hanging out of trees with ease. It reminds me of a couple weeks ago, when someone had left the screen door open. A snake had crawled in i hadn't noticed it, but the next thing i know i turn round to see mel with a flip flop in his hand and batting a snake on the head. He then carried this ex venomous reptile around the house for the next half an hour as a trophy. It doesn't get much more fearless and resourceful than that!

it has been a rewarding day and a perfect balance of work and play. One that will send me to sleep happy.