Day 30

I remember the night before we left for Iguazu my tent smelled like feet as I climbed into it. Last night, as I returned to it for the first time in four days, it smelled like chocolate. I guess the time apart must have done us some good.
It's nice to be near the river, back in the calm again. Somehow the water is always the perfect temperature, no matter what the day is like. If I'm hot, the stream is cold and refreshing and coolse down as soon as I dip my feet in. If it's cold out, the stream is warm. I always feel refreshed standing in the water, and worry that dunking will make me cold, but I let myself fall in anyway. As soon as my body hits the water I turn over and dunk under the surface. I'm always surprised at how perfectly comfortable the water feels. It's blissful, yet every time I still worry that it will be cold. The mind plays funny tricks.

The yeast sponge for our bread today... I've been having fun teaching others how we make bread here!Today we're all getting to know each other a bit more, and I'm excited to see how our group dynamic shifts over time. Everyone is sweet and interesting, and between us we have lots of skills to share, which is always exciting.

Here's some iron trapped in one of our baked bricks:
Our beautiful cloud show before sunset today:
Marcelo took those of us that are returning to start on a new project today: we're building a stem wall around the base of their house. The bottom is made of baked clay bricks and cement so that it will act as a moisture barrier to prevent water from wicking up the foundation into the walls of the house after we pack them with mud. It was a pretty mellow day, which was the perfect way to transition back into life on the farm after our busy weekend away. Gosh, it's good to be home!