Time spent productively when it rains

We've had more rain this week so not many teaching opportunities. However, after the third attempted trip to Federal, we were able get the needed painting supplies before the rains hit too hard to travel.

Below you see a pile of mold growing on the cement. After picking brains at Federal Ferreteria (Federal Hardware store), we found a solution.


We were told to paint the cement floor with this special solution that blocks moisture. After painting with the special solution, we smoothed off some of the bumps with a product called Enduido.


Enduido is similar to drywall mud except its more like plastic when it dries. We kind of like it because it's not so dusty and you aren't required to paint over it if you're putting white over white.

Prior to the treatment, we swept the floor everyday and each time collected piles of mold crystals. Hurrah for fixes because our sweeping muscles are wearing out.

We're back painting again.


The paint rollers here are more like a spiny-finn fish on a stick. The paint trays are regular buckets. We had to get creative to make it work but in the end it was better than a four inch brush on big walls.


Here is our adventura for the week. A picture is worth a thousands words.

Yes, that's a frog in the toilet bowl. No one knows how it got there, but he's big. He got liberated so don't you worry. However, new law of the land here is--never, ever, sit on the toilet without careful observance.

Below is what we found after a heavy rain storm. . . just when we thought we were safe.

Is that a leach in the formal dinning room?

 This is a worm close by under the coffee table.
(Their fate was not in accordance with political correctness, but don't tell anyone.)
Spray foam from Home Depot can't get here soon enough. 

Silver lining in the cloud:
We were off school for 2 days and finally the roads dried enough to take the kids to school which starts at 8:00 AM. At a little after 11:00  the Director of the school called me. She had received a call from the mother of the 4 year old who was worried that it would rain too hard to get the kids home safely if we waited until noon and requested that we immediately bring the kids home. (It's amazing how observant the people are who have spent their whole lives here. They can read the sky like a book.) We loaded the kids in the camionetta (small truck) and rushed them home. As we dropped off the last student, it being Vale the 4 year old, it began to rain. The roads were barely passable by the time we arrived home. It was perfect timing and all turned out well for us.

However, the teachers were not so lucky. After about 10 minutes of traveling home toward Feliciano, the vehicle was sliding all over the road so they told the driver not to go any farther. The teachers called our ranch and requested that they be picked up and returned to the school. We invited them into our home for the afternoon while we waited for the storm to abate and had some good conversations with them.

By late afternoon, the rain subsided, but the roads were still a mess. The teachers spent the night in the guest house next to us. We thought they had the life of luxury since the home is new and beautiful but found out the next day that they had been without power all night with no back-up generator like we have. (The power goes out every time someone sneezes.) The next day late in the afternoon Amy and I drove the teachers to Feliciano. We had a good conversation and they were kept entertained by my (Gregg's) wit and charm.