Time and people

Cahuita's paved street

Time at home in Canada is highly fragmented. Work consumes an average of 10 hours a day between the office and online at home. Add 90 minutes of commute time, 15 minutes walk to and from the car, a little brushing snow, or buying gas, and exactly half the day is gone. Sleep is 6 hours, online reading, writing, and exploring consumes another couple, showers, meals and life in general a bit more and we are left with maybe 3 hours to work on a project or hobby, play a little, or stare blankly at the TV. We try to squeeze life into the weekends, but with unfinished home projects, unscheduled car repairs, and weather to get in the way – urgent things obviously get priority. Time in Cahuita is like a banana; sweet and neatly divided into thirds. 8 hours sleep, 8 hours work, 8 hours play. The sun rises everyday at 5:30 AM and sets at 6:00 PM so people are up at 5:00 AM, and generally go to bed about 9:00 PM. I’ve adapted to this cycle rather quickly, and with increased exercise and ocean breezes, I find myself sleeping 8 hours for the first time in decades. I divide my 8 hours of play to 4 in the morning and 4 in the evening, and include my 10 minute walking commutes and occasional lunch breaks with my working time – what the heck, I’m a volunteer. Dianne has not locked into this cycle yet and tries to stay up later with limited success. She has more success at sleeping later - which gives me a couple early morning hours for introspection, fresh coffee, and watching nature with Mangy by my side. Including of course, philosophical blogging. Yesterday Ernesto needed to pick up a specialized computer part in Limon. It was difficult to find, and checking one last shop made him miss the bus, so the computer center opened late. In my quest for someone local with a key, I visited with Solo at his house. We talked of music, fishing, family, business opportunities, foods, the jungle, and life in general. I never did find a key, but my experience got a little richer. I’m starting to teach little things to a few people as they get more comfortable with the bearded guy. Fortunately the menu items in Microsoft applications are in the same locations, even if the word at that location is not the usual one. The lack of Spanish is a major handicap for me. However, I’m getting a few words, and most people have a few words of English, so with a bit of effort on both sides we get on. Years of playing with Microsoft applications helps me too. I think yesterday a small boy asked me if I was Santa Claus. I told him “a veces” (sometimes). He asked where my house was, but I have not learned to say North Pole in Spanish yet and he eventually wandered away wondering why Santa is an idiot. Or maybe he was asking a computer question and went away wondering why they let idiots touch expensive machines. Ether way, I’m not looking good here. Spanish lessons, here I come!

A self photo with the OLPC