One of those weeks

Life in the campo is usually calm, peaceful and fun. But sometimes it is none of those.

The last couple of weeks have been busy and stressful.

Firstly I had a visit from a journalist and photographer from the UK Sun newspaper which is read by 6 million people in the UK. They were lovely people and a good time was had by all. I was being interviewed about Sanky Pankies - men who go out with foreign women just for money and the article was published on May 10th. Here is Danilo with the photographer trying out our gym!

There was also a great review of my book in Global Living Magazine in the May edition.

However this is also the beginning of the rainy season which means that it rains every afternoon and whilst it is nice for the garden it is not nice for the house. The house is not built for rain and water comes in through every available crevasse and under every door. Every afternoon I am wandering around with my mop and bucket getting rid of the water. The floor stays clean and dry for minutes and then dogs, cats and people wander in and out with muddy paws and feet. It is enough to drive a woman to drink.

The good thing about the rain is it shuts the bloody cockerels up. The whole neighbourhood is now complaining about the noise which goes on almost 24 hours a day. It appears they belong to the brother of the neighbour, and he  lives in Santiago. His neighbours complained about the noise of his flock of fighting cockerels so he brought them here. I assume he thought that country folk wouldn't complain. Well they have and the brother is being spoken to when he comes tomorrow and will be asked to move them. We will see what happens.

The rainy season also heralds the arrival of the wasps and new nests are springing up all over the place. Here is a handsome wooden statue I have of a bongo player.

And the wasps are even nesting in him!

Luckily they are quite pleasant wasps and only sting if you sit on them or squash them.

And finally, I had to go to the capital last week and when I came back my grey cat, Guerrero, meaning Warrior, was not around. This was not unusual as he often goes walkabout for a few days. However he didn't appear all week, until a couple of nights ago, Danilo yelled at me to go outside. I was working and yelled back that I was busy. So he came to me. In his hand was a stick and stuck on the top was Guerrero's head. I apologise for not having a photo of it, but I am sure you are not too upset about that. It was the first time I have seen a cat's head on a stick and to be honest I would rather not again. No idea how he died or what happened to the rest of him. R.I.P. Now I am down to two full time cats and two part time ones who come and go as they please.

Here's hoping next week will see the departure of the cockerels, a little less rain and no more dead cats on sticks.

Going to the baseball game

Danilo plays baseball for a local team called the Pinchi's. No idea what that means, but he plays every Monday night on the local field as do many of the neighbours. The whole campo goes to watch and this week I went to watch as well.
The baseball field was smaller than I thought it would be but well maintained with a lovely little area for the spectators.

Most of the players are young and fit, but not all.

Before the game started the central sandy area - which probably has a name but I have no idea what it is - had to be smoothed out. I assume the major league teams have a machine for this, but here it was a car driving round and round, dragging a rake and with someone sitting on the rake.

Eventually the game started and it was pretty professional. Everyone knows everyone and the crowd was hilarious aided by copious amounts of alcohol. They screamed insults at everyone and the game kept stopping as the players were collapsing on the floor laughing. Everyone has a nickname as is usual here, so the screams were things like "Guandules (peas) you are getting fatter than an elephant" and too many more for me to remember, nor understand.

The Pinchi's won both games to the delight of the crowd.

A good night was had by all.

However my neighbours have decided to take cock fighting more seriously and have bought 15 fighting cocks.  Due to the noise they make they have housed them as far away from their house as they can - which means they are right next to my house. So far only 6 have been installed in their cages and another nine are en route. They crow all day long and only stop when it rains.

Neighbour assures me I will get used to the crowing. I assure him I won't.