7 Laundry in the Chicken Yard

After a noisy Matins service and a leisurely breakfast of the ever-present black beans and corn tortillas, I decided to borrow a broom and sweep our little room. I wanted to do it before the heat of the day.  I was surprised to find ashes amid the dust not only in our room but even more in the dirt from the long porch. I didn't think we were close to any volcanoes, but I asked someone about the ashes and was told they are from the burning of sugar cane fields which is done to harvest the sugar.  They said this is done at all times of the year, so the ashes are constantly around.  I was to learn the hard way to check for ashes and soot before sitting in a chair.

Everything at Nueva Concepcion is very lush and green and there are some beautiful plants that Fr. Andres has collected.  He is an expert gardener. The buildings are in various states of disrepair, but the original architecture of the main house is very nice.  Fr Andres designed it himself.

There is a very dusty, dirt yard behind the house with a roofed and chicken-wire-fenced laundry area.  I found it interesting that they let the chickens run loose (we frequently had to shoo them out of the living/dining room), and penned in the laundry to protect it presumably from chicken poop and, I guess, from eggs being laid in the dirty or clean clothes.

Some of the clothes lines are made from barbed wire.  This keeps the socks from blowing off of the line, but also rips holes into the cloth.  I have seen laundry hung to dry on a barbed wire fence before, but this was my first encounter with a barbed wire clothes line.

Two large dogs were kept in kennels since they couldn't be trusted not to bite.  It was unclear whether they had just been penned up temporarily or if they are usually kept that way.  Several peacocks strutted in a pen. Lizards abounded not just in the yard, but sometimes under one's bed...