Today was a very productive and rewarding day. In terms of all three projects, everything is set in motion. The tomato rain roof is being built, with its bamboo foundation already elevated and filled with concrete. The barrel in the compost tumbler will be made from an old water tank that used to hold 5,000 liters. It's currently being worked on, I'll soon post pictures on the progress. The mushroom box is also getting started in the Engineering department and needs guidance on the right dimensions. It's hopefully going to look like a rectangular bamboo box with a hinged door, and a horizontal shelf throughout the middle for maximum space utilization.
In the afternoon I went to organic garden #2 and noticed the security guard, Soleiman, looking down and literally twiddling his thumbs. He was bored, so I walked up to him and asked if he would like to help me plant corn. He swiftly got up in excitement and cupped both his hands so I can pour some seeds. We found a few spots to randomly plant but all the soil beds seemed to be occupied. However there was one bed full of old pumpkin vines, so we cleaned it out with some help from Gusti. While he was chopping the vines I couldn't help but admire the traditional Sumbanese machete he was using. I jokingly said aloud in Indonesian, "I need one of those!". Gusti said, "Ya, like Sumbanese Warrior!". Gusti pointed to Billy, "Ini dia Parang (This is his sword)". Billy smiled as he helped clean the vines we pulled in order to plant more corn.
The rest of my day continued with germinating the seeds that can't be planted right away, supervising the creation of the second rain roof foundation, and stacking rocks along one side of the pathway to look nice (still more to go). I was pretty tired by the end, but nothing prepared me for the surprise on the way up to my room. Soleiman must have overheard my comment to Gusti, because he was waiting for me with a traditional Sumbanese sword and colorful fabric! I was overwhelmed with joy as he handed me the sword and showed how to use the fabric as a belt. I gave him a big hug, then quickly realized that hugging isn't really a thing in Sumba and he wasn't so prepared for it. He was stiff as a log, so I just shook his hand and kept telling him how happy I was to receive such a generous gift. I asked him what he wanted in return, and after a few seconds of thought he replied in English, "smoking"? I had a gut instinct that a moment for gifts would come, and I particularly knew that most Indonesians love to smoke. While in Bali I bought a few packs of rolling tobacco to bring with me to Sumba, and it really came in handy as I suspected. He was just as surprised to receive tobacco as I was with the sword, and I don't think he expected something in return in the first place, so we both parted ways, extremely happy.
The next morning I head to organic garden #1 and there's Soleiman again. He wasn't on his shift, but told me in Indonesian that he has another piece of fabric for me. What got me really confused is when he said it's in my room. We walked up to my room and outside my door was a bag with a bigger fabric, which he then wrapped me in, along with the second one he gave me earlier. Last was the sword to be tucked in on the side, and right away he stuck his thumbs up and told me to take a picture. I gave him my i-phone, but he was seriously struggling. It was funny though, how the only decent photo accurately describes the moment. The angle is slightly off.
