Our last weekend in the feria had a strong feeling of return
for me. As with our first weekend, I started out in El Monte, with the
lettuces, leeks, green onions, and cilantro. As then, I woke incredibly
early to be ready to work by 5:45 in the morning. As then, there were
crowds of people, many of them with questions, and a system for selling
vegetables that is very different from the one I know at OFC.
In
many ways, this weekend was a return for me, but exactly because of its
similarity, I was able to notice some huge changes that have been in
process during my time here.
1. It was easy to
get out of bed, both Friday and Saturday morning at 4:30. Friday night,
I had no problem going to sleep by 9:00. The rhythms of Cooperative
life and the fact that people tend to stay in at night have become more
and more natural for me. So much so that when I woke up at 7:45 on a
non-feria day this week, I caught myself thinking holy crap is it ever late!
2. Instead of wanting to hide behind piles of
lettuce and put my head down to work, I got to be fully present with
shoppers and co-workers this weekend, greeting people, sharing ideas for
food preparation, directing them to other parts of the feria as
needed. Partly, this is because my Spanish has improved, but it is also
because I'm so much more comfortable with the the place in general.
After several weeks of following other people's example, I know, more or
less, what's expected of me in areas like El Monte. I am even beginning
to develop some of my own opinions about how I like the work to be
done--I prefer, for example, to clean beneath the vegetables before
stocking new ones, and keep the displays trim and tidy to avoid too much breakage and loss as people search for just the right bunch of cebollin.Don't
get me wrong, I still have to ask people to repeat themselves often,
and there are times I am still totally lost, but for the most part, with
a little patience on the part of my conversation partner, I can figure
out what's going on.
3. Not only have we learned an amazing amount
while working here, as I prepare to leave next Wednesday, I have been
thinking a lot about the friends I'm going to miss. The people of
Cecosesola are so warm, so dedicated, I feel truly honored to have spent
this time with them. And I am so looking forward to sharing our Co-op
and the place with live with them, through the visit of Ricardo, Jesus,
Sneida and Javier. Not to mention sharing my amazing co-workers at OFC
with them and vice versa. I have actually been daydreaming (and Ale and
I have been talking a lot) about presentations in collective meetings
about Cecosesola. That's how inspired/ nerdy we are.
The
days are counting down to my departure, but you can expect a few more
blog posts before I fly out on Wednesday. (From Barquisimeto to
Caracas...then I'll be spending the night in the airport and leaving in
the morning, so wish me good flourescently-lit dreams). First, Ale will
be posting soon about Senarre and confianza, and I'd like to do a short interview and photo shoot with each of the companeros who will be visiting in May before I leave.
More photos tomorrow...
No comments:
Post a Comment