I dreamt last night of going back to my high school and being unable to recall my locker combination. These dreams are always frustrating because they bring back the days of trying to remember my combination after a long break from school. Honestly, combination locks still give me that sense of anxious frustration today.
Not that this dream had anything at all to do with my second day of work here in rural Chile. The opposite actually—this is probably the most stress-free position I’ve ever held. Not that it’s a traditional job in the sense of getting paid. The work is hard, but it’s straightforward and consistent. I don’t feel like I’m being judged for performance along the way.
Today, we weeded all day, again, though in a different setting. This time, we were freeing hawthorne saplings from dense and tangled masses that had taken over their fence-adjacent territory. I swear I’ll get over my issue with spiders here (yes, I’m afraid of everything). I’m already getting used to the sensation of constantly having a layer of bugs crawling on my legs.
I’ve been listening to the audiobook of Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond during the days. It’s a book I’ve been meaning to read for a while, so it works out that I have plenty of time to listen while I work. It’s also quite topical, given that huge sections of the book concern why agriculture arose in particular geographical regions, along with a big focus on why Europeans were able to conquer the New World. Of course, this delves deeply into the topic of the Spanish conquest of the Incan Empire, which has been a constantly present subject throughout my travels in South America. Throughout my studies, I always had such an interest in human evolution and the progression of societies and civilization, so it’s very cool to read about (well, hear about) why certain things happened the way they did, rather than just what happened.
On another note, we got some groceries today! Our host picked us up plenty of vegetables, a ton of oatmeal, and a few more bags of pasta (we already have a ton, but I suppose you can never have too much?). So, we were able to cook up some roast potatoes, carrots, green beans, and onions for supper. It’s nice to eat something other than noodles.
So ends day two of work. I’ve got dirt under my nails that won’t come loose, even though I was wearing gloves all day. I feel sore like I’ve been doing squats all day. But, I’m feeling more positive about things than I have in weeks. Hopefully, that’s a good sign.
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