he is our young enthusiastic gardener.
today he showed up at our door in the pouring rain to plant the plants that we had been gathering throughout the week.
i looked at him and said no no no.. mucho lluvia!!
but he wouldn't be deterred. i said i wasn't going out in the rain ( i mean it was really pouring, plus i was still in my PJ's)
he looked at me and said, mui frio (sooo cold) all he had on was a thin tshirt so bob showed up holding his rainjacket for him to use. he was thrilled!!
so here is a photo of carlos posing in the garden. he did a great job. the plants are a little too linear for my liking but that is what i get for not going out to help i guess!! once i am able to bend and lift i will probably rearrange some of the plants as i really don't like the look of a straight line type of garden. i like it to be like a jungle and hey i am in the right place for that!! most gardeners in roatan are really merely 'rakers' unless someone teaches them. i have chosen to teach carlos everything i know about gardening. he is a very quick learner.
yesterday he showed up with a bucket full of plants and when i questioned where he got them he just smiled sheepishly. lesson #2: teach him not to steal!! but alas, i admit.. we used them in the garden!
most of the plants we gathered from the adjacent property (owned by the same people we rent from but no house is on there so it has become quite overgrown). i went for a walk with him yesterday pointing out plants that i thought would be good for the garden. it is interesting here in roatan because you can just put the cutting right in the ground (no roots) and amazingly enough it grows!!!
every friday afternoon i teach carlos english. it is a treat for him to come indoors. i offered to feed him lunch which he resisted but i presisted and guess who won? now we both enjoy sharing a meal together before we start the lessons. it is funny because i am not really very organized and i never imagined myself teaching english but it seems natural to do with him. for now we are working on nouns, common phrases and the alphabet. there are certain sounds that are almost impossible for him to make: the 'th' sound is really hard for him. he always says 's'. but he is determined and i know that he will get it over time. i told him to not worry about it but just to be a 'parrot' and mimic me. that seemed to help alot. i have trouble with the double r sound, and the double ll sound. so we are both learning equally.
as he was leaving for the day he came by to give bob his jacket and to say goodbye. i meandered through the garden and admired his work then i said, 'okey dokey hasta manana' he laughed and said, como (what?!) then i realized that okey dokey probably isn't a good thing to teach him. i said it was another word for okay. but i just couldn't resist and said "okey dokey smokey" and in that beautiful accent that i love he haltingly said, "okey dokey smokey" too funny. i heard him muttering it to himself. i think of all that i taught him today that perhaps that was his favorite expression!!
i can just imagine him using that expression tonight with his friends in the colonia.
never a dull moment around here.
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