Cloudbridge Part 3 - race to complete the dorm, Christmas at Cloudbridge and saving Harriet's bacon

Back at Cloudbridge work to complete the dorm continued, necessitating early starts and late finishes, which all of us volunteers were happy to do, as we all believed in the Cloudbridge ethos and vision.  Work progressed apace, volunteers came and went and the dorm began to take shape.

   

Mixing cement - Brodie, stylishly adhering to health and safety requirements, and super-siever Simon

                                  

Applying the rapallo (stucco) over the wire mesh - look.. walls, spaces for windows, and a roof!

     

View from the front - it looks like a building! (3 weeks to go)

2 of the most experienced volunteers left for a scheduled trip for 2 weeks, leaving us thin on the ground.... But.... We'll get there!  Super Edgar and Oscar, the local workers, were amazingly fast and multi-talented and could work about 10 times as fast as we mere mortals, so no problema!

   

Turbo-charged Edgar, in a rare still moment to pose for a photo

We'd have great fun trying to chat with Edgar, who was very patient and never laughed at our bad Spanish.... He can also spot a monkey or trogon from a huge distance

So, while the others were toiling away on the build, we were working flat out to make the bunk beds from scratch.... 4 singles which could be converted to doubles or bunk beds and 4 other sets of bunk beds.  With the waney wood, freshly cut, wet and wonky, it was a challenge to say the least, plus the glue didn't work... We had nightmares about young geniuses falling in the night from the top bunk to the bottom and it wasn't conducive to a good night's sleep!  Reinforcements to the design were needed, but that would take time......Aaargh

     

Don't do it!  It'll be fine....

    

Looking good, the new glue works.... Yippee!

  

Bed Jenga..... 

it would be difficult to quantify the number of screws Alan used and the number of pieces of timber Anna sanded and varnished, but it was certainly a bloody lot!  Not to mention the nails and screws used on the build etc etc....

                                                      

Eat your heart out, John Lewis!  Place your order now for Christmas 2016

Meanwhile, Christmas was approaching... One Sunday morning we made this Christmas tree from scraps of wood left over from the build.  Minimalist, with bizarre decorations, but a nod to the festive season!  

    

'Snowman' from sawdust under the sanding bench

     

The official Chirripo office Christmas decorations

Harrietgate

Now, one Cloudbridge resident who had no reason to look forward to Christmas was the gorgeous pig, Harriet.

Harriet

Harriet had been purchased as a piglet by a member of Cloudbridge's staff.  She had been bought as 'happy meat' and it was intended to have her slaughtered in time for Christmas dinner and to provide ethically sourced meat for him for some time.

Now, the Cloudbridge ethos is vegetarian, due to the way animals for meat are treated and also the effect of animal husbandry practices on the planet, including wide scale deforestation.   It seemed to us, therefore, an anathema to have a pig on Cloudbridge land to be used as meat and we said so from the beginning.  However, we always knew that Harriet would be Christmas pork, though, being vegetarians, we did not condone it.  Harriet is a real character.  Her large pen is near the bodega, or workshop, near where we sand and varnish the timber and construct the beds, so we spend a lot of time with her.   Every day the volunteers take their kitchen scraps to feed to Harriet.  She loves pineapple, papaya and avocado, but can't abide beetroot or onions.  She also loves human company. When she sees any of us volunteers or staff she rushes up, squealing with excitement and anticipation.  Harriet has her own tickling stick and adores being scratched with it on her back, making happy sounds and rolling onto her side if you hit the right spot.  Everyone loves Harriet.

   

'Mmm... loving the ear-tickling, David, not sure about the headgear, though'

Anyway, one evening after dark, Anna was up in the casita bedroom reading when a knock came at the door.  Alan answered and was told that all the volunteers would be required to leave very early in the morning for the 'old growth' to plant some trees, as 'our friend down the hill would be leaving us'.  It took a while for us to realise the meaning of this.... Harriet was to be slaughtered the next day, 23rd December, and we were to be out of the vicinity due to the horrific noises pigs make when they are killed.  We had hoped that it wasn't going to happen after all, but then reality struck.  The slaughterman was due early the next day.  We decided that if the pig goes, then so do we.  We understood the staff member's desire for meat which had been raised well, with known provenance, but the killing method was to be brutal and.... We would never have volunteered at Cloudbridge had we known that a pet would be killed for meat while we were there.  We told the director that if Harriet is killed, we will leave.  He passed on our feelings to the staff member, who came to see us and explained his reasons.   As a meat-eater, having failed to find ethically raised meat locally, had decided to raise a pig himself and, despite his low income, was willing to pay way more than he would for a pig from a local butcher.  We accepted and lauded this, but stood by our decision to leave if she was killed.  It was finally agreed that Harriet would be spared ....if we would cover the expenses incurred for raising Harriet; the initial cost, her electric fence and battery and her food so far and ....would try to find her a new home.  Meanwhile, the other volunteers had been first been told that Harriet was to be killed next day, then, the next day, that she had been saved, by us.  Those who expressed an opinion sympathised with us, but understood the staff member's point of view and applauded his ethics, so there was a general reluctance to discuss it.  It was an incredibly difficult time, but we were glad that we did it, though daunted by the prospect of finding her a new home, as a PET!  Chicharrones (pork rinds) and other pork products are incredibly popular in Costa Rica!  The director and his wife, both vegetarian, understood our point of view, and especially that the ethos of Cloudbridge was implicated.  We hugely respect the staff member who owned Harriet for recognising this,too, and for acting selflessly and without malice... He showed us no bad feeling, in spite of his obvious disappointment.  Muchas gracias, muchacho.  

      

Blissfully unaware

So, we sent emails to various animal rescue centres, reserves, airbnbs where they have 'petting animals', eco lodges where they keep pigs for bio-gas, local hostels, placed an advert in an online ex-pat magazine in the 'furry friends' section and waited.... But, it was Christmas and nothing was going to happen fast.   Fingers, toes, everything crossed.

Christmas arrived.  We all took Christmas Day as a holiday (well, most of us, see below) and joined several ex-pats for a pot-luck Christmas dinner with a dirty Santa (not as racy as it sounds, just secret Santa, but you can steal other people's gifts - alcohol was a popularly stolen item!).  It was great fun, in a beautiful setting.  It was hard to realise that it was Christmas, sitting there on the terrace in the sunshine, at the long table decorated with pineapples (we snaffled one for Harriet) and watching a coati sneaking about in the shadows, hoping for scraps.

   

Santa Bob - this guy never stops!

      

Cloudbridge gang, on the steps of the soon-to-be dormitory, Christmas Day 2016

                                    

Alan in our casita on Christmas morning, cooking for the pot luck dinner

   

After a delicious Christmas dinner, before dirty Santa (witness the snaffling of the pineapple)

After dinner the Cloudbridge gang trudged, with very happy, full bellies, up the hill back to Cloudbridge, where, fuelled by Amarula, a Bailey's like liqueur won at Dirty Santa, and Paul's 7 year old Flor de Cana rum, which he'd been carting around since Nicaragua, we played the quaint Austrian drinking game of Bang the Nail into the Log with a Pointy Hammer, suggested, and props provided by Frank.  So, by the light of a gloriously bright and big full Christmas moon, one by one we attempted to hit the nail on the head, until the head of our own nail was embedded in the log.  Harder than it sounds, and hilarious... For 2 hours! Previously considerate, mild-mannered volunteers transformed into tyrants in the face of competition... All in all, a good fun Christmas Day... And best of all, Harriet was not the centrepiece on the Christmas table.

So, for this post's recipe, what else.... Nut roast!  (Tom, Cloudbridge Director, brought this to the Christmas potluck and it was the best we'd ever tasted).

Tom's Nut Roast

2 Tbsps oil or margarine

2 large onions

5 cloves garlic

2 cups nuts

1 1/2 cups bread cubes or crumbs, toasted

1 cup stock

salt & pepper

1 tsp nutmeg

2 Tbsps lemon juice

Method

Cook onion and garlic in oil or margarine until tender and remove from heat.

Chop nuts (cashews, almonds, whatever) by hand or food processor,

Cut up bread as well

Add nuts and bread to onion/garlic mixture.

Then add stock, salt, pepper, nutmeg and lemon juice.

Put half of the mixture into a small non-stick loaf pan.

Stuffing

Mix all ingredients together:

3 cups bread toasted, cubes

2 tbsps margarine

1/2-3/4 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped celery

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp marjoram

1/2 tsp sage

3 tbsps parsley

salt

Place stuffing on top of mixture in loaf pan and top with the remaining mixture of nut roast

Place the pan on a baking sheet and bake at 400 for 1/2 hour, or until the top is browned

Let the roast cool for a few minutes then turn the pan over and serve on a plate.

Serve with gravy if desired - keep in mind it is a rich dish.

This time I added a couple of eggs to the nut mixture to help hold it together, then it needed to be in the oven a little longer.

Up next:  a wet New Year, putting the final touches to the dorm (niceties such as windows, doors etc), 16 students full of beans and..... A sad adios to Cloudbridge