I have been extremely busy here producing and selling shampoo. On Tuesday I went to the factory with Faynier and had a lot of shampoo, soap, and gel to produce because there was a big order we had to deliver on Wednesday. I got to put the labels on the bottles that day. Woot Woot! I also got to enjoy the heavenly aromas of the soap being made. It smelled like a sweet, fresh dessert and made me want to eat it! I told Faynier this and she said she would not cure my illness if I ate the soap. I guess I will have to stick to using the soap in the shower.
On Wednesday we delivered the products to macrobiotic stores, which are health stores that sell all natural products. Victor, my host father, drove Faynier and me around. We went to a place called Atenas to sell to two stores. This city was about 30 minutes from San Luis, but the climate was extremely different. It was hot, sunny, and humid. It was a nice change from the cool autumn weather in San Luis. The drive was curvy and narrow and Victor was worried I would be scared. But I told him I had driven down the Colorado Mountains in snow and ice and blizzard conditions, so I was fearless. Then we returned to Grecia Central to sell to two more macrobiotic stores. We made bank on Wednesday. Faynier was in a very chipper from all the money she collected!
We then returned to San Luis to rest after all of our sales work. However, on the way up the mountain it began to pour and the windows would not roll up. I was sitting in the back seat in the middle holding cardboard up to block the rain out. Well, obviously this did not work very well, 1. because I don´t have very long arms to stretch across the width of the car, and 2. because cardboard gets quite flimsy when wet. So, using my problem solving skills my intelligent father taught me, I opened my umbrella and held it against the open window. Faynier and Victor got a kick out of this and laughed very hard. I explained to them who Rube Goldberg the inventor was, and that I was using my problem solving techniques like him.
Yesterday we went back to the factory to work some more. This time my duties were expanded. I got to go to “el campo”, the field, and gather the plants and herbs needed to produce a cream for cuticles. The women own 1.5 hectares of land which they have transformed from a coffee plantation to their organic farm. It is lush with the plants and herbs they grow to produce their products. The women also grow guava, avocado, orange, lemon, red berry, and jocote trees on the land. Yesterday I got to indulge in fresh red guava right off the tree. It was pura vida! The women have created an oasis amongst the numerous coffee plantations in San Luis. They continue to impress me every day with the business they have created.
