A Life Made of Moments
My grandmother wrote to me; "Telling you these stories brings them back so vividly. Thank you Chiquini. It makes me wonder what experiences, memories and details will stand out to me in 20 years, 30, 40… I once heard a radio host ask “if you could recover memories you lost would you?” For a minute I was confused… at the time only having about 25 years of memories I was pretty confident I remembered it all. It wasn’t like big chunks of time or major events went uncounted for. I then realized that they were referring to moments. Encounters, exchanges… those little details that make up the entire felt sense of our experience. How we recall the conversations around the dining table, the laughter shared over a campfire, the way someone held us when we needed it the most… those split seconds, the way in which we recall them, feel them and simply remember them… become how we view our life. To have these small, even seemingly unsignificant moments, may be what ends up really mattering in the end.
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Before I move on I just want to go back and talk about Camirri one last time because it really was a very happy place for us. It was a small community set in a warm and tropical part of Bolivia but everyone helped each other and we all got to know each other very well. A lot of fun and new exciting things happened but once we had our first child it just felt a little too small. I don’t think anyone stayed there longer than a few years.
Henry had a lot of laborers that worked for him building the roads. They would invite us to these barbecues that were a lot of fun. What they used to do was go way into the jungle and they would have this pit. I think they used to make the stove out of old gasoline tanks and then they would have deer and pig tied together that would rotate above the fire and they would season them and every so often pour some beer on them. While we waited for the meat to cook there would always be people playing music; maybe a guitar player and I think I remember an accordion player as well. We would snack on potatoes and yuca while we waited and it was just wonderful wonderful times. I am never going to forget them.
There was a little village around there called Choreti and there was a woman there that had this very small restaurant and she would cook some foods from LaPaz there as the food was very different in various areas. I remember taking little Ralph there and having him sit on my lap and going to dinner at this small place. The woman loved Ralph and was so kind. One night we took a jeep there. It was one with no doors but it had a roof over it. We were coming back late from dinner. The roads were not that safe yet going into the villages. So it was dark and kind of choppy when all of a sudden I heard this plop. I looked up and there was this big huge bat that had hit the windshield. It was huge! With its wings spread out it was almost the size of the windshield and you could see its body and the outline of the wings. Every little detail of this poor animal. I started screaming as I was holding Ralph. Henry stopped the jeep and he and the friend that was with us went and pulled the bat off but it was stuck to the windshield. I am just never going to forget that experience. When I said the bats were as big as dogs there, I meant it.
And then I remember another funny time. One of the men that worked on site invited us to his daughter’s wedding as well as the whole little town. The wedding was in this big church and the bride looked extremely young, maybe 14 or 15. She was marrying one of the workers probably in his 20’s but she looked just very young. Well anyways we were invited to their home for a barbecue after the ceremony. We were all sitting down and then all of a sudden the bride started crying and crying. We had no idea why or what was wrong. I guess when they exchanged rings her ring fell off her little finger in the church and she didn’t tell anyone. No one knew until she just couldn’t stop crying. So everyone got into their cars and went back to the church and spread out looking. I don’t even know if we found it or not but I will always remember that sweet little bride just crying and crying because she already lost her ring.
I just wanted to share a few more stories about this little town that was our first home as a growing family.
