Once again I awaken to the sound of the distant alarm clock.
I am rather amused – later - to discover that it is not an alarm clock at all,
but the sound of the indicator on the school bus, waiting to take the children
to school! The older children leave for school just after six in the morning.
They go to school until lunchtime. After lunch the younger children go to
school, for the afternoon. There is a school building at Betel, that was used for
the younger children until recently, but since the teacher left a few months
ago, the children have had to go to school in Cocalzinho.
When we come out of our house this morning we see an amusing
sight. The ostrich of Betel has to be the most unusual ostrich in the world.
Not only is she far from her African origins; she also has emotions. The
gardener loves her, and he spends time hugging her every day. And she very
obviously loves him too, and likes the hugging.
The girls go off with Emma and Reginaldo to fetch the
horses, and while Reginaldo feeds them, Julie and Kate muck out. Reginaldo is
astonished at the speed with which the girls do the task, and later, at the
house, he tells Ingela about it. I say that they have been well trained by
Kerrin!
No children arrive this morning for a lesson, so Emma asks
the girls please to handle some of the less confident horses. Kate chooses
Branco, who is hard to catch, and Julie works with Tornada, who is afraid of
having her legs touched. This is evident by the length of her hooves; before
the team leaves she will have to have her feet trimmed. And before that can
happen, she has to let people hold her feet!
I am super proud of Kate, when, after 10 minutes or so of
patient approach and retreat, and a little bit of driving game, she is able to
halter Branco without a fuss. One of the boys is watching in surprise. Earlier
he has offered to help Kate catch the horse – and later we discover that the
boys are accustomed to chasing this horse all over the place for a long time
before they manage to catch him. I am glad Kate refused his assistance! Kate
rubs Branco’s neck and then takes the halter off again. Now it is the horse’s
turn to be surprised. I don’t know if he has ever been caught for ‘nothing’
before! He licks and chews and turns to watch her as she walks away. I love it!
After a while she goes back and halters him again. Easily this time.
Almost as we are about to put the horses out for the day,
William arrives for his lesson. Reginaldo takes him aside for a quick session,
but there is no time to do much. William is very keen on horses, and young as
he is, he is competent in walk, trot and canter. Today he does a bit of
groundwork.
Back at our house we have a quick breakfast and then Richard
and Ingela join us for our daily ‘God Time’. Then it is off to lunch. By now I
have realised that rice and beans for lunch and supper is too much for me, so I
have made the decision to skip lunch. I use the time to work on the Portugese
version of the H-Factor Horse Handling book.
We have been adopted by a waif of a cat. Black and white and
extremely persistent, she meows until one of us picks her up, after which she
doses off to sleep in blissful delight. I have not yet met a cat who likes to be
handles this much. I suspect that she is storing up reserves for after we are
gone....
The cat is not the only one who has adopted us. Boys
congregate outside our house, waiting patiently for one or another of us to
come outside. When we do, we are greeted with enthusiasm, and hugged by strong
young bodies.
After lunch the team goes off to do Horse Agility in the
arena with the younger boys. They are so cute! Valdimir catches my attention
with his gentle, focused attitude and his kindness towards his horse. Some of
the other boys are trying so hard that they forget to encourage their horses.
Douglas and Marcos join us again; because they are advanced
they get to ride with the older boys, but this is actually their time slot.
Kate has decided to take on the challenge of climbing the
palm tree to the top. This idea was generated by stories of Kerrin’s (failed) attempt,
years earlier, to climb a coconut palm in Tanzania. I am a little dubious about
all this – the palm trees are very tall and the surface beneath them is rock
hard. But Kate is determined, and I have learned over the years that it is
better to let the children get on with it once they have an idea in their
heads.
We finish our day with another English class. And with a
chat with the older boys on the veranda outside our house before bedtime.
Followed by the usual debriefing session and hugs all around.
No comments:
Post a Comment