Hen Games, Exploding Toilets, and Pork Roulette

I don´t know which of these interesting topics from the title to lead with, so I´ll just pick one at random...

1) Exploding Toilets - My house and the family by me share a waste system. It isn´t a septic tank, but it isn´t a cess pool either. It is kind of a ´tweener. Our "waste" flows though pipes to a big hole in the ground with a concrete top. (Note: I can flush toilet paper down the drain which is very uncommon here. Even in the cities) The hole is pretty big and I think that when it fills up, they just dig a new hole. Also, in the top, there is a small hole for a PVC pipe vent. The problem we had was that the pipe broke at the base, so animals and trash could get in. The owner wanted to change the pipe the other days, but there was still some of the broken pipe i the hole. He asked me to help get it out with paper and alcohol by stuffing the pipe with paper and soaking it in booze and then burning it out. I said OK and away we were. I also grabbed a metal rod to pry some of the plastic off. After about 10 minutes and 2 pints of "White Lightning", he took a big whack with the rod and knocked the tube/paper/fire combo down the hole. Then in true "Christmas Vacation" style, the accumulated shit fumes in the hole exploded. I think a stream of vapor and poop shot out the hole, but I can´t be certain because I was running away at that point. Fortunately no one got hurt, and we had a good laugh. Later though (as you may have guessed), I went into my house and was shocked to see a massive spray of water out my bathroom door and across my bedroom floor. The explosion in the shit hole had pushed all the water in the connecting pie out my toilet. Everything was soaked, but a little cleaning (and toothbrush disinfecting) put everything in order.

2) Pork Roulette - I went to a baptism party last Friday night. I didn´t know the kids, but I never turn down a free meal. I got therewith the Mom from my host family at about 10:00 PM. I didn´t know more than ten people there, so there was a lot of staring at the Gringo. We sat down in chairs against the wall in one of the rooms of the house (like everyone else was doing) and waited to eat. My seat was second from the front door, so I got to see every plate that was brought in to the maybe 70 guests. First we had soup. I got a bowl with a chicken neck in it, so I decided to dive in and try something new. It wasn´t bad, but had hardly any meat (Note: Also this week I had cow´s milk straight from the tit). After soup, they served plates with boiled potato, chicken, and pork. They started serving the family first and then the guests in the other rooms. I sat there watching the plates go by and realised they must have had an entire pig out back, because they were serving EVERY part of that swine. A plate of meat, a plate of fat, a plate of skin, then a plate with a hoof. I was pretty hungry, so I was praying to get a good plate. The strangest thing was when I saw them carry in a plate with the snout. I don´t know what snout tastes like, but I can guess. I don´t know maybe getting the snout is like winning the lottery. I´m glad I didn´t get it then, because I´d hate for the other guests to have "snout envy". Anyway, I ended up rolling Double Zero in Pork Roulette and got all fat and a cold, meatless chicken wing...the potatoes were delicious.

3) Hen Games - sorry, I´m running out of time, so I´ll wait till the next post to finish.

Also, my boss this week came to visit. All PCVs get a site visit in the first couple of months. We spent the day talking to people with the different groups I´ll be working with. I was a little worried because it has only been two months since I got here and I haven´t done a lot of stuff. My boss said what I had gotten done (integration and helping out a bit) was great. He also gave me some ideas and talked me up a bunch to the community. I was really hoping that he´d take me out to lunch, but the ladies in the day care invited us to eat. They had pork steaks which was the first time I´ve had them outside of Missouri. Unfortunately, no Maul´s. Damn!