ouAs part of the Mother Superior’s on-going trip to Bolivia, all the nuns from the convent, the other house and the Hogar have gone on a “retiro” (retreat) to Cochabamba. Yesterday (Saturday) the one Madre left to look after the Hogar went with two volunteers to Samaipata. The long and short of that is none of the hierarchy above me was at the Hogar yesterday and I, for one day, was left in charge…
Saturday mornings the girls all help to clean the Hogar, which, on the whole, they all did without too much fuss. At one point we had a power cut and we ran out of gas in the kitchen, but apart from that the morning went relatively smoothly. We had a game of basketball which brought us to lunchtime. After lunch a storm came and so we put on a film for the girls to watch inside. All fine so far.
But then the cow died.
The Hogar’s back garden is essentially a mini-farm in which the gardener grows vegetables (such as cabbage and lettuce) and fruits. Animals are also kept, including some pigs, ducks, geese, a particularly mean turkey, some dogs, and, until yesterday, one cow.
And so yesterday afternoon, while I was in the office, girls start coming in and telling me that the cow’s kicked the proverbial bucket. I check it out for myself and conclude that it is (on its back, legs in the air) quite dead. I call the gardener and get him to come and sort it out.
The next thing I know, the cow is cut up and newly arranged on the floor of the food store room. After that, the next thing I know is that a group of 6-10 year olds are wandering round the Hogar holding various bovine inner body parts. It wasn’t a particularly pleasant sight. Nor was it a particularly pleasant smell.
To cut a long story short, everything was bagged up and put in the freezer. I insisted that all the girls wash their hands thoroughly will all the lemons and soap that we could find... Everyone was joking that the cow had deliberately waited until I was in charge to pop its clogs. Anyway, the rest of the day passed without incident and in the evening the Madre and the other volunteers arrived back from their trip.
And I guess tomorrow we’ll be having steak for dinner… ;-)
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2 comments:
This anecdote could easily be turned into a bovine equivalent of the seminal "parrot sketch", especially with liberal use of euphemistic phrases like "kick the bucket" and "pop its clogs".
I'm sure in hindsight the image of a cow on its back with its legs in the air will prove quite hilarious. Not that I endorse animal cruelty or owt...
We were joking when we said " steak tomrrow then " but waste not want not. How much do new cows cost?
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