ciego; godson
22 October 2006
the blind boy who is home for the weekend from school came over with his mom to talk to me this morning. he showed me his notebook of readings and writings in brail, which also included pictures he drew with the brail puncture pen thing. he was constantly using his hands, feeling things over and over. he told me he has a bright yellow light in the center of his vision that bothers him and won´t go away. also he had a loud noise in his ears when he´s feeling nervioso, and his hearing in one ear if very bad. i asked him how he knew the bright light was yellow if he couldn´t see other colors. he told me that one night a few months ago, with his eyes up to the sky, he saw all the colors. but also he wasn´t blind until he was 12 or 13 when he gradually lost his entire vision. it was difficult trying to inspire him while assuming he would never again regain his vision. he asked me how he could get the bright light away. i talked to him about ways of staying tranquilo so the sound in his ear wouldn´t bother him. he likes building things with his hands. he likes doing carpentry. and he wants to play the electric organ. i suggested sculpture. i gave him some incense. he asked me when i was going to come to his school in puno. he wants to learn english but doesn´t have the time. i told him another volunteer is coming here in december to teach english, when he has a break from school. he is very excited. diner is his name. he´s 16. he´s one of the kindest people i´ve ever met.
i then walked across the village to visit jose araca and family. i will be the godfather of his new baby. we were deciding on names. on thursday they´re going to the hospital to make it official. they knew they liked yosef but wanted another name beginning with R. they were thinking about renso but weren´t sure. i left and made a list of R names i like, including rumi, ravi, rafael... they looked through the list but none of them stuck. i suggested renzo with a Z. they kept repeating yosef-renzo over and over. i said it was perfect. they seemed to like it, and i liked it because they had chosen it originally, the renso part. but they wanted a third name so the boy would be distinguished from all others. the mother wanted gabriel. they want me to return to baptize him in 6 years. it´s possible. the baby´s name is yosef renzo gabriel araca aguilar. my godson.
later in the day i was walking to hugo´s house when i witnessed the birth of a calf. the mother continued to lick the ground where juices had fallen, while the human family struggled to keep the newborn calf steady.
hugo rode up to me on his motorcycle and we took a safe 10 minute ride to a river and some big rocks, including machinaccacca, a big rock that looks like a machine, a barco or a locomotive. on the way back hugo was excited to find both a rope used to pull cows around and a hubcap, for his future car that he says he´ll have by the time i return in 6 years.
now it´s raining peacefully and yoni´s using my poncho to bring in the cows from the field. i would normally help but i´ve been a little sick the past 2 days, and the family wants me to take care of myself. and i´m writing to you, my devoted reader.
the blind boy who is home for the weekend from school came over with his mom to talk to me this morning. he showed me his notebook of readings and writings in brail, which also included pictures he drew with the brail puncture pen thing. he was constantly using his hands, feeling things over and over. he told me he has a bright yellow light in the center of his vision that bothers him and won´t go away. also he had a loud noise in his ears when he´s feeling nervioso, and his hearing in one ear if very bad. i asked him how he knew the bright light was yellow if he couldn´t see other colors. he told me that one night a few months ago, with his eyes up to the sky, he saw all the colors. but also he wasn´t blind until he was 12 or 13 when he gradually lost his entire vision. it was difficult trying to inspire him while assuming he would never again regain his vision. he asked me how he could get the bright light away. i talked to him about ways of staying tranquilo so the sound in his ear wouldn´t bother him. he likes building things with his hands. he likes doing carpentry. and he wants to play the electric organ. i suggested sculpture. i gave him some incense. he asked me when i was going to come to his school in puno. he wants to learn english but doesn´t have the time. i told him another volunteer is coming here in december to teach english, when he has a break from school. he is very excited. diner is his name. he´s 16. he´s one of the kindest people i´ve ever met.
i then walked across the village to visit jose araca and family. i will be the godfather of his new baby. we were deciding on names. on thursday they´re going to the hospital to make it official. they knew they liked yosef but wanted another name beginning with R. they were thinking about renso but weren´t sure. i left and made a list of R names i like, including rumi, ravi, rafael... they looked through the list but none of them stuck. i suggested renzo with a Z. they kept repeating yosef-renzo over and over. i said it was perfect. they seemed to like it, and i liked it because they had chosen it originally, the renso part. but they wanted a third name so the boy would be distinguished from all others. the mother wanted gabriel. they want me to return to baptize him in 6 years. it´s possible. the baby´s name is yosef renzo gabriel araca aguilar. my godson.
later in the day i was walking to hugo´s house when i witnessed the birth of a calf. the mother continued to lick the ground where juices had fallen, while the human family struggled to keep the newborn calf steady.
hugo rode up to me on his motorcycle and we took a safe 10 minute ride to a river and some big rocks, including machinaccacca, a big rock that looks like a machine, a barco or a locomotive. on the way back hugo was excited to find both a rope used to pull cows around and a hubcap, for his future car that he says he´ll have by the time i return in 6 years.
now it´s raining peacefully and yoni´s using my poncho to bring in the cows from the field. i would normally help but i´ve been a little sick the past 2 days, and the family wants me to take care of myself. and i´m writing to you, my devoted reader.
posted by Gabriel Klapman | 6:29 AM
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