Not a whole lot new to report from this end of the world. Hugo did some work on our pump and discovered that the pipe to the pump was plugged with some rocks and sand. Nice… So now it seems to be working fine and we’ve had a full tank of water today. It also rained today, although not a lot.
Yesterday I went to visit our old tutor again. Recently she adopted the baby of a relative. The parents of the baby, a girl, already have a one year old child and don’t feel that they are able to care for another baby at this time. Since no one else wanted this child, Ibu Nining has adopted her. It is so sad. I don’t know any of the other details about the child’s parents. Maybe they are desperately poor, I don’t know. Maybe I will find out later. In the meantime this adorable little girl has a place to call home and a woman to mother her.
There are definite “rules” here about what to do and what not to do in certain situations. For example, when someone is sick, do not take flowers, take money and maybe food. It is also considered taboo to give baby clothes to an expectant mother. I did this last month… I gave our neighbour lady an outfit for the baby that she is expecting. Although I did say that it was an outfit that the baby could wear in the hospital or for when she comes home. I think they know that sometimes we westerners do this sort of thing. The rules for visiting a woman who has had a baby are the same as above, money, not flowers. This is because hospital costs here are very high. No such thing as government run medicare or insurance. Only those who work for the government get a card that gives them 50% off hospital costs. And only those who are wealthy can afford any kind of insurance.