I have been an awful blogger recently. I am so sorry for that. One very short post, about roosters, is all I have written in the past 2 months. That is pitiful. I guess I've been focusing on and counting down until...I GO HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I of course have been working and playing a lot, but I've mainly been thinking about home. I dream of playing with my dog at least once a week and I have not seen my dad, grandmothers, aunt and most of my friends in over a year. I clearly cannot wait. But here are a few interesting things that I have seen, learned, heard or experienced in the past 2 months. I've been here for over a year and a half and things continue to surprise me.
---Remember being in college? Poor, busy with classes...your diet tends to suffer. Many college students rely on Ramen noodles to get us through finals, bad break-ups and massive house-arrest snow storms. Here though, Ramen is served on a platter. Literally. I was at a restaurant in Masatepe the other weekend when I saw the waiter walk by with a serving platter. Sitting in the middle of the platter was a single Cup O Soup, acting like it was some kind of gourmet dish.
---Did you know that you can be allergic to sweat? Here, you can. I am. I am actually allergic to my own sweat. By the way I live in the hottest part of the country, so I am constantly sweating. I was getting ready for bed the other night when I realized that I had been scratching my body-arms neck and face mainly, all day long. I took a bucket shower, put some hydrocortizone cream on and went to bed. The next day...it was worse. I had a series of red bumps all over my neck and chest and the burning and itching was so bad I could not concentrate on my work. I went to my doctor friend who told me that I could be, in fact, allergic to my sweat. Apparently if we do not drink enough water, our sweat becomes extremes acidic. This imbalance was causing my body to react in violent itching fests. I am now on an anti allergy pill for the weekend and have been drinking as much water as I can without drowning myself. Hopefully this will be the end of my allergy to myself and we (my body and I) can live in peace.
---The atlas that we have in our library has Weymouth, Mass on the map. Pretty cool. Also, today and yesterday some working men have been installing a ceiling in the library. Now we do not have to worry about falling water or dust. Continuing with the upgrades in the library-Jenny and Jason came down here for their honeymoon (I was lucky enough to be able to spend a little time with them!)-part of what they asked people for as wedding gifts were donations for organizations here in Nica. Lovingly, they decided to donate that money to the Casa y Clinica, the library and the Comedor Infantil. With that money we will be putting in a reading corner in the library, hopefully complete with 2 bean bag chairs. We will also be donating a small portion of it as a prize for the winners of a Soccer Tournament being put on in a week. Thank you so much to everyone who donated to this awesome cause!! A small amount of money can go a really long way.
---Ever been sitting in your house wishing you had some cake, but do not have the ingredients to make your own? People sell cake on the street here. They go door-to-door selling slices of cake! For 15 cordobas (less than a dollar)! Genius.
I promise there will be more to come very soon.
P.S. Let me know if there is anything else that you would like to hear about!
