When it Rains, it Pours.

Yesterday I discovered that the tupperware container that I keep my sugar in has become infested with ants. But not so seriously contaminated that I did not think it was salvageable. So I carefully sifted through the sugar and picked out each ant and threw it on the floor. Mission accomplished, I got all of the ants out. No harm, no foul. What I did not realize was that when I was so carefully extracting these ants and throwing them on the floor I was also throwing sugar on the floor. Guess what happened... More ants. (Why I decided this was the correct mode of action is beyond me.)

Hoja has destroyed her third book of mine. The first one she knocked off the ledge on my front porch and it sat in the rain all night. Even though this book happened to be my Spanish/English dictionary (my most valuable possession) I decided to let it go. She is a puppy, she does not know any better. Second book she ruined was The Lord of the Flies. I left it on the edge of the ledge on my porch once again and she got to it. But that was ok too because I was almost done, and come on we all know how messed up the ending of that book is anyways. The third book, The Poisonwood Bible, was ruined about 5min ago. Anyone care to guess where I left this book? If you guessed ledge of the wall on my porch, you would be correct. And when I went out to fill my water bottle there it was on the ground. Cover torn off. Complete pages torn out and eaten or destroyed. Too bad I was only on page 46. Will I still try to salvage the book? Of course, what else am I doing with my day tomorrow? I know, I know why don't I just stop leaving books there. Trying to, but it is just so convenient to my hammock!
 If I ever become a teacher and a student tells me the dog ate their homework, I will totally believe them.

Right now I am battling a little bit of what Salvadorians call Gripe. Gripe is kind of hard to describe. If you look it up, I am pretty sure it says the translation is the flu. But in reality it can be used to describe so much more. Colds, the flu, sinus infections, headaches, exhaustion, a runny nose. It all falls under gripe. It is simultaneously a great word and totally useless. I have more of the sinus infection class of gripe. Nothing uncommon for me, especially because it is raining every. single. day. here, not too surprising. But for some reason I woke up in the middle of the night last night in a cold sweat and convinced myself that I had contracted dengue and this is what it felt like. I, mildly horrified, pondered this for about 10min and promptly fell back asleep. I do not have dengue. But I do have a slightly irrational fear of getting dengue. Last year, my town had a dengue epidemic. An epidemic people! This does not bode well for me or my gripe.

Also today I went to the post office in town and was told I had a package. I was excited because I was expecting one from my parents. But instead I was shocked and thrilled by getting a package from some former neighbors and family friends in Alexandria. Turns out they have been reading my blog and have a niece serving in PC Eastern Europe, so they know how much a care package can brighten someone's day. And boy did it. Let me tell you, I was in a little bit of a rut this morning (just ask Joelle who had to deal with it) and this totally snapped me out of it. It is amazing what four bags of goldfish can do for someone's mood. I did have to practice a great deal of self restraint today, I only consumed 2/3 of one bag. But seriously FOUR BAGS! Along with some other really great stuff like some kids toys, robot and dump truck band aids (which were a huge hit with the volunteers I was with), a reusable grocery bag (the one I brought just broke, so it was like she read my mind!) and a new book (which I am determined to not let Hoja eat). Thank you Devon for brightening my day!

Road in front of my house. Flooded

Oh and it really is raining everyday here. It has rained everyday for the past 2 months. I know I should not be surprised by this as it is the rainy season, but that is a really long time for it to rain everyday! A couple days ago there was a sudden flood of the road in front of my house/ in my yard. Crazy!

Host mom in the river that was my front yard. 

I also feel the need to admit something. I have not showered in 3 days. I will amend that slightly, I wash my hair every day. But it is harder to see the water I am washing my hair with when my head is bent over my pila than if I straight up bucket showered. You all have seen my pila water. It's brown. Hard to justify cleaning yourself with brown water. I honestly was going to shower today, but then Hoja fell in my pila when I was bathing her, so I had to drain all the water. And of course the water was not running from the river at that moment to re-fill my pila, making bathing impossible. (I will explain in greater detail later how exactly I get water from the river, it is kind of complicated.) I promise to bathe tomorrow. Pinky promise.

Gender and Development group after
our first show in Santa Ana!