Take yesterday when I walked through a spider web in the doorway of my CR. I would have screamed in the U.S. but not anymore. Screaming is limited to the giant hand sized spiders that are found occasionally on my walls, and to the rat that chewed a hole through my mosquito to try and eat a raisin I had misplaced near my pillow. I screamed then, but that’s pretty reasonable I think.
In other news, it’s the rainy season now, which is marked by none other than daily rain of course. Usually this means it is still hot as the devil in the day time, and in the afternoon or evening it usually rains. So clothing takes longer to dry after I wash them, and usually they smell moldy afterwards. It also means there are more frequent brown-outs, sometimes with a day of no electricity and water. You know, like we thought the Peace Corps was going to be like. Nah, the livin is easy.
School has started, also, which means fewer children running around the center, and hopefully less free time to pull my gray hairs out and pick out my lice. I still haven’t gotten lice, cross my fingers. Scabies a few times, but no lice. A friend of mine likes to remind me that scabies is the human form of mange.
Yes, so school is back in session for the year and the chaos of having to purchase all new uniforms, materials, books, etc. with a debt of 500,000 pesos, well that chaos has settled a bit. I’ll start teaching at the school again on Tuesday, grade 6 and 4th year high school this time. Wish me luck.
We got a few boxes of clothing donations so yesterday kids got to chose some new clothes for themselves. I nearly peed myself laughing at that site. First they dive bombed the giant pile, t-shirts flying and a few shy kids on the sides afraid to go near the lions den. Later, with left-over rejected dresses and pants fit for a giant, they paraded around playing dress up. Boys in dresses, stuffed with t-shirt breasts and blue jean pregnant bellies, and little girls with pants trailing behind their little legs. It was a riot. On that note, if you ever want to send clothes, toys, school supplies, food, etc., there is a really amazing service cwhere you can send what is called a Balikbayan Box; you can send a GIANT box for a flat rate of about 70 bucks. They even pick up the box and deliver it themselves. Closest to home is in NY, as far as I have found. Unfortunate, but check out the LBC website for more info. http://www.lbcexpress.com
For the past two weeks we also had two visitors, a man and a woman from the U.S. who were working at the school and staying at the center. It felt like a dry-run for when my parents come—less than a month now. The woman was sweet and quiet and had the exact reactions to things that I have pictured my own mother having. Surprised when she first ate the tiny fried fish with her hands, picking out the little bones and then getting bold and mashing it into a little ball with rice. Beaming with joy at the sight of the twins dancing and laughing to the same pop songs they always hear. Eager to sit in the back of the jeepney on the way to the mountains, to feel every bump and hold on tight to the side of the car. Asking quiet questions about the weather, yes it will rain today. I was not at the center when they left, but I was not surprised to hear that she cried when she left those kids. I can imagine; they are hard to say goodbye to.
adorable!
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