Heat Stroke

Long time no talk...Let's start with the things that haven't changed and then we'll get to the positive...

Still no house. Dang. It seems that the Nicas have no sense of my urgency to move out on my own. The family who was in a hurry to get to the States weren't quite in the US "hurry" that I had hoped for, but more in a Latino, we'll get to it when we get to it kind of "hurry"...so here I am...still sitting in someone else's hammock...what are you gonna do? I have finally started looking for other houses...after waiting so long I've decided I need to look elsewhere...and my host mom is pregnant and things are getting cramped...so who knows...hopefully things will look up in the next few weeks...for now I am not going to write anything because it seems that every time I write that I have a guaranteed house things go downward quickly in the next day or so...but that's Nicaragua...nothing is set in stone.

So things that have changed or happened...

It has gotten dramatically hotter. I didn't think this was possible, but it is actually unbearable right now...some days I take multiple showers or soak my hair in water just to cool off...imagine Florida mid-August without air conditioning...then picture un-paved roads, concrete houses with low ceilings that trap heat, and hot wind...dust flies everywhere and it is just freaking hot...apparently this isn't the hottest time either...they tell me April is the worst...looking forward to it....

I am still teaching English, but only twice a week not that classes in the Elementary school have started up every day...I love my English class and am so happy that I am keeping it going...my students bring me fun presents like mangoes and spinach seeds and they genuinely seem to be learning...one of my students has a camera and took a picture of all of us that they want to give me as a gift, so once I get it I will be sure to post it...the class has definitely been one of my favorite parts of the summer (Nica summer)...Interestingly, the Mayor's office has also asked me to begin teaching an English class...as some of you may know this is the year of re-elections for Ortega...the current president...this means that the government is trying to offer as much to the citizens as possible, like any campaign, they are doing whatever it takes to get votes and saw a big opportunity in me...English classes are highly sought after, so they loved the idea of being able to offer them for free...I don't particularly like the idea of giving English for one political party or the other, but for a number of reasons which are best not written, I agreed, and will happily begin giving English lessons to even more students on Tuesday. We shall see.

Summer dance classes and trips to the river have slowly died down, now that school has started up, but the sports leagues have really gotten going, which is awesome. I play volleyball every Tuesday and Friday with a group of teens/women here (usually last because the men play first boo)...we want to find other teams in the area, as there are only three teams in my town and we are tired of playing each other...I am going to ask the volunteers in neighboring communities if they would like to form teams to come and play us, since they don't have courts in their towns....Likewise there are basketball and soccer tournaments the other nights of the week which are fun to watch.

My garden is also doing surprisingly well...unfortunately all of the tomatoes in my seed bed died...as did most of the peppers, but I blame this on the goddamned chickens who got in their and nestled...I now have tomatoes growing outside of the seed bed because the chickens scattered the seeds...makes me want to kill them all and eat them (the chickens, not the tomato plants...). My squash plants, on the other hand, are incredible...To my boss' surprise, they are disease free and very healthy...they already have flowers and should start producing fruit soon...My boss was surprised as I planted them in the way that is typical for the rainy season, in raised mounds, rather than below the ground...oops...practice makes perfect I suppose...they're hearty plants anyways and I water them a lot...

Earthworms are also doing great...I don't give them cow/horse poop as often as I should, but they get enough kitchen scraps in between to stay happy...I can only bring myself to lug cow poop across town once a week...just a pain in the butt and everyone makes me explain what I'm doing and always gets confused because they think I'm talking about stomach worms instead of earthworms (because it's the same word) so then they think I'm sick...ahh well...

Heading to the beach in Leon tomorrow to meet up with a whole crew of volunteers...it will be nice to get out for awhile...Definitely have been needing a break...

I will try to get pictures up soon...and will try and update more regularly...send me e-mails I love reading them! Much love!