It is summer. Definitely, officially summer, or dry season. While you folks back home suffer through the unpredictable weather of early spring, rain and snow seemingly out of nowhere, here that is not the case. I envy you (at least in the middle of the day as I sweat and hide from the sun in my house, trying to avoid the heat. I like warm weather. At least when I can escape it briefly or I am on the beach and can enjoy it. Here, summer means dust and more dust and more dust. My version of air conditioning is riding my bike down hill or into the wind and hoping the breeze is slightly cooling. It doesn’t work very well since I have to turn around and come back after. I am learning the important lessons of hiding in the house with the door CLOSED in the middle of the day (to keep the heat out) and opening the door in the evening to let the breeze (if one exists) in. It is probably time to get my fan repaired again. The problem is, I don’t want to carry it to the repair guy because it is too hot outside and I don’t want to leave the house unless necessary. I have also returned to bathing at least once a day. Dumping a cold bucket over my head finally feels good. No longer like jumping in the cold lake on a moderately warm day where you take a deep breath and go for it as quickly as possible (the last few months), nor avoiding it whenever possible because it is just miserable and the power went out again so you can’t even make a cup of hot coffee or tea after. I know, I probably shouldn’t admit it, but bathing in the winter is an “only when absolutely necessary” chore. Summer is the opposite, bathe every chance you have. The problem, water can be scarce in these dry summer months. Therefore, I try to limit it to once a day, usually afternoons to cool off or evening to wash the dust off my feet, returning their natural color. It is also the season for watering the dirt, reduces the dust a bit. Just watch where you step, most people fling the run-off water (potentially raw sewage, depending on the neighborhood) out of the “gutter” onto the street. Last Thursday, I did my good dead for the day but gifting water to the neighbors. I saved the kids several trips hauling water from the river, left the contaminated water in its bed and relieved my conscience by not wasting the water to clean the pila. Do I really live here?
PHOTOS: Field trip to the river with my 3rd graders. We loaded half the kids in the back of the teacher's pick up while the others started walking until the teacher picked them up. Things are a bit different here. This is one of the "cleanest" rivers in the area. Too bad it is the same stream that first passes through Rio Dulce where the quantity of garbage and number of vehicles I have seen washed in it is disturbing. And people bathe in it! It was a great excuse to talk about littering and caring for the water. Then they wrote down everything they saw.
Kinder kids in Rio Dulce brushing their teeth after snack.
Chichara on my kitchen light, also known as cicadas. Quite possibly the most obnoxious insect ever due to their everpresent whine. Unfortunately, they are here until the rains return.
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