pigpen

I'm in Santa Rosa again because the internet center in San Ramón is still out. Today I went with the students from the "senior class" (more or less) to Pinabetal, a neighboring aldea where we worked on a census again. My friend Bessy and I walked up the mountain and through tons of coffee farms until we reached a group of 3 houses. We walked for almost 2 hours and I was exhausted (not to mention filthy). When we finished, I walked with one of the teachers, who I will refer to as Professor McGuapo, down the main road towards Santa Rosa until a jalón felt pity for us and took us the rest of the way...and here I am.

The main reason I'm here? To print out the list of books that are in the library of San Ramón and make copies for the teachers.

The real reason I'm here?
1. To take a shower. I have no water in site and because it is the dry season and time to conserve water. I don't like to keep my pila filled because it is a breeding ground for dengue mosquitos. Instead, I am constantly walking around like PigPen, from Charlie Brown's crew, with a layer of dust caking my body.
2. To eat fried chicken. Honduran fried chicken is really, really good.
3. To use electricity. I think I blew out the power of my house yesterday when I was trying to boil water, so I have light but can't cook, my fridge is useless (not to mention that I will have to throw out a bunch of cheese now), and I can't listen to the radio.
4. To get away from my neighbors. They are pounding on the door begging to use my camera and end up taking pictures of pigs, doors, and antennas.
5. To fill out the NCAA tournament bracket. You can take the girl away from sports but you can't take away sports from the girl.

Now you know the truth. I have to catch a jalón back to site tomorrow morning at 6 am so I can work on the census all over again.

For those of you that have mailed things...I got a postcard from Greg sent all the way from Ireland in 10 days and a package from Kim and Kitch (love you!) in 9 weeks. You have to love the postal system.