goodbye, little boys bathing in the lake

We´re going to Belize, baby!! This morning was the last day of school, and we’ve packed our belongings into our huge backpacks, and spent time contemplating the meanness that is behind the packing industry, as things such as towels and sleep sacks and toiletries never EVER fit in the packages they’re supposed to roll so neatly back into. I think everyone at REI is laughing at the silly people who buy this stuff. I have fallen in love with carabeeners, though. I use them as flair.

We’ve made an amazing new travelmate by the name of Indiana Kate. We met two weeks ago, and within five minutes invited her to travel with us for the next four months. Four is always a nice, even number to have when traveling. Or at an amusement park. Our soulmateage was cemented at last night’s bonfire; we lay on the beach staring at the stars singing every John Denver song we knew at the top of our lungs. isnt life beautiful?

My mama Nidia was sad to see me leave, which was sweet, and the little boy living at my house gave me cookies. Ooh they´re still in my purse! yummy! I´m definitely not going to miss the bathroom situation at my house. I´ve been going over to Dana´s house to go number two every day.

Its funny, when you´re traveling, you find that 90 percent of your conversations revolve around either bugs, how long its been since youve had a shower, how hot it is, what your mama served you for lunch today, and whether or not you’re pooping. I can tell you all about those things right now!

This.is.real.

Latest bug incident= waking up with a cockroach inside my mosquito net. I decided to not move too quickly, turn on flashlight for better look, or panic, and simply flicked it out of my bed. Sometimes in the middle of the night, I am brave. Also, ran into scorpion walking calmly down my hill on the way home the other night. Killed it so the dog wouldnt eat it. Well, I didnt kill it, a guy did, after which we all clapped and yelled “yaaay!” because thats what gringas do. I shouldn’t stay here too much longer, I will end up marrying the next guy that kills the biggest bug for me.

Havent showered since last night. Have had exactly two showers in the last two weeks that came from a shower faucet and not from a bucket. Consequently the hair on my legs and under my arms grows at an alarming rate. Dont care. I like to think it creates another barrier between me and the bugs.

goodbye, fugatas every night!

its so freaking hot. the humidity in flores is like 128 percent or something ridiculous, and its higher in Belize. typing is making me sweat. breathing is making me sweat. chewing gum is making me sweat. I’m forcing myself to like being hot though, and all the sweating makes me feel like I´m excersizing or something.

Sometimes, when I´m sitting very still, I´ll let a bead of sweat drip from my forehead, down my neck, down my shirt, and into my belly button, just for giggles. This is also a good example of how hot AND bored I´ve been in San Andres. Making a game out of sweating.

My mama, like the others here in San Andres, serves interesting combos of food. I dont know if this is true for all Guatemalans. But a typical meal is like, a hardboiled egg on a plate, half a papaya, pasta with an unidentifiable meat in it, and peach juice. and tortillas. my mom says she makes forty a day. And for some unexplained ridiculousness, they all serve soup for lunch. SOUP IN ONE HUNDRED DEGREES BLAZING HOT GUATEMALA. Sometimes with a random raw egg floating in it. or green beans. Or maybe black bean mash, tortillas, plantains, and a tamale. thats a good meal i had recently. also the coffee here is instant, with powdered milk and sugar crystals, I’m pretty sure its straight crack. you get super jittery after one cup.

As for pooping…. if you saw my toilet, you would understand how shy my intestines are. I have to squat, try to find innner peace, and breathe heavily to keep the flies from landing on me, while eyeing the cockroaches poised for battle all around. So much fun. It gets interesting in the afternoons and evenings, as the town water runs out and everything has to sit in the toilet and wait for morning.

goodbye, lake flores!

I havent been peeing in my home bathroom, but peeing in a bucket I keep in my room, and dumping it and bleaching it every morning. Not even joking. What sparked this was a nasty run in with a roach in the outhouse. I ran to get my mom, and she kicked the cement block toilet and several unidentifiable creatures flew out of it. But now I feel bad about the pee bucket.

And they dont have garbage service, so my mom is going to have to burn all my used toilet paper. Oh now she’ll know I´ve been peeing in my room in a bucket! Oh shoot. I´m glad I wrote her a really nice card.

Well we´re going to go hang out in the awesomeness that is our hostel, Los Amigos, and lounge in the bar and wait for all the hot internationally traveled and cultured men to fall in love with us. They´re so grungy and dirty and yummy.

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