My dog Tigra, part 2

Since giving Tigra pieces of my lunch, this dog has been following me around much more often. She sits proudly outside my door and scratches her fleas and watches while I shoo other dogs off the porch. She knows SHE can stay. She trots alongside me to the bus stop, to church, to the pulpería. I run around and she growls and bites my feet, which I guess is how a dog plays (since I’ve never had one before). She even follows me into the municipality sometimes, where I don’t have the heart to tell her to go and nobody seems to mind that she’s there, so there are days when I have an all-day companion.

Yes, I’m making a difference in the lives of others, one flea-ridden dog at a time.

La cancha

San José has a court, the cancha deportiva which shortens to “la cancha.” Every weekend—and now with school out, every day—folks walk to the cancha and play soccer on this concrete court. I, embarrassingly enough, waited until I’d lived here almost 9 months to see this cancha with R. (my best bud and next-door neighbor), another neighbor and my volunteer friend Katie. We walked behind the church and down the hill and there it was, the glorious San José cancha. Everyone told me it was fea (ugly) and I can’t say I disagree. It’s a mere 5 years old but it looks centuries older, consisting of an uneven concrete slab and two rusty monstrosities on either side, which act as goalposts. We started passing the mini soccer ball, then played a round of 2 on 2, which was pretty much the first time I’d exercised in about 11 months. It was humiliating. I was obviously the worst player of them all, made even more apparent by my wearing flipflops. R. was hilarious as she let out a long scream every time the ball was passed to her. Miraculously, Katie and I were able to win the second round 5-3 (all five goals being made by Katie and not me), after which I was exhausted (again, I’m incredibly out of shape) and we headed back home. Both teams had won one round, which is just how I like games to end—with everyone a winner! I guess I’m not meant for competitive sports. All the same, it was a lovely experience, my day at la cancha.

Life as Usual... improved!

Since coming back from a wonderful 20 days vacation in the States and Paraguay, I was less than enthusiastic when I arrived back to my house in San José and looked drearily at the moldy fridge, the mysterious water stains on the floor, the smelly bathroom and the various insects that decided this was now their place and not mine. In fact, I was pretty depressed in general, as well as fed up with the house, which has been riddled with problems since I moved in six months ago. My patience and sense of humor had worn thin. I was actually considering moving to the only other available place in town: a warehouse-like open room located right across from the evangelical church that has their loud and raucous church service (called culto… interesting term) just about every day. I was at my wits end when, miraculously, my landlady/former host mom finally walked down the hill from her house to mine and assured me that everything, EVERYTHING would be fixed.

So far, the majority of problems fixed have been largely cosmetic. They swept and mopped. They washed the curtains. They arranged the stuffed animals on my bed in a cute fashion. These are all things I could have feasibly done myself but was too sad/lazy to do so. BUT they also painted the inside and outside of the entire house in a variety of Eastery colors, they placed nylon under the tiled roof to catch the rain and dirt that falls down, and they put up my mosquito net (something I officially should have done the minute I moved in… my bad, Peace Corps). All my neighbors—even people I’ve never seen before—have no qualms about walking into my house unsolicited and raving about the “nuevo look” of the house (they actually say nuevo look, which I think is fantastic). Not to mention the bolos that remark “that gringa painted her house!” while staggering from the cantina.

PLUS, my landlady felt an urge to stock my fridge, and proceeded to make me pots of spaghetti, rice and beans, all of which are big caloric bombs (the secret ingredients being lots of butter, salt and lard) but are the most delicious things I’ve ever tasted IN my life. I can now happily use my computer or eat my beans in the living room while it rains, without worrying about a small rainshower occurring in my house. I can now sleep without the horrible buzzings of mosquitoes and flies around my head. I no longer wake up with huge bite marks all over my legs. I feel this has contributed to a huge mood booster for me. Sure, the roaches in the shower still give me a little jolt in the mornings, and I’ve noticed now there’s a little rat scurrying around the kitchen. Sure, the cement pila has not been fixed, and they say the upcoming sewer project will cut off the water supply for (plural) months. Sure, there are still no screens on my windows and wasps casually fly around the house during the day. But I tell you all, this is a major improvement to the living situation, and I couldn’t be happier. Three cheers for my landlady!!!

Back... and better than ever??

I´m back in San José after a few weeks of holiday excitement and family time, splitting up my vacation between home and Paraguay.

I first left on the 20th with my friend and PCV to the San Pedro airport. We enjoyed a ride on quite possibly the smelliest, most uncomfortable bus in the world... almost like Honduras was trying to convince us that leaving was a great idea. We then got a ride (and a free baleada breakfast, delicious!!!) from a señor who works with San José´s youth tourist group. I was so grateful to him for his kindness, as getting a ride in a taxi to the airport can sometimes be costly and a real hassle.

So after a late-night arrival into Dulles I spent a glorius week at home with Mom and Steve and all the fam... flushing toilet paper down the toilet again and seeing my cranky cat and drinking skinny mochas and eating my favorite foods again, was really exactly what I needed and reminded me of how much I missed everyone and everything at home.

I then left for Paraguay, spending a much-needed week with the bf after about 18 months of not seeing him. Despite the fact that my suitcase didn´t arrive til three days later (then got lost again on the way back, and still hasn´t been recovered... yikes), it was a great time with Chocho at his house with his many adorable kittens and wonderful dog Rex. I spent New Years in Paraguay, which makes a really big deal out of the holiday... Chocho´s family spent the evening together, listening to Brazilian country music and a delightful Spanish rendition of Rudolph the RedNosed Reindeer. We then had dinner around 11 and waited around for midnight to arrive, at which point we toasted and hugged and congratulated everyone in the room. Then the parents went to bed and we kids went out dancing til 5am. We went to a club in Caacupé that had the reputation for its sweaty sauna-like atmosphere... apparently in cold weather the heat rises from all the sweaty bodies, condenses on the tin roof and falls back down on the dancers below... a rain of sweat if you will. Soooo gross, luckily for us it was incredibly hot so no worries about the sweat making contact with a cold tin roof. In all it was a whirlwind week, I met approximatly 3,000 of Chocho´s relatives and enjoyed lots of good Paraguayan meat and bread and their idea of "coffee" (essentially hot milk with a spoonful of Nescafe).

Fam on New Years Eve dinner... with the traditional Paraguayan nonsmile. Chocho´s pointing at something, not sure what...

Beautiful lake town of San Bernardino, along Lake Ypacaraí. Just like Honduras, there´s only one natural lake in Paraguay.

Me and Rex his wonderful dog!!!

Us at the airport on my last day...:( Notice the ghetto fabulous tshirt he´s wearing, quite possibly the ugliest shirt I´ve ever seen.

I then got back home and had about 2 days to see friends, see family and buy new clothes and toiletries since my bag had still not made it back from Paraguay. My flight for Honduras left at 4am, arrived at 10am and after a two-bus trip I arrived in San José in the early afternoon. Since getting back I´ve been easing into life in small-town San José again: the bolos calling my name, the kids playing Monopoly, the meals of beans and tortillas and the promise of a water shortage in town that will supposedly last months. Back to the Peace Corps life.