Post Two of the Day

From Him:
We've now been at site for a week and a half. Things are going smoothly. We're getting to know people, getting our living arrangements worked out, starting to go out visiting people and places, and running our summer program 2 days a week; my partner does literacy work, and I do some computer literacy -- typing, working with Microsoft Office, etc. I was having some random thoughts the other day after I finished working with the students in the computer lab, so I typed them out and saved them.

When I used to think of South America, I thought Spanish. I thought burritos, beans and rice, and so forth. I was wrong. Forget the fact that Brazil, larger than the continental United States, speaks Portuguese, and exports more beef than the U.S. There’s also the Caribbean. That’s where we are. Bear that in mind, as you read about our adventures and experiences.

Aside from this awakening, the two of us have learned a few other things. Here are some examples:

Things I have learned:

Traveling at 140 km an hour in a minibus isn’t scary, when you think that 5 km = 2 miles – so, less than 60 mph. When you realize that the ratio is more like 3 km to 2 miles, meaning that you’re going more like 90 mph, it’s much scarier.

Some cockroaches just can’t be killed. They can only be negotiated with.

Just because a hammer says “Stanley” on the side doesn’t mean that it’s a Stanley Steel hammer; it could easily break, for example, the very first time you use it, leaving you to discover that, beneath the yellow veneer of the handle, it's constructed of some strange crappy plasticish material. You need to look for the “Stanley” manufactured (embedded) into the steel hammer head.

Carrying 1 five-gallon water jug (almost 50 lbs.) makes you strong and manly in the eyes of others. Carrying 2 makes you stronger and manlier to them – and really stupid to yourself.

Curtains are much more important than you realize.

8 o’clock is a perfectly reasonable bedtime if flying bugs are all over your house, attracted by the light. 7 o’clock is fine too, if there’s a blackout.

Killing 40 wasps in 2 days does absolutely nothing to diminish the number flying in through the windows every afternoon.

When you’re the new person in town, and everyone knows it, and you’ll only be around for a limited period of time, you easily become an Anonymous Confessor. People will often tell you much more than you need to know about situations, or history.

Thank God for books.

Thank God for curry.

You think that Z is Zee. But it’s not. It’s Zed. This can cause more problems than you might think. (Stupid British influences...)

You can easily bathe in one bucket of water. In fact, if you put forth a little effort, you can do everything below the head in about a 1/2 gallon. Hairwashing, facewashing, and shaving take up the rest of the bucket.

Taking a chicken from squawking to being eaten is less work than I expected.