Here are a few random
thoughts and experiences:
1.
It is hot. How
hot? I don’t know because we don’t get
constant information—or any information at all—about the temperature, which
probably is good. We suffer enough from
the heat without knowing how much we’re suffering on a scale. But it’s so hot that nearly always there’s a
thin film of sweat on my face. My shirt
sticks to anything it touches, including my back, the chair, my pillow. I opt for my room where there is a fan and
over the last two months, I have set the fan at a gentle 3, then a robust 2 and
now a serious 1. There are three blessings heat wise. When I teach, I don’t notice it. And at night, in my part of Nicaragua it
cools down, unlike some sites in Leon and Somotillo where volunteers use fans
night and day. And this is not only the hottest time of year, but the windiest
and the breeze is a blessing, teasing the damp skin at the base of the hair on
my head until it feels positively cold for a moment, a micro second of natural
air conditioning.
2.
It is dry. Everyone is waiting for the rainy season to
start which will cure the heat and the dryness. A week ago I, and everyone in
my town I imagine, awoke in the night to hear the rain pattering on the zinc
roofs of houses, a little at first and then a torrent and finally the sky
emptied barrels of water on the house or that’s what it sounded like. I smiled and I bet everyone in town was
smiling, too. Ah, the rains. But no, it was an anomaly, no rain
since. When the rains finally come (on
May 15th I’m told) it will rain often in the afternoon and evening.
3.
Today I left the house at three in the
afternoon and headed to the park for a little newspaper reading and to see
what’s up, I being tired of hiding out with the fan. I young man came up to chat. This happens sometimes and I wonder what they
want from me. Usually it is to tell me
that they have a family member in the states.
Sometimes they wonder what I’m doing sitting in their park. Today we were joined by the man’s friend who
carried the tell-tale bag of a bus salesman. All kinds of people sell stuff on
the bus. Sometimes they are on and off
at the bus station, selling food. Other
times they get on and ride till the next stop.
During that time they lecture the crowd about one thing or another
trying to sell something to the captive audience. Sometimes it a preacher with a Bible looking
to share a reading and a prayer with a bus full of short term congregants. Often what they are selling is health related,
like mimeographed books on the supposed heath benefits of food, quite
specific. Did you know that papaya cures
renal disease? But mostly it’s pills that are sold and the most common pills
are anti-parasitical. The salesman
starts with a chart which depicts in enhanced color and size maybe a dozen
parasites know to inhabit the human gastro-intestinal system. Having gotten everyone’s attention, he shows
a bubble pack sheet of pills that will take care of everything. He tells them how many they will need to take
and the price—special for bus passengers, cheaper than in the pharmacies. The he walks down the aisle putting the right
dose in everyone’s hands. Later he
returns and it’s amazing how many people buy the pills. I’m not sure if it’s fear of parasites, the alleged
relatively low price , or the psychological effect of holding the pills and not
wanting to give them up. The guy I met in the park was a parasite pill
salesman. I tend to have a low opinion
of bus salesmen. While I recognize
everyone is just trying to earn a buck, it bothers me to have to listen to the
harangue. My Nica bus mates don’t seem bothered. I’d guess they see him as somewhere between a
public service and entertainment on the long ride.
4.
Recently I took
the bus to a nearby community to co-plan with one of my counterparts. We were done kind of late in the afternoon
and when I went to get a taxi home, they
all passed without stopping—full. I was
starting to get worried, really tired from a long, hot, too full day, when one
of my students saw me and joined me to keep me company and to talk. We hung out for a half hour or so during
which he handed me 2 flowers from the llamarada de bosque tree (flame in the
forest) one of the few whose names of which I know. I’ll attach a couple of pix. The closeup of the flower , the most beautiful
in my view, hardly does it justice. This is the time of year for the llamaradas. Compensation for the heat.
