I’m living in San Juan de Oriente for the next few months of training. It’s a small community of about 4,000 people. There are 3 other trainees that are living within walking distance, and about 4,000 little ceramic shops in between my house and the nearest trainee. No lie. Even better, here is what comes up if you wikipedia the name of the town:
"The patron saint festival in San Juan de Oriente celebrates the birth of John the Baptist on the week of June 24. The celebration consists of many processions with statues of John the Baptist, fireworks, and most famous of all "chilillo" a dance/sport where two "chinegros" use dried bovine penises fashioned in the form of a saber complete with leather handguard to whip their opponent. After a few seconds somebody in the costume of a yegüita (mare) enters between the two people ending the bout. While no winners or losers are declared, the hard whipping does leave marks or scars."
...
The weather is hot. And by hot, I mean disgusting. Everyone is constantly sweating – even the locals. The humidity is stifling and I’m pretty sure that all of my clothes, shoes and books will be moldy within the hour. It rained last night which cooled my room from 89.9 degrees to 86.8. I expect I would’ve slept well with the 3.1 degree drop in temperature, but the roosters started in at 2am, after the dogs had been incessantly barking since about midnight. There were fireworks going off all night which were so loud they sounded like gunshots through my half-open window. I kept having dreams that I was getting up to grab my earplugs, and somehow never made it to my “closet.” Speaking of my room, my mosquito net is pretty cool. It’s this really ugly shade of green that compliments my skin tone perfectly.
...
The weather is hot. And by hot, I mean disgusting. Everyone is constantly sweating – even the locals. The humidity is stifling and I’m pretty sure that all of my clothes, shoes and books will be moldy within the hour. It rained last night which cooled my room from 89.9 degrees to 86.8. I expect I would’ve slept well with the 3.1 degree drop in temperature, but the roosters started in at 2am, after the dogs had been incessantly barking since about midnight. There were fireworks going off all night which were so loud they sounded like gunshots through my half-open window. I kept having dreams that I was getting up to grab my earplugs, and somehow never made it to my “closet.” Speaking of my room, my mosquito net is pretty cool. It’s this really ugly shade of green that compliments my skin tone perfectly.
We have running water every other day, and have electricity every day after 11am. I’m not sure exactly what “running water” means here, because the toilet doesn’t flush and we bathe with buckets.
Food: for lunch yesterday I ate rice, beans, chicken and potatoes. For dinner we had gallo pinto (beans and rice), with bologna tacos made with homemade corn tortillas. I know it sounds strange, but they were pretty good. For breakfast I had rice and beans in a tortilla. Maybe I’ll just update the food section if I ever eat anything other than rice, beans or tortillas...
The kids here are adorable, and so photogenic. I want one.
More soon.
Love and miss you all!
Love and miss you all!
3 comments:
i like you updated with my (or your) wikipedia finds...
sounds riveting.
good luck with the roosters tonight.
love you!
But they do have a Starbucks, right? And a Saks??
Can I send you a window air conditioner???
Linda P.
Is that what my nikkiagua godchild will look like? It sounds like a lovely tropical place - just think of all the money you are saving my not going to the tanning bed :) Miss you! Love ya mucho (spanish just for you!)
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