If you told me right now that I have an ant on my arm and a mosquito buzzing around my head you would be wrong. You missed the two ants fighting on my shoe, the tiny bug that looks like a dot running around on my hand, the tiny spider on my shirt and the half ant half wasp looking thing on my leg. This is not even an exaggeration.
There are two phenomena/feelings that I am having to get used to here in El Salvador. The first is the feeling of bugs crawling on me all the time. At first I thought that I was just being paranoid then I realized that no, every time I feel like I have bugs crawling on me I do, in fact, have bugs crawling on me. The bugs here are everywhere and tiny. Most of the bugs consist of ants. Millions of tiny ants crawl up and down the walls of every house and office building I have been in. People seem to live in more or less acceptance of the insects. Only when they start to make small piles in a corner of a room or on the edge of a door jam is a little poison left out to kill the offending nest.
I have to remember not to leave anything on my bed when I leave each morning for "work". If it slips my mind and I accidentally leave a book, my back pack or my computer on the bed when I return and finally move it ants scurry away in a zigzag panic. I still don't understand why the ants hide under my books or why they insist on climbing all over my computer when I'm working but I'm beginning to accept it as fact.
The other phenomena is more of a personal hygiene matter and it just boggles me. I'm literally always dirty. It doesn't matter what I do. I can sit at home and read books all day or spend time in the office at Casa Maya and I'm almost just as dirty as if I were to go work in the fields. I wash my face scrub it a bit splash water all over then wipe it off. Every time I leave a weird reddish brown mark on the towel despite already washing and rinsing my face. When I get back to my house I shower off the sticky sweat that starts to accumulate around 9:30 every morning and even in the shower I can't seem to get clean. I lather up the soap and scrub with a these little loufa like gloves but my towel always gets dirty when I dry off.
I've started not drying off after I shower for two reason: 1. I hope that leaving the little drop of water on my body will evaporate and help my melting core cool down 2. I don't like to see how horribly I failed at cleansing myself. The other day I was looking really hard at the little area on the inside of my elbow pondering how it became so tan, then I realized it was just dirt.
Personal appearance is very important here but I'm going to embrace the fact that I am the scrubbiest person in the office.
There are two phenomena/feelings that I am having to get used to here in El Salvador. The first is the feeling of bugs crawling on me all the time. At first I thought that I was just being paranoid then I realized that no, every time I feel like I have bugs crawling on me I do, in fact, have bugs crawling on me. The bugs here are everywhere and tiny. Most of the bugs consist of ants. Millions of tiny ants crawl up and down the walls of every house and office building I have been in. People seem to live in more or less acceptance of the insects. Only when they start to make small piles in a corner of a room or on the edge of a door jam is a little poison left out to kill the offending nest.
I have to remember not to leave anything on my bed when I leave each morning for "work". If it slips my mind and I accidentally leave a book, my back pack or my computer on the bed when I return and finally move it ants scurry away in a zigzag panic. I still don't understand why the ants hide under my books or why they insist on climbing all over my computer when I'm working but I'm beginning to accept it as fact.
The other phenomena is more of a personal hygiene matter and it just boggles me. I'm literally always dirty. It doesn't matter what I do. I can sit at home and read books all day or spend time in the office at Casa Maya and I'm almost just as dirty as if I were to go work in the fields. I wash my face scrub it a bit splash water all over then wipe it off. Every time I leave a weird reddish brown mark on the towel despite already washing and rinsing my face. When I get back to my house I shower off the sticky sweat that starts to accumulate around 9:30 every morning and even in the shower I can't seem to get clean. I lather up the soap and scrub with a these little loufa like gloves but my towel always gets dirty when I dry off.
I've started not drying off after I shower for two reason: 1. I hope that leaving the little drop of water on my body will evaporate and help my melting core cool down 2. I don't like to see how horribly I failed at cleansing myself. The other day I was looking really hard at the little area on the inside of my elbow pondering how it became so tan, then I realized it was just dirt.
Personal appearance is very important here but I'm going to embrace the fact that I am the scrubbiest person in the office.
A little dirt won't hurt. It's good for ya! Especially if agriculture is your game.
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