The rainy season has come!

I should clarify – I call it the rainy season, they call it winter. I am unable to bring myself to call it winter because the temperature still fails to dip below hot. Winter basically means you can actually sleep with a sheet. Though, I will admit – the thunder storms are spectacular. Not spectacular in the fact that they knock out the power really easily, but spectacular in their strength.

There are only two problems I have with ‘winter’ down here. The first being the shear amount of mosquitoes. I went from being bitten every once and a while in my house to really having to cover or use spray. (I also use an incense type thing that I’ve not seen in the US – but it works!) This is from all the small puddles that the rain forms and mosquitoes breed in. I should actually expand this to include all bugs – they have all come out of the wood works. I’m talking flying cockroaches, beetles, evil ants – you name it and they have come. However, I will admit to having batting practice with my broom while trying to get a flying cockroach out of my house. Eventually, I did have success and shot his ass out my back door – it was kinda fun. My second problem is rats. My house is along a river…uphill so I’m not in risk of flooding…but the rats come up when the river is high. I hate hearing them up in the roof. I’ll have to start guarding my food more and put out some ‘bait’. Maybe I’ll borrow someone’s cat.

I believe I am taking on my first project – the restoration of the Church. The Church here in my little community is actually from the colonial period – so we’re gonna work on it and try and conserve it. I went and talked to the Padre (father or priest) and he was all about it. The only way I can work on this project is through the aspect of restoration due to the fact that Peace Corps is a religious. So…I’m nervous, but I’ll see how it goes.

Otherwise, life moves on!