Some things happened recently, that upon reflecting, made me realize I’ve been here a while and maybe, JUST maybe, am acclimating a bit more:
#1: It wasn’t until my Dona hissed and swatted at a baby pig to get it out of the kitchen, that I even realized the pig was sitting by my feet at the breakfast table. I didn’t even hear its little oinks.
#2: I actually got excited to sit in the sauna-like guagua back to Las Tablas from Bani because I preferred sitting in the shade of the guagua than the harsh sun (even though it was hotter inside the bus).
#3: We’ve reached a point where the song that played on repeat all-day has looped around from being annoying to being catchy and I actually sing along/enjoy it now….Sientoooo que te amo mas….the tune is truly a winner.
#4: I sat down at the dinner table, the electricity was out, and although I couldn’t see what was actually on my plate, I ate it. I still am not quite sure what I ate, but it was warm, not too fried, I think it had ketchup on it, and I was happy.
#5: I got mad when there were enough cars on the road that I had to actually walk on the sidewalk, and then complained about it to my family. They all understood my frustration.
#6: I cut in line at the grocery store because I only had 2 items and the woman in front of me had a cart-full. No one cared. Then I argued with the woman at the register because she over-charged me for balloons. I think the woman behind me in line was on my side.
#7: I bucket bathed the other morning and used a fourth gallon and felt guilty, but boy was that extra gallon luxurious. Also, I’ve taken up to three ‘showers’ in a day.
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It’s the smallest things that really just make me thrilled sometimes. Today, after a morning of classes, Carrie, another volunteer, and I wanted a snack, so we pooled our pesos together and went to buy an avocado and some rolls. That’s my favorite snack here and only costs about 20 pesos (less than 50 cents). We picked out a nice soft avocado and two big rolls, went back to a porch and cut open the avocado. It was brown. No good. We scraped some green/yellow parts and ate them with the bread, but to be honest, that was a pitiful snack. We both felt very sad. There’s no other way to describe it, no beautiful or verbose way of putting it. We were sad.
I got home later for lunch. Meals here are a ritual for me, and for everyone really. My food is generally prepared around 11:30, but I get home a little after noon everyday. My Dona will set out all of my plates when the food is ready, and then “Tapar” them, or cover them with a bowl or a lid from a pot. Each one is like a little gift, waiting for me to uncover it, to reveal my surprise of a meal. I never know what I’m going to get. I actually get antsy with anticipation. Who knows what breakfast will be! Maybe under that lid is a big bowl of oatmeal, maybe a boiled egg and a roll! Sometimes the best part of the meal is just in the act of uncovering it and realizing what it is.
Anyway, I began my ritual once again for my lunch. The first was rice. Expected. The second, a roll. Not as expected. The third, a strange beet, potato, carrot, egg and mayonnaise salad. Fairly normal. The fourth? A perfect avocado. I was so excited by the perfect avocado and roll that I probably could have been served those pig intestines again and I’d still have been happy. Thank you Dona Adria, thank you for brightening my day.
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Then dinner consisted of tri-carbs…a mayonnaise/macaroni salad with onions, fried plantains, and rice with what looked like fried cockroaches (they were actually fried sardines…hairy fried sardines caked in salt). For the first time since I’ve been in this country, I actually decided not to eat my meal.
