Rain, Perfumed Breezes, and Making People out of Beads

With the rain that has been pummeling us lately comes a wind that blows the silt and mist right through my pane-less windows, dusting my front room and kitchen counter. This morning, along with a spotty layer coating the dishes in my drying rack, I awoke to the perfume of the tiny white flowers that grow on the bushes in my front yard, also carried in by the breeze.

I slept later than usual. This was made even nicer by the sound of rain behind my head. I have had trouble sleeping lately, but as long as I don't have dreams of terrible weddings and my mother's awful new tattoos, I don't mind waking up intermittently, pattering around the house for a minute or two, and falling back asleep. The extra hours refreshed me, and I felt happily awake when we walked down the hill to have breakfast with our language school friends, who are, in fact, from Portland! Under the palapa roof of Guacamole's beachside patio, we ate chiliquilies verde, mine with scrambled eggs, and beans and tons of fluffy fresh bread. I also treated myself to fresh squeezed orange juice which was bliss.

The rain streamed down through holes in the palapa, soaking the table besides us, but we stayed dry. We talked and ate for over two hours, watching the strangely placid ocean, a sheet of blue and storm brown dotted with the capped heads of fishermen walking in water up to their shoulders, circling their nets. We followed the girls home after lunch, as they were leaving today to go home, and wanted to empty out their refrigerator for us (YES!). They supplied me with things I wouldn't buy myself but reveled in: peanut butter, licorice tea, chocolate, dried cranberries. They also handed over a thick Spanish dictionary, some sweet Ades soy milk, and a jug of guava juice. Though I was sad to see them go, their departure was followed by an unusually delicious smoothie.

This afternoon I sat at the table by my front window with Isa, the art teacher for our camp, who also happens to be my Spanish teacher, making craft plans and supply lists for the camp. Our themes for the three weeks are the Environment, the Five Senses, and Healthy Living, and she thought of some pretty fun crafts. Our meeting was really productive and ended in our trying out of one of my craft ideas: making little people from beads and string, like the beaded lizards we used to make at swim meets what we were little. This was enjoyable, as the crafting only added to my simmering excitement of being able to hold a meeting entirely in Spanish.

I look incredibly excited about my bead figure. Hope Isa was just as excited.

And throughout our afternoon, I couldn't help but say over and over how lovely the smell of the flowers wafting though my house was, and Isa pointed out which flowers were responsible. The smell followed me around for the rest of the evening, as I spent time inside, frying plantains, making supplies lists, talking to my Portland girl friends on Skype, and doing pilates on the floor. 

The weekend reminds me of the interesting, and at times challenging, process of settling into a place where you know you will only live for two months. I could say it induces mild loneliness or homesickness, but it escapes that, because I actually enjoy my evening solitude, and spend time with great people often. I am also very comfortable with my place in the community, recognizing and speaking with people around town, building relationships with kids and adults through work and intercambios, but also retaining a basic lifestyle very similar to that I had in Portland. I seem adjust in new ways to the community with every little experience I have here, which makes me excited about the month to come.