July Break

Ok people. T – 4months. Well, maybe. As well as not actually knowing when school ends this year (October, so as to get out before November 4th elections. December, taking a break for November elections then returning to finish the last few weeks of the school year), I also do not yet know when I get to go back home. You just have to listen to the rumors, and maybe one will be true. Communication is not a strong point of operations in this country.

We are currently on our July break. I have 3 more days to do some rainy day yoga, go running to the Momotombo volcano, do some cooking (my new kick is Salvadorian “pupusas”, a sort of corn pancake stuffed with beans, spices, and cheese), hang out with my kids, play pool with some of the guys on my street with no life path whom I’m secretly mentoring, and do my normal chores. The 19th of this month will be our Independence day. It involves a countrywide caravan straight to the capital, Managua. Buses don’t run that day because they all.drive.down. It’s crazy! President Ortega will give a speech, and people will celebrate the country. Until things get political and rowdy. I’m certainly not leaving that day. I’ll just listen to the “bombas” (with the boom of a firework, without the pretty lights) from my house.

I finally felt my first earthquake last weekend. 5.7 off the coast! Instead of the rumbling of thunder, or of a big diesel truck going by, this rumbling didn’t come from just one direction. It was coming from all directions, but mostly coming from under the bed. I was almost certain what it was, and confirmed it later on the earthquake.usgs.gov website which lists all earthquakes in the world up to the hour.

So, I’ve been cutting my own hair…this WHOLE time with my medical kit scissors. Really, my hair isn’t disgusting in that obvious way, because it’s always up (remember, it’s a little too toasty here to have your hair down). But I finally set out to get a real Nica haircut. I saw a woman cleaning her shop when I entered Leon, and I decided to just go for it. There was only one salon chair (err, plastic lawn chair) and she wasn’t busy. So I went in to what was actually the front room of her house to realize… it was a tranny. Look, it’s cool. I don’t judge. In fact, I’m kind of fascinated as to why (do they feel they don’t belong in the body they were born in)??! When I let loose my hair, she gasped and said “ohh, your hair is SO beautiful”, except in Spanish, duh. That would be quite a trip to have a perfect English speaking tranny cutting my hair. Anyways, I laughed that she could even think I had nice hair, but I took that compliment and ran with it. She did a fine job, and my hair feels SO much better and healthier now, totally worth $2.50. Though later I found out that my friend Carla only pays $1. Drat.


Me and some kiddies at school


Teacher appreciation day