Gringos come here skinny and leave fat

Guess that's a common saying around here. And I believe it. My mom emailed me the other day to see if there was anything she needed to send down here. I almost thought to ask for bigger pants! The food here is not very nutritious, but there is a lot of eat. The first week here I bet I was eating 6 cups of white rice a day PLUS whatever else my family served me . Usually a couple eggs, chicken (or at least something that tastes like chicken), and fried onions. LUckily, I learned how to say "I really like the food, but could I have less" in Spanish, so it's not as bad now. The bad thing about carbs though, is that they don't leave you full for very long. Oh well...enough complaining. At least I have food!

Got into a regular schedule to go running at 6am each morning. We have to bring one of the guardsmen with us, but he's a good sport about it. He likes to sprint at the end of the runs to make sure he beats us. I try to make sure he doesn't. Pretty sure one of us is going to sprain our ankles one of these mornings as we race down the uneven, pot-hole-ridden, dirt road! Dang competitiveness :)

The longer I stay here, the less worried I get about eating something that will make me ill. Yesterday I had strawberries (the forbidden fruit because it's so hard to clean well) and today I had lunch at a foodstand without getting a recommendation from the mission first (but I was with the PT I work with, so I assume it was safe...). AND I brush my teeth with tap water. Such a rebel haha!

Next big task that's coming up...LAUNDRY! It is so windy and dusty here that my clothes get so dirty. My family does not have a washing machine, but my host mom said she'd show me how to do it by hand.  "Clean enough" is kind of my motto while I'm down here anyway! I've worked it out to where I can be all showered using 2 buckets of water only. Luckily it is warm here, but it still doesn't make dumping a bucket of cold water over my head any easier sometimes!

Today, I think I am going to take advantage of part of the siesta time (1-3 everyday!) and take a little nap :)