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We've been here for six weeks now, six weeks of adjusting, of figuring out the cheapest markets and how to make my own bread. Finding a balance and a almost comfort level not only for myself but for my child. I wash clothes nearly by hand and hang them on a line. We compost everything and use dry beans for cooking, a process I'm slowly figuring out mostly because I need to plan ahead. We don't have a TV and I have to travel into town and pay to use the internet to write this post.
Seven weeks ago I might not thought I was capable of doing these things but I as I sit here today I can honestly say most of that is easy, and if not easy then at least manageable. But what I still cannot adjust to is the bugs.
Bugs. Of course there are bugs in the jungle. Our little house with a sinc roof and rotting wooden walls provides little barrier from creatures that are seeking shelter. After suffering too many bites we've hung mosquito nets over each bed which protects us from at least the mosquitos but the little ones, fleas maybe can still climb right inside. I'm squeamish and far too squeamish for a place like this. The rest of my family is less so, my daughter thinks the different bugs are fascinating, and I've woken up in the morning twice to find strange creatures inside a box on the table, bugs J caught in the night and instead of releasing was holding onto till the morning so he could identify it before letting it go. One of these bugs looked like a mini-dinosaur, I swear it did, but no matter my near hysteria the fact remains that these bugs are here and this is where they live. Oh, and they were here first. I need to remember that too.
So I know I have to let go. I have to stop insisting that I can keep the bugs out and stop worrying about the ones who come in. I need to let go a bit and realize that we will take precautions and we will be okay.
But that doesn't stop me from freaking out in the middle of the night when I think something is crawling on me only to find out it's really just the sheet.
related posts:
http://www.blogher.com/humanitourism-travel-volunteer-make-difference
http://www.blogher.com/node/14558
http://www.blogher.com/node/11246
