Today has been a rather busy day, and I’m exhausted because of it.
I had a terrible time sleeping last night. When I mentioned this to Ken, he immediately said, “Insects?” Apparently this is a very common problem here. I tried a number of different solutions, even resorting to covering my entire body with the blanket up to my nose. Unfortunately, even this proved to be futile, so I have decided that the mosquitoes suck blood telepathically. The end result was the same: I got out of bed having hardly slept and covered in mosquito bites. I think there’s at least a dozen on my face alone.
In addition to the constant buzzing in my ears, the bites were incredibly itchy. I seriously thought I was breaking out in hives because I could feel the swelling on my face and neck. Nope, just bugs.
I’m going to assume that everyone got ready before me, since when I went to take a shower, there was no hot water left. Tired, cold, and miserable, I then proceeded to shave my face with a double edged safety razor and cold water. Surprisingly, that part went really well. No razor burn!
Once I dressed and went out to the living room, Ken and I discussed the situation, and he gave me an insect repellent that plugs into an outlet. We’ll see how that works tonight, but I’m sure my body will invent a new reason not to sleep soundly.
Breakfast was a combination of refried beans, hard boiled eggs, oatmeal, and toast. Figuring I would need a lot of concentration, I had a cup of coffee with that. I probably should have had a few more.
The rest of the morning was spent studying or attempting to help the sisters cook. I helped remove several bones from the stew, and I even pressed a few tortillas. The stove is a pretty awesome contraption that’s essentially a giant hotplate fueled by a fireplace. I should totally get one of those. I’m sure it would be to code.
Slowly, people started trickling in, piling out of cars and giving greetings to those they haven’t seen in a long time. At 10, we all settled down for the first meeting, which Ken graciously translated for me.
Lunch was a bowl of rice topped with a stew of sorts (mostly beef and white beans), a cole slaw type salad, and tortillas. I squatted next to Alan, and we connected pieces of the past few years that were intertwined. For instance, I once went to the great wall with his cousin. Fancy that!
Ken was speaking in the afternoon meeting, so we both agreed that I should just tough it and see what I could understand on my own. Unfortunately, this means my notes were much sparser and consisted more of guesses and vocabulary than substantial content, but it was a good experience anyway.
After the meeting, there was the usual time of goodbyes as people slowly packed up their things and piled into trucks. There were about a dozen people in one, squished in the cab or sitting on a think pad in the back, ready for the two hour ride to the other side of the country. I would have like to have tried more conversations, but it’s hard when both parties are shy. Fortunately, there will be many more opportunities.
I suppose I should try to take a nap. I’m fully exhausted, and it seems like the right thing to do at the right time. My room now smells like warm air freshener, so hopefully the mosquitoes will go someplace smellier.
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