Let the Butiki Stay Inside

I love butikis.  No really, I do.  Forget the days when I would huddle, frozen in fear, at whatever was creeping along my wall. Butikis are my new best friends.  They're my knights in shining armor.  Why?  Because those hardcore lizards eat spiders.  They eat all sorts of creepy crawlies that would otherwise be eating me, and since I'm more bug-bite than human right now, I say let the butikis stay inside.

Aside from my newly formed allegiance with the lizards, New Years celebrations have come and gone.  All over the city, fireworks exploded from dusk until pretty much dawn.  Some of our neighbors set off their last fire crackers while we ate our breakfast this morning.  The near-constant explosions and the residual smoke made it really feel like a war zone.  It was both exciting and terrifying.  As midnight drew closer, anything that could be used to make noise was put to use: air horns, chain saws, car engines, karaoke, empty cans, you name it. 

So, Happy New Year!  And bring it on 2017.  I've been waiting for you.

A Canadian, A German, and An American Take A Hike...

For anyone who doesn't know, tropical rainy season can put a damper on outdoor activities.  I'm not complaining, really, it's just the facts.  The weather was on our side yesterday and today, though, so I was allowed to take the day off of teaching for some outdoor exploration.  Monday sun dried the mud a little bit and Tuesday shine let three of us set out on a hike to one of the surrounding peaks.  Don't be mistaken, these mountains don't let you hike for free.  My price: ant bites the size of quarters, an attack from grass that would like to slice anyone's smaller appendages off,  a purple toenail, a run-in with a bird-eating spider, and a migraine the size of Texas.  Trust me, I know because I drove across the Lone Star State once.

Skipping ahead to afterward for a moment, I learned that there is something distinctly disturbing about hopping in the shower after a hike only to watch the carious bugs crawl/fall off you in droves.  I hiked a good amount in the States, but I've never had so many bugs nestled in my clothes after a hike as I did today.  My coping mechanism is as follows:

1. Take several deep, calming breaths.
2. Repeat the mantra "The view was worth it" over and over, both out loud and in your head.
3. Scrub hard.
4. Pray they all go down the drain and that nothing burrowed in your skin.
5. At that thought, repeat Step 1.

Back to the hike, though.   We were able to follow mud *ahem* 'dirt' roads up the first crest and along the ridge to the higher peak.  About a quarter mile from the top, we got to hack our way through with a machete!  I was in itchy, crusty, soggy heaven.  Despite the knowledge that other people have journeyed to that peak before, I felt like an explorer.  Why not?  I was exploring things new to me, and isn't that the point?  After a couple minutes of standing in the death grass (as I like to call it) staring at the view, we headed back down.  There were a couple moments where I literally held onto a vine and propelled part of the way down.  Like I said, totally worth all of the pain.

Once we got back and ate lunch, the migraine laid me out for a good chunk of the afternoon.  Then I regained some consciousness, I saw a message I had missed from my mom: "What is the name of your blog?"  Um...oops?  So, hi, Mom.  Love you.  Here's the blog I told you I was going to start.