It's been a fairly uneventful week with the exception of Lady Gray experiencing her first real mechanical issues in our time of ownership. The clutch is leaking and we're officially on foot again. Uggggh. How spoiled and lazy one becomes. A mechanic was supposed to come take a look at it today, but apparently he was having troubles with his motorbike. I'm not sure if we should be weary of that fact or not but regardless, Monday is the day as few Nicaraguans work on Sunday. In the meantime, we are dangerously close to being out of propane, our Gigante money stash is tapped out and our food rations are dwindling. If anyone is going to Rivas like, tomorrow, please let us know. We need a ride. Seriously.
There has been a lot of progress on the house this week. The drywall is being hung, the spaces between the floorboards have been filled, the water should already be connected and the electrical sockets have been installed, but not wired. We bought some more plants at the Rivas School of Agriculture including two plumeria trees (the official flower of Nicaragua) and an avocado tree. We also bought a bunch of Eureka palms to line the front of the deck which will also hide the underside of the house. I hope Ian's dad Jon, is smiling. We know how you love those Eurekas! All in all, it seems to be coming along much quicker these days. The most recent debate is whether or not to buy a very expensive propane refrigerator, or to buy an equally priced second solar panel to power a much more inexpensive electric fridge. We seem to be leaning in the direction of the latter. As the time of move-in draws nearer, these are the conversations that have ensued. Admittedly, very exciting.
On the surf front, there was a fairly decent swell this week. Ian scored some mackers at Pangas. I finally busted out my 6'3" rounded pin and am in love. I can't believe it took me this long to ride it. Not to mention, there are a pair of penguins on the underside of it and two half naked ladies staring up at me from the nose. It has a much different artistic air to it than the demented skull of my Lost fish. And it's faster. I got a great feel for it at Amarillo over the last couple of days and have been having better luck going left. Yea for new surfboards!!!
And finally, let's talk bugs. I'm not sure which of the foul creatures I should start with. We stomped out another scorpion running across the floor of our bedroom last week. The flies have been absolutely atrocious. Yesterday, as I was making another batch of bagels, I became so maddened that I finally resorted to Anna's mom's ancient Chinese fly detractor trick - a clear plastic bag filled with water and pennies hung on the wall over the butcher block. That, and half a bottle of Raid seemed to do the trick which incidentally, led to Puna devouring their insecticide-coated carcasses scattered all over the kitchen floor. Raid is like candy to her! Then there are the beetles. Two inch beetles that somehow slip through the window cracks and explode entrails when you smash them. Then there are the locusts. Last night there was some weird cross between a giant horned beetle and the largest roach known to mankind trailing four-inch antennas on either side. In our bedroom. We thought he was dead, but this afternoon as he lay on his back near the doorway, his arms were still moving - ten hours after his initial blow. And worst of all, the zancudos. Smaller than a gnat, these f*#^ers bite and you can't even see them. Everyone in Gigante is covered in bites. Itchy bites. Very itchy bites. And last but not least, there was the poisonous snake that Felix slaughtered in the yard the other day. Ah, the tropics. At least we're not working.
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