First let me start off by saying that my camera doesnt work anymore. Well, that isn´t quite true... it takes pictures, but when I hook it up to computers it wont load. In fact, I get a little zap from it when I hook it up to the computer. Maybe when Im in Asuncion I will look into loading pictures from my memory disk. Oh well.
Anyways, there were some great pictures I had ready to upload with this post so instead I will just describe it to you all.
First, let´s talk about my neighbor, Ña Maria. You all have seen the things she is doing in her garden, and she continues to amaze me. As an experiment against bugs we have set a barrier of marigolds along the edge of one row in her garden. She previously had tomatoes in this row, so we decided to plant lima beans now since they grow well in the summer and it will help recouperate the soil. Currently, there is a beautiful double row of golden marigolds in flower with lush limabeans growing up a makeshift trellis in between the flowers. Not a single bug. Awesome.
In other news, the melons planted between the pineapple are doing really well, almost complete coverage of the soil and they are starting to fruit.
I finally bought a hand mill for grinding grains and what not. Almost all Paraguayans have one that they use for grinding corn into corn flour, or for chicken feed, or grinding whatever needs to be ground. Now that I have bought one I have been on a grinding frenzy! I grind my own flour, I grind flax seeds in the morning for my oatmeal, I grind peanuts to make my own peanutbutter. It is great.
There was a picture of my dinner from a couple nights ago. It was lentil and squash curry with homemade carrot chutney and brown rice and barley flour chapatis sprinkled with corriander and black sesame seeds. Yup, I eat pretty well in the campo. It is too bad I cant post the picture...
Bedbugs. Atleast, that is what I think they are. I first tried getting rid of them in a half-assed manner, and I payed for it. They did not go away and they went to town on my body the nights that followed. I decided that this meant war. I took my mattress outside, sprayed it with bug spray (recomended by my doctor...still I question it) Brought my bedframe out, washed it with boiling water, then with bleach water, then sprayed it with bugspray, and left it in the scorching Paraguayan sun all day. I washed all my clothes in a mild bleach and detergent solution, including all my linens. I basically fumigated my room with bug spray and locked it up to let it soak for the day. This was the first time I let Ña Maria help me with my laundry. She always comes by and asks if she can clean my clothes for me....she, like all the other Paraguayans, can´t understand why a male is washing his own clothes. Under normal circumstances I respectfully turn down the offer, but since I was washing everything and was a bit overwhelmed I accepted. I still felt bad about it. After wards I went out and chopped down firewood for her as a sign of appreciation and I think I will bake her banana bread as a thankyou gift.
I am a bit worried though. After all that work, I think I might still be getting eaten by something. I don´t know what else to do honestly. Lesson learned: Dont let the bedbugs bite. Never, ever let them bite. I used to think bedbugs were silly little things that were easy to take care of. How silly I was, how foolish. Bedbugs are the devil.
When Im not scratching myself I am reading. I am almost done with When You are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris. This is one of the very few books that has made me laugh out loud. I hope there are more of his books in the library. I always love it too when he throws in a little bit about Chapel Hill, or Durham...reminds me of home.
