A Cultural Experience

 We are getting pretty well adjusted to our apartment and it is starting to really feel like home.  But, just as it is with any new place to live it has its quirks.  One thing that I miss is having a bathtub.  Trying to get these girls showered is one of my least favorite jobs.  The water takes like 15 minutes to warm up and then it turns to a scalding and terrifying temperature.  When I finally get it to where it feels okay the water pressure is so weak that it is like they are being watered with a watering can.  I shouldn't complain because it is nice that we have hot water and all that, but I will be glad when we can get them back into the tub and I can really scrub their hair out.
Another thing that has been a little tricky is that I've been so worried about the couches.  They are yellow and don't really seem conducive to little girls with dirty feet.  I've been paranoid about keeping them clean.  The other day one of them got some pen right in the middle of one of the cushions.  I was flipping out and went after it, scrubbing pretty hard with a wet wipe which took the ink right out.  I didn't realize that I had caused an even bigger problem for myself until the wet spot dried and it revealed just how dirty the rest of the couch was.  Now there is an almost white spot surrounded by the grimy yellow that I thought was the original color.  Now I feel less worried about how we will contaminate the couch and more worried about how it will contaminate us.
The power goes out quite a bit, which is probably a good thing for us because it gives us no choice but to turn off the cartoons.  The kitchen is stocked with enough tools that we can cook, but also few enough that we have to get pretty creative in what and how we make things.
It was just this morning that I was getting up and was going to comment to Brandon that I really am starting to love this little place when he jumped because he had found a cockroach in the cupboard.  Then, about five minutes after he left I saw one jutting across the floor of the kitchen.
I am not usually a squeamish person.  I don't freak out about spiders or mice or other creepy crawlies, but cockroaches seriously gives me the heebie-jeebies.  They are just so sneaky and quick.  The girls, of course, were fascinated and I trapped it under the lid of one of our pans.  It is still there and even though the lid isn't see through I can imagine the little beast under there and it makes me shiver.  I'm not touching it until Brandon gets home and I threatened the girls that if anyone even tries to let it loose there will be no more cartoons, ever.
I'm afraid that if we've already found two that this isn't going to be an isolated incident.  Oh well, at least it isn't a scorpion...yet.
And for those in the U.S. that are breaking heat records you'll be happy to know that we are getting a bunch of rain and cool weather.  The other day we got caught in a downpour and had to cower under an overhang until it passed.  We are used to rain in Eugene, but this is a very different kind of rain.  Instead of the watering can that I mentioned earlier, this is more like sitting under a bucket being poured.  It makes for some pretty creative walking afterward too because there is basically no drainage system and the roads just become rivers. 

 We got caught again later that night and we thought we would wait it out until a very kind taxi driver insisted that he take us home.  It is cool that people are so nice.
We would have been fine except that the lightning and thunder were so unbelievably loud.  In Eugene the climate is too humid for storms like that and the girls were crying because they were scared.  Once we got home and could watch it out the window they started thinking it was pretty cool.  I have to admit that during the night when the thunder was so loud that it was shaking the building that my heart beat even got going pretty fast.

We went to a big place that is sort of like an indoor Saturday Market.  They were selling everything you can think of including live birds and bunny rabbits.  There were also several chickens.  We didn't take a lot of photos because most everyone was closing up after the rain.  There were shoes, clothes, piñatas, pirated DVDs, jewelry, flowers, meat, fruits and veggies, basically anything that you can think of that can be sold.  We thought about getting something to eat there until we came across a little food stand that had fruit displayed.  One section was completely crawling with flies.  I seriously couldn't even figure out what kind of fruit was under there.  Instead we opted for tortas at a different place. 

 Brandon took his students to see the Lucha Libre.  I was bummed that I had to stay home with the kids but when he got home he said that it had been kind of a wild experience.

 All of the students agreed that they were expecting something crazy but that the show was even wilder than any of them had anticipated.  There were of course lots of masks and great acrobatics but I guess there was one guy that was pretty raunchy and came out with a bunch of girls that he treated to lap dances.

 There was a group of luchadores that were the "Psycho Circus" wearing clown make-up and also one dressed like the devil.  Everyone said that in between a bunch of standing around there were definitely some amazing moves and that it was a cultural experience that they wouldn't forget.  If you want more details you'll have to ask Brandon, or you'll have to go to one yourself, if you dare.