1. Cold - People keep telling me that since I'm Canadian, I ought to have no problem with the cold fronts that come through La Campa during the colder months. It's true that Canadian winters are significantly colder than Honduran winters, but there we have indoor heating systems, and houses that seal (more or less). Although the temperature here has not dropped below 10C, I believe that I have been colder here in La Campa than I have been in most Canadian winters since there is no way to warm up unless you go to bed. However, I don't have the language to explain how cold it actually gets in Canada. On the coldest days, I get asked, "Is it this cold in Canada?" And I say yes, but can't describe it, because they've already appropriated the coldest words for the weather here: helado, hielo. Both words are related to ice. As a noun, helado means ice cream!
2. Young men - Young men, and occasionally older men as well can be a real nuisance. Although I am now a (mostly) normal appearance in La Campa, many young man still like to stare at me as I walk past, or make comments to each other, or make the sound that is the equivalent of a whistle, or practice a few phrases of English ("hey baby" is popular). And last week I got a text from an unknown asking me to be his girlfriend. I ignored the text, so he phoned me the next day, saying he was my admirer. So I hung up. Luckily, I've had no other propositions.
3. Dust - It's dry. No proper rain since December 1. The roads are made of dirt. Cars drive on them regularly. The roads are rarely flat, so the cars sometimes spin their wheels while trying to climb the hill. These are perfect conditions for the formation of dust. The dust outside my house is probably close to an inch thick in places, but I've walked through two inches of it. I've never understood why dusting a house daily is necessary in many old books that I've read, but now I can understand the purpose. Items that I used in the morning feel grainy by night.
4. Insects - I'm normally not bothered by insects. At university, I was the one to get rid of any unwanted little friend. I'm still not bothered, exactly. A disgusted fascination is more accurate. Large flat spiders who run really fast, and whose legs detach remarkably easily if you don't aim the boot right. The odd cockroach or two. Or a long, narrow unknown bug, approximately the size and shape of a highlighter, with pincers. The little girls next door called it an animal, not an insect.
5. Disappearance of soil samples - Back in November, five people from a nearby village collected soil samples to be sent to a laboratory for a nutrient analysis. They were boxed up properly, taked to the shipping company in Gracias, and shipped. Fast forward to January, when I called the laboratory to ask why I hadn't received the results yet. They told me they never received them. So I called the shipping company, and asked if they could track where the package had gone. No help from them. So now these samples need to be taken another time.
¡Que barbaridad!
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