Wednesday

Coughing until you vomit is no fun.

Neither is discovering that your new sofa is covered in mold, and it is starting to grow on your walls.

Especially when you were up all night, shaking and clenching your teeth because you are hypersensitive to the only cough medicine that works on this cough.

Fortunately today is sunny, and since I am not tired I popped out of bed at dawn and started washing.  Did some research on how to get rid of mildew.  I'm not too hopeful it will stay gone as my downstairs is carved into the mountain with no good airflow, but at least for now it appears to be clean.  We'll see if it dries.  From what I've read on the internet, they say vinegar is the key.  Bleach will make the walls look white, but will not stop the mildew from coming back.  So I bleached, let it dry and the used half a big bottle of white vinegar on the walls and sofa.  I still have to do the cushions, but I am waiting until tomorrow when the humidity is supposed to be out of the 90's, all of the way down to 69!  If only I could get the sofa out into the sun and back in if it rains.  That would be ideal.  But the weather changes so quickly and it's a tough job.  I don't have two big men at my beck and call for that.

I have been keeping the window open in the downstairs as much as possible, but it started when I was gone for two weeks and has gotten worse with five days of constant rain while I was sick in bed.

Yesterday Marcela took me to the city really quickly.  She needed a tank of gas.  I needed to restock my house with groceries after being gone.  We went to the closest super (supermarket) called Mas x Menos (translated More for Less).  Locals like to say you pay more and get less, but I had never compared before.  It is a chain which has a lot of things from North America.  I shopped there once with a team when I came for the first time and we all thought it was very exotic.  Now I find myself shocked at how North American it seems compared to the other supers.  Shelves full of plastic wrap and tin foil, Brawny paper towels, two areas of baking supplies, Stoneyfield and Chobani yogurt.  Of course, all of this comes at a price.  It cost FIVE TIMES what a normal shopping trip costs and I didn't even get bread, cheese, or sandwich makings.  I will never do my general shopping there again!  But it was nice to see what is available to those who can afford it.

Lourdes said that her meeting with a Canadian organization went well.  They are open to helping us in a variety of ways.  In the past they have sent teams in for 2-3 days.  Now they may spend months, or even send a single person to work directly with us for extended periods.  Lourdes is excited to have the help.  Five more days until the Breakfast Program starts up again.  It usually is smaller the first few days until word gets out that we are open again.  I wonder how many kids we will be serving by the end of next week.

I am also wondering how Bismar is doing.  His Dad died while I was away.  He has always been one of my favorite boys, very hard working and serious about his studies and his faith.  I hope he is okay.  Lourdes says he still plans to go back to private school.  I'm sure it will be hard to leave his grieving family behind, but I hope he is able to find the strength to go.  This education is his chance to rise above poverty and have a new way of life.

An old picture of Bismar and me as I give him Dr Suess' book Oh, the Places You'll Go before he goes away to school.