survival kit.

welp, my flight to atlanta leaves in exactly one day and twenty hours. i'm so excited to back in the states and sleep in my bed and take a shower without fear of a scorpion coming in (this is a true story). 

i thought it would be cool to make a post of all the tools that have helped me survive these past three weeks.

 

face stuff: 

pixi glow tonic 

cover girl mascara

covert girl lipstick 

nyx by cream 

almost healthyglow foundation

soap and glory wonderbrow 

can you believe this is all the makeup i brought? i can't. i knew it was going to be hot but i truly had no idea. the tonic was nice to use in the morning and i'm glad i didn't bring toner because of how harsh it would have been on my skin. the almay foundation was supposed to gradually tan my face (because i didn't bring bronzer) but that did not work at all. my lashes and brows have been on point though so i guess that's all that matters.

 

 

 

the tools: 

headlamp

sunscreen

bug spray 

fanny pack

water bottle

hammer

steripen 

all of these tools have been crucial, almost like another limb to me. the headlamp was awesome because of how dark it gets in the village (the sun sets at 6 and there are no street lights) i didn't really wear it on my head though because the bugs would go straight for it. so maybe just a flashlight next time. 

this bug spray saved me. i've been here for three weeks and have gone hiking several times. as of my second to last night i only have four big bites. that is awesome. id recommend the brand because it never bothered my skin which is good considering how much i used (i've gone through four bottles). 

my beautiful fanny pack. extremely unattractive but definitely a necessity. i should probs get street cred since the brand is patagonia. 

the grayl and steripen (the flashlight looking thing in the last photo) were amazing. i never worried about safe drinking water so that was cool. looked like i was performing science experiments the whole time but knowing my water was safe to drink was such a good feeling. if rei is reading this, ben from the camping section of barrett parkway location really knows his stuff. 

the hammer has helped me kill scorpions. so there's that. 

 

honorable mentions:

misquito net

baby wipes

dry shampoo 

deodorant 

my beautiful misquito net, i could write all day about this thing. it was easy to set up and it kept all the bugs out. i slept so well knowing that the creepy crawlers were not going to wind up in my bed. unfortunately it is incredibly flammable. i won't hold that against it though. 

i would say the baby wipes are important when traveling to a third world country because of the scarce water supply. we are supposed to get water every three days but there have been days when that did not happen. the wipes were a huge help when showers were not possible. (can i sound any more attractive) 

aerosol deodorant came in clutch because it's so hot here that regular deodorant will melt in your armpit and flake off all over your clothes and chair (this is also a true story, but not to me thank goodness) 

 

other than having every piece of gravel stuck in my shoe at all times, the chacos were awesome. 

the nix was such a good book, perfect for those nights you can't sleep because the rain is too loud (we have a tin roof here). 

 

my sweet little Bible. it is the amplified edition and has been with me since freshman year of college. the heat got the best of it but i'm hoping i can fix it with duct tape once i get back to the states. i recently purchased a new Bible from #shereadstruth which i love but the amplified translation is my favorite. 

well that's all! i'll hopefully be writing my last post while waiting for my plane to arrive! 

this is my new favorite song. apparently i have a thing for canadians.

the weeknd.

the power has gone out for hours at a time each day this week. i never noticed how much i depended on those fans pushing hot air around the room. it was 119 degrees, how much of a difference does that fan actually make? it makes a huge difference. 

we have also been out of water for the past three days which means no showers, laundry, and even flushing the toilet is a no go. 

if you have never worried about taking a shower or flushing the toilet you need to praise the Lord. 

so anyway, the weekend was fun but the days following have been tough to say the least. 

after school let out on friday we went into the city to get a manicure. the salon wasn't exactly like the ones in the states, there were no massage chairs and the tub to soak your feet was a rubbermaid container instead of a heated jacuzzi. regardless, it was nice to finally be out of the village and my total cost was 350 limps or 15 dollars. 

after the salon we walked down the street for dinner at a 'mom and pop' restaurant which was really just two tents, a grill, and patio furniture set up along the road. i have found that this format is common here, food permits are not necessary so really anyone can choose a median or street corner to start up their grill and make some cash. while concerned about the nonexistent health score, the dinner was actually really good. i have forgotten the name but i had a tortilla with queso and pork. 

we headed to the beach the next morning, a spot called tortuga bay. i really liked being able to set my hammock up between palm trees and read my book, 'the nix.' we went on a banana boat and it wasn't until the boat took off for the horizon that i realized how terrified i was. i just knew i was going to fall off into the water and be carried away by a shark. i knew it. well, i actually did end up falling off the boat. shocker. when i made it out of the water and was just floating there i was afraid that no one noticed that i was gone. i know how silly that sounds but whatever. as i yelled for help i saw that another girl was in the water with me. so there i was, floating in the middle of the ocean waiting for the boat to loop around and pick us up. it was kind of cool. 

i enjoyed the second half of the ride so much more. i had already survived my biggest fear so what else could happen?  

after church on sunday we went hiking. there was an abandoned house waiting for us at the top which kind of freaked me out because i made the mistake of watching 'blair witch project' one time and i had to convince myself it wasn't the same house. i'm a moron.

this is the song i was listening to on the mountaintop.

 

 

           

hammers and fanny packs.

it's difficult to feel pretty here.

well, it's hard for me to feel pretty in the states too, but here it's on a different level. 

i smell like a strange cocktail of heat, bug spray, sunscreen, and days old clothing. my hair is free in its natural state and for most that is a good thing but for me that just means frizz.  top all of it off with my nike sneakers and fanny pack and it takes all i can to not run and blend in with the wall. 

this is where i am supposed to say that this trip has taught me that i am fearfully and wonderfully made and that i am beautiful no matter what instagram says. 

nah fam. i have not learned that at all. 

there are wordly treasures that i can deal without such as: fancy cars, snapchat glasses, designer clothes, an extravagant wedding, extra guacamole. but damn y'all, i just want to feel pretty.

a week into my trip, the homesickness only comes when it is time to go to bed. that's when i long for the comforts of home the most. things like air conditioning, a spider-less bathroom, and water that won't kill you. last night i saw a scorpion chilling on the wall above my bed and we had to google how to kill it. the internet was not helpful in the least and the only advice it gave us was to either pack up and leave or burn the place down. we started googling facts about scorpions to learn more about our nemesis. things like if they were fast, if they can squirt their venom, can they survive without their tail. we decided to stab it with a broom and then hammer it once it was on the ground. after a few practice stabs we succeeded in destroying the thing. 

today i learned that mean girls is almost as universal as beyoncé. i just assumed being mean wasn't possible here, the village is only three streets, there is only so much drama that can happen before everyone stops talking to each other. 

i was grading papers during recess when minely came in and sat at her desk. it isn't unusual for kids to skip recess because it's 104 degrees here on average so i didn't think anything of it until she burst into tears. she told me that throughout the day she and the other girls were joking with each other by hiding one another's things (a workbook on the slide, a pencil next to the boy she had a crush on, that kind of thing) and everyone was having fun until suddenly they weren't. minely hid yajiara's headband and the spirit of regina george descended upon the playground. the other three ganged up on minely all the while minely couldn't figure out why things had changed so quickly. 

i couldn't answer that because i am still not sure why it happens even in my own life. i have been blindsided by so many friends over the years. there are definitely friendships that i can point to and say, 'yeah, me and my huge mouth ruined that one' but there are others that have gone unsolved. we were friends one day and the next day we weren't. 

i brought the girls together and told them that playing around and joking is fun but once someone gets hurt it needs to stop. the headband was returned, apologies were exchanged, and they were all rushing out the door to enjoy the rest of recess. 

if only everything was that easy to solve.

during their nap time i caught yoely passing a notecard to jeremy. she smiled as she handed me the notecard, she thought she was slick because it was written in spanish. the note was in too much slang for me to figure out on my own, but my google translate app is super cool and helped me out. what i read shocked me. yoely was telling a boy all the reasons why he could never be her boyfriend. the list was mean and even racist. i was stunned. this girl is so cute and sweet, it broke my heart to know that she could say such things. 

as it turns out, the boy didn't even want to be her boyfriend, he liked yoely's friend  genesis. he wrote genesis a love letter and she was about to throw it away when yoely asked to read it. yoely offered to write a letter back to tell him to leave genesis alone. 

hearing that crushed me even more. yoely created drama that wasn't even hers to begin with. how many times have i done that over the years? you'd think i'd cook more considering how much i love stirring the pot. it's hard seeing your flaws in someone else. 

it was even worse when i and the principal had a conference with yoely and her mother. i think the mom was more upset that we wasted her time.  

and that wasn't even the end of my day! we played a game of kickball with the other grades during p.e today and the ball hit minely square in the face and knocked her over. this poor girl couldn't get a break today. the boys kept imitating her reaction throughout the game and i realized the embarrassment of being hit was more painful for her than actually being hit. i told her to laugh. i told her that she couldn't let them see her cry because that's what they wanted. if she laughed along with them it would stop being funny. you can't give your enemy content (like tears, a response, a screenshot of how you blocked them) because that's what they feed on. 

i don't know if that is what you're supposed to say to a ten year old but we both laughed and kept playing the game. 

the most beautiful song.