I have never in my life felt heat until I arrived in Mexico in late summer. We are living on a farm/ranch in the jungle just outside a sleepy little village called Akumal. Our accomodations consist of a very, very rudamentary toilet, an outside shower, and a palapa to sleep and do whatever else in.
Thank God for insect netting--that is all I can say. There have been all kinds of strange visitors....praying manits, lizards, spiders (all shapes and sizes), and lots of fire flys. The woman that ownes the ranch is nice enough. She has 17 dogs!! 2 horses, chickens, several cats, and an opposum. It my and Beth's job to take care of all of these lovely creatures. It's a lot of work!!!
I'm not sure how well I'm adjusting--it seems alright and I'm starting to think of the palapa as my home, but sometimes I'm overwhelmed with the fact that I'm here for 2 months whether I like it or not.
Beth and I walked into town this afternoon after finishing our chores and working for almost 6 hours straight!! We tried taking showers but ran out of water, so we had to run back up to the house and used her shower. Finally we were sunblocked up and were ready to start on the 30 min walk to get into town. Within a couple of steps off of the property we found a taranchala that had been run over by a vehicle. Of course I stopped and inspected it, subsequently spending the rest of the walk almost jumping into Beth's arms every time the bushes rustled as we walked by.
By the time she and I got into town we were well on our way to heat stroke. I could feel the backs of my legs start to burn (which was a pleasant trade off to the insatiable ich that is usually present). We stopped in a small bodega to get somethig cool to drink and get out of the sun. We were energetically shooed away and continued the next 10mins to the rest of the town over the highway. We managed to find another spot of shade to rest under. We spent a good 15 mins laughing at the fact that we may actually be sick from the sun and than another 10mins laughing at the fact that I look like a leper. I guess I haven't sat still long enough to notice how badly biten I've been by the nasty little mosquitos. I have welts covering my legs from top to bottom.
I was under the impression that I was taking very good care not to be bit. I apply deet repellent every time I'm going to venture outside to work, however, I start sweating profusely after about 3 mins in the sun, which would explain why the repellent wears off so quickly. I guess the trick is not to sweat. This will definietly be a head scratcher as it is 99 degrees with nearly 80% humidity.
Ah the tropics.....a beautiful paradise so long as you do not set foot in the jungle....
still adjusting...more later.
