Big Day

[TomD]

We had no A/C for a week once after a hurricane... that was enough for me.

We even had air in Honduras when I was there

[Kip]

It exists here, but those who aren't wealthy can't afford it - or the required electricity to run it. Most folks who do have it use a single room unit only operated at night when sleeping.

With the sporadic availability of electricity it's sometimes a moot point anyway. Depending on how the support goes this first year, we might look into a bedroom unit next year.

[Kip]

Now experiencing my first round of "gastric disturbances" required to build my immune system up for local critters. Awesome.

[Kip]

There are a couple folks on our street that keep parrots as pets. One has trained itself to mimic the sound of a car alarm (which, alongside the car *horn*, is the national anthem here). Ridiculous bird.

[jledou]

There are bars on all the doors and windows, so they can be left open most all the time. Cross breezes work wonders.

Good thing them skeeters see the bars and stay out of the house

I imagine in about a year you will be able to look back at some of these posts and have a really good laugh. I know we are all having a great time following along.

[Kip]

Without A/C, it's not feasible to sleep with the windows closed. Having a fan on high helps with both the heat and bugs, keeping them from landing. Still lots of bites, but my mind says the fans help anyway....

Hopefully we can avoid chikungunya and dengue, although it's probably just a matter of time

[Kip]

One of the coolest things lately is a series of impromptu music performances to which I've been treated. There's a Haitian work crew putting up a building across the street. Randomly, 3-4 of them will grab buckets and play incredible improvisations. I dig it.

[Kip]

Also cool........ Our house has no carpet nor much of anything to hold odors. I've been smoking inside as much as possible early on to establish a precedent.

So far, so good.

[TomD]

Also cool........ Our house has no carpet nor much of anything to hold odors. I've been smoking inside as much as possible early on to establish a precedent.

So far, so good.

Grandfather rule...solid plan

[Kip]

Went down to the local barber shop for a haircut. I had no idea what all was being said except they were giving one guy a hard time who wanted a specific haircut to pacify his girlfriend. For about $4 US, you get a cut and shave with plenty of detailed straight razor work. My hair is actually very similar to the typical Dominican (when left to grow out), so they fixed me right up. Just like the old school barber shop my Dad took me to when I was a kid, only en Español....