OK, enough already!

I am just about fed up with things here. If it is not one thing than it’s another.

If it is your turn to clean the dishes, the kitchen and the bathroom then of course, the water goes out. So then you are stuck hauling buckets of water from the silo just so you can wash up. The biggest problem with that is the path to the water goes directly through the territory of some nasty red ants. These ants just absolutely go to town on your feet. If you walk in their area, they will chow down on you innocent skin — and these guys are not happy to just take a nibble. They burrow their little devilish heads deep and spread their disgusting poison which causes you to itch and turn an unhealthy shade of purple so then you are forced to pick out the ant between your thumb and pointer finger. As you do it, you can literally see your skin tugging out as the jaws of the ant clamp tight, and then you have to kill it.

Let me tell you, this is frustrating for me because when I was little, ants were my favorite organisms in the world. I would put them in jars and watched as they burrowed, so for me, killing these ants is like you strangling your favorite childhood teddy bear...

So you have that going for you...

Then, if you finally snag some free time from the hustle and bustle orientation to go to the post-office and grab some stamps the old-timer behind the desk tells you that they are out of stamps, when you can clearly see stacks of them sitting behind the guy, and that you should probably try the bigger post office a few miles down the road.

“But the bigger post office down the road will be closed before I get there,” you tell the man, “couldn’t I please buy some of those stamps behind you?”

“Down the road...” he says and points his decrepit old finger to the outside.

So you leave, cursing under your breath, and get caught in a rain-storm...

Just about had it up to here, I tell you.

I guess that the biggest thing is that I am used to living on my own time. I am used to having my own space and my own pace.

Back home, for the most part, I could get up when I wanted to, go to sleep when I wanted to and unwind when I wanted to. If I felt like letting my mind and self settle I could go out on my balcony and decompress, people watch and pick through myself at my leisure.

Here, everything is packed together. People are never alone, and this orientation is no different. It is hard to go and steal some time for yourself, and when you do; you go and get your rump bit.

I guess this is the perfect crash-course for me for living in a new culture for the next 10 months. And I know that these feelings will pass because I have had them before. I hated Spain at first and grew to like it so much I went back, for a time in Chile, I considered coming back early but it turned out amazing and I know that I will get through this and be grateful I did.

Just right now, at this moment, I have had it up to here.

The love you give comes back in the end.
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