New highs, new lows.

Well, I ate ants today. To be fair though, they were boiled. I have been saving this package of Lipton Noodle mix for about two months now, waiting for the right time to break it open. Well, apparently I waited too long. I saw the whole in the package about a month back, and though I knew what that meant, I just ignored it, placed the noodles in a Ziploc and hoped for the best. Now, I am sitting here, eating Pasta Alfredo with Ants. If they are really big, I try to pick them out, but a couple of times I only managed to get half, so I guess in a country where you are always fighting to get protein, it is just best not to over think it. Eww, I just found a grub. Grubs are not okay. I am not to that point yet. I think I might feed the rest of this to my neighbor. He is staring over my shoulder watching me type this, and I find it kind of annoying.That is one thing that is still trying about this whole thing. The little kids just cant get enough of the Gringa. There is a little girl that comes into my house every day (Never asks to come in, by the way. Knocking hasnt reached this country yet. To be fair though, I think doors are a recent addition.) named Carina, and no matter whether I am washing my face, reading, napping, whatever, she just sits and watches me. I am willing to take some of the blame though, because in lieu of a sofa, I installed a very comfortable and very colorful hammock in front corner of my house (were going to call that the living room). It is the closest thing to a swing that these kids have ever seen, so now my living room is the new hangout for anyone under the age of 13 within a 200 yard radius of my house (that constitutes about 15 kids on a regular rotation). And we dont want to disregard friends of these younguns, or the kids that just happen to be walking by on their way to the market. I think that the word is spreading. My neighbor asked me today if I would give him the hammock when I leave because he wants to get married. Apparently it is much harder to get a woman to move in with you if she will have to sleep on the floor. I briefly questioned the possibility of investing in something more substantial (ie: a bed), but that seemed to be a little too much of a commitment. I am entertaining building a rope swing out back just to cut down on the traffic, but we will see how expensive rope is first. One good thing that all of these visitors have brought me though is a new friend. Her name is Carolina, she is 17, and she just got back from visiting her aunt for the summer in Santiago, but now she is living with her Grandmother, my friend Andrea, who is just the cutest little hunchback you ever met. Anyway, she apparently is the president of the youth group of which I had heard rumors, but never actually could pin down the existence of. The group was on hold for the summer until Carolina got back, but I get to go to my first group meeting this evening! I am very excited. I talked to her a little bit last night about starting up a youth girls volleyball team, and she was pretty pumped about it. Apparently they used to have one, but it disbanded a couple of years ago when the captain moved away. There is already a boys baseball and basketball team in the town, and they get to compete against other communities and everything, so it would be nice for the girls to have something to do. Every now and then one of them wants to go running with me, and whenever I go down to the river, I try to teach my neighbor Juri how to swim, but this could be something a little more substantial. I will let you know how it goes. Another not-so-welcome new arrival is Pelu. He is Geronimos new friend, and I can not keep this mangy mutt out of my house. He belongs to Caridad, my neighbor, but he is intent on joining up with Geros set-up, as he seems to have gathered that Geros living situation is superior to his own. I have already had to drag him out from under the kitchen table by the scruff of the neck and literally kick him out of the house 4 times today, and it is only 4 PM. I am expecting at least 3 more of these episodes before I go to bed, more if it keeps raining. For the last three days, I have woken up to find him sleeping on my front porch, waiting for either the door to open or for Gero to come out and play. I wouldnt mind so much, but he has this really long hair, and no one bathes him because he is afraid of water, apparently, so he is covered in fleas, ticks, and mud. I dont think that he is a good influence on Gero, who has only this week started taking daily baths with me in the river. He is a great little swimmer, undeterred by the current, and it keeps him much prettier looking and nicer smelling.Another recent development is that Annelly, one of my English students, is 3 months pregnant. She is 17, but she has been married for 2 years, so everyone says that it is about time they started having kids. I went to her sisters wedding last weekend, too. Angeli is also in my English class, is 15, and is now married to a 25 year old. I am just not used to that being considered normal. Everyone thinks that it is completely absurd that I am not married. Another girl in my English class, Glenny, is my age and has 3 kids. The oldest one is 8. I try and tell them that where I come from it is more common to wait to get married until you are older and have a good job, but that doesnt seem to be sinking in. The fact that my parents were 28 when they got married doesnt seem to convince them that I am not a freak. Not to worry though, everyone is on the lookout for a nice Dominican man for me to marry. I dont think that I will have to wait much longer to reach my full potential as a Dominican baby maker. Mom will be so proud.