Rainy Day

So apparently there's a hurricane down in Nicaragua that has caused some very unpleasant rain storms up here. However as I live up in the beautiful mountains, this morning, the rain was actually sleet. Nothing better then waking up in the morning and heading out to the pila - soap and towel in hand - for a nice face wash (as it's the only running water at the moment) only to realize that it's sleeting out. Regardless, my face is a little dirty at the moment.

Pues, I had the, "do I really have to walk to work today" speech with myself, and decided against going up to the centro de salud, as I had to work on a charla anyway, and could do that at home without walking through the now icky wet rain.

So, for the first time really, I spent the entire day hanging out with my kitten. Just the two of us. I found out many things about him:

A. He likes Negro, the mean dog with one eye that lives in my compound and likes to growl at me. They're actually 'friends' and I saw Negro share some food with Chum - something that is not only unnecessary as my little muffin is getting rather fat (true to his name: Chum in K'iche means chubby) but also UNHEARD of in the world of chuchos, I've seen dogs get seriously beat up over a morsel of food they try to grab from another dog.

B. Chum likes spicy food, especially "fuego" flavored Takis, a delicious if not somewhat overwhelming flavor of chip here. In fact, if I'm eating a bag and don't share I get an awful (and by that I mean awfully loud) telling off.

C. Chum has been sneaking food from the family that lives upstairs, apparently his adorable charms are not spent all on me, and when the family's eating, he finds his way upstairs and sits under the plancha (the stove/table where the family sits) and has bits of food slipped to him by EVERY member of the family (no wonder he's living up to his name so marvelously)


Anyway, it's certainly been an informing day - I write this now with Chum draped over the back of my neck like a mink shawl, purring ridiculously. If not a little cold and wet. So I think I'll retire from the computer for a while and make myself some hot chocolate, Guatemala style (read: about a pound of sugar).