This post will be about what is NOT happening- with effects both good and bad.

First, I realized the other day, I am NOT hearing “whitey” at all anymore. Maybe people are used to me now, got bored, and moved on. I still hear lots of other comments, mostly declarative and mostly when I run. They say: “You’re running!” “You’re fit!” or they ask to run with me. I have started calling them on it now and telling them to join me, especially if they look like they are in no state to run, which is most of the time. They are quiet then.

I am also NOT seeing these bugs that are biting me. All of a sudden, I will have dozens of bites all over and I go crazy trying to scratch them. I will also wake up in the night, evidently having been attacked. And they bite in the most irritating places, like fingers, toes and my ears. How does this happen? How do they all find me, all at the same time? I am on the third floor so most of the time I am okay but I’m thinking I may try to rig up the mosquito net. But with concrete walls and a fan right where it should hang, I need some MacGyver skills, which I don’t have. Dengue fever is also a risk here, so I need to figure something out. The alternative is that I am imagining it all and having a pyschosomatic reactioin, which is possible. I am always that person who gets bitten when no one else does and there are no visible bugs.

I am also NOT seeing this dirt and dust that apparently coats my apartment everyday. I leave the doors open to keep it cool and when I come home at night, I wipe the floors and tables and despite not being able to see this dust, the cloths come away dirty.

This post is slightly mundane and domestic, but I had to get these perplexing things out there. Also, lemons are NOT sold here. Only limes. This is bizarre in a country where fruit is plentiful.