Things that are now normal in my life...

• Putting my life in danger every time I cross the street (crosswalks mean nothing)
• Riding in a tiny public car (carro publico) with complete strangers
• Fitting 7 passengers in one of these cars (seat belt? Who needs one when your crammed so tight? Totally safe, right?)
• No speed limits (maybe there are but I haven't seen any posted)
• Brushing my teeth with bottled water (not even the locals drink the water here)
• Soaking vegetables in a purifying solution for 15 minutes before eating
• Pumping clean water from a 5 gallon jug (it's an arm workout that's for sure!)
• being starred at...and whistled at
• Rain..every. day. 
• Plugging the internet into my computer
• Not being connected to the internet 24/7 (this is kind of nice)
• The internet only working when it wants to (this is kind of annoying)
• TV shows taking hours to download (took me 4 days to download one episode of Pretty Little Liars, but it was well worth the wait!)
• Waiting 
• 99% Humidity 
• Not caring what my hair looks like because of said humidity 
• Not wearing makeup because it melts right off 
• Sweating profusely (won't keep any water weight though so got that going for me!) 
• Wearing jeans/pants everyday (did I mention how hot it is here?)
• People driving UP one way streets (one night Rene and I went to the store and got a taxi home. The driver went up every one way street possible and laughed while we were fearing for our lives and saying "Tu es muy loco!" (You are very crazy!) He remembers us every time we go to the store.) 
• Thunder and lightening storms (sometimes it thunders so loud that it sets off car alarms)
• Walking up and down 5 flights of stairs (not gonna lie, I do take the elevator sometimes even after getting stuck one day. Note: Karly still hasn't put the video on her blog, sorry.)
• Seeing trash everywhere 
• People walking in the middle of the street selling various things as you wait in traffic (kind of genius in my opinion. What do you do when your cell phone is dying and you don't have a car charger? Or your out of minutes? No worries, someone will come to your window and sell you just what you need!)
• Eating bread with cream cheese and ham (after Vida meetings some students will go to the food court in La Sirena. Everyone pitches in a few pesos and someone goes and buys the bread, cheese and ham. It's my favorite snack these days.)
• Taking lukewarm showers and flipping a switch to get "hot" water. 
• My feet being permanently dirty (ewww!!)
• Seeing the ocean every day. (love. this.)
• Washing all of our dishes by hand (I actually enjoy doing this, but what luxury dishwashers are!)
• Seeing security guards with massive guns (not of the bicep type, actual guns that I'm going to pretend are not loaded) 

These are but a glimpse into my crazy life here and I'm loving it! 

abrazos y besos, 

Shannon