Mold and Moving

This morning Hannah discovered much to her dismay (and mine) that she has been unwittingly cultivating a flaky white mold all over her fabric toiletries bag. The bag has been hanging from a nail (the same nail that occasionally holds bananas) against the wall right by our front door for a few weeks now. You'd think that the fresh air (well, smoggy city air) would keep the mold down right in that area, but no. Hannah took some bleach cleaner to the moldy bits this morning, we'll see if that keeps it under control.

We really are having a serious mold problem in our hostel rooms. The picture to the left is of our kitchen ceiling. All of the wood surfaces have little moldlets sprouting. I have always been allergic to mold, among other things, so when we're at our hostel I'm sick all the time, and only slightly less sick if I'm taking allergy meds (Loratadine/Claritin) every day. I'm having difficulty breathing, sneezing all the time, and sometimes my eyes are so itchy I feel like being overly dramatic about it all. Even Hannah, who has no history of any allergies at all, is experiencing some snuffliness and general allergy symptoms, which is crazy.

I really appreciate the inexpensive quality of our current living arrangements - this is the cheapest apartment I will ever live in. However, I also hope that it is the moldiest by far. These are the worst allergies I have ever experienced, and I can't escape them.

...Until next Sunday!

August 1st Hannah and I are both packing up and moving out to take Spanish lessons in other cities. Hannah is moving to Xela, and I am off to Antigua.

I'll be living with a host family, getting three meals a day (my food allergies are already all worked out with the family, I've been told) except on Sundays. Monday through Friday I'll walk down the street to Academia Colonial, where I will take four hours of one-on-one immersion Spanish language classes. That's 20 hours a week.

I'm really looking forward to taking the classes, because I know that my Spanish skillz will improve a lot with some structured lessons. I plan on taking the classes for about 7 weeks, but that time frame is pretty flexible. Hannah and I will be far apart for up to two months, which will be really weird. And I won't be able to cook my own meals, which might be problematic, but hopefully it'll work out. The administrative director of the Academia Colonial happens to be the daughter of Hannah and I's current landlord, and that whole family is incredibly nice and helpful, so I'm pretty confident.

Hannah and I just returned from grocery shopping. Tonight's dinner will consist of ground beef, onion, green beans, tomatoes, corn, and whatever spices we've bought in the last few weeks. I think we have garlic (fresh and powdered), oregano, cumin, and basil. We'll see how it turns out.

I won't be in the office until Monday, so I most likely won't be online until then. I'll post an update next week! See you later :)