Laying Low

Yesterday evening I came down with the mother of all colds. My sinuses have been running full tilt, I've had a fever and have shifted from being too cold to too hot too many times. I don't know how I made it through the night. Linda doesn't know how she made it either.

Today, I decided to stay home and try to recover...so far, no luck. I have a grant application I need to send in, but it's done and I'm only waiting to see if I get any input from Alex on it. I plan on transmitting it around 2:00 p.m.

Lunch today was the national dish of Guatemala: chau mein. No, I didn't mispell chow mein, that's how they spell it here. It's the first time we've had this meal in three trips to Guatemala and, if we never have it again, I won't miss it. It's not carb-friendly for diabetics, as Linda points out to me. Here's a link to a story on Guatemalan chou mein, so you don't think I'm pulling your leg: http://revuemag.com/2009/08/guatemala-national-dish/

I can't wait until Linda makes some authentic Guatemalan gumbo. After all, she makes good gumbo and we are in Guatemala. Ergo, it will be Guatemalan gumbo. Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez (Let the good times roll).


Only one picture today. However, it's one I've been meaning to show you.

This is the famous Guatemalan shower that most Guatemalans have in their home if they have a hot shower. Yes, those are electrical wires that go from the wall to the white shower head. I've heard that you could get a big shock by touching the wires. I don't intend to find out. This type of shower head is used because most Guatemalans don't have hot water heaters and this is much more economical. This one actually works good. When you turn on the water, the lights dim and it starts heating your shower. More modern homes and apartments are now installing those flash heaters that heat water on demand. This type has been around much longer and probably will continue to be used, since many, if not most, Guatemalans couldn't afford the expense of a standard hot water heater. Solar water heaters are also popular with more affluent homeowners. The casa we stayed in in Antigua at the end of our trip last year had one. Nevertheless, they are much more expensive to install than one of these electrocutioner models.