Going Home

It is 5:30am and everybody in the room is sleeping except for the tireless line of ants coming in from the window. I am too tired to see where they are going and even if I wasn't I wouldn't disturb them. They need to eat and drink too. Even if I did use the blow dryer on them and try to close the window, they would be back in 15 minutes anyway. People in warmer climates become accustomed to bugs. It's a fact of life.

We drove through central America with our windows open and many bugs were hit by our windshield but several got into the van. One example was an ant/fly that was knawing on my belly for 30 minutes while I was driving. I don't really know the name of this bug but I do know that I kept itching my belly. I finally scratched the bug to death (accidently) because its carcasse was on my leg. The next time I looked at my belly there was red welts all over it. Maia has a few red welts on her legs as well. Some are from bugs but most are from falling down. Miraculously, Naomi has not been bitten yet. Her skin is so delicate even the bugs know that she is off limits. Having said that, I did have to swat several wasps away from her sweet smelling car seat at the El Salvador/Honduras border. The wasps gave up quite easlily and looking back now I beleive they were looking to eat some of the many flies that were calling our van home.

Highway construction. We have seen a lot on our travels but none so incredible as El Salvador. I wished I had pictures but we had waited half an hour to get going and there was quite a mad rush to get going. Lots of honking. As I drove through the 7 km section of closed highway I noticed that all the sign placards were replaced by people. There were people every few hundred meters waving a flag. The flags were all waved in the same manner and the workers crowded the driving lane forcing the vehicles to slow down or run them over. After driving for 5 km we came to the first and only piece of equipment that was working on the road. It was mixing soil cement into the base of the road. The mixer was a modified lawnmower and it took four guys to push it. It was going to take these guys a very, very long time to complete the next 30 meters of highway let alone the 7 km that was sectioned off. The pace of life is slow down here and those four guys couldn't be happier. They have water, food and work for the next year. The good news is that it looks like they had finished 2 km already.

Heading for the border now. Its 6:07 and Maia is ready to go! We want to beat the rush at the border.

adam