So yesterday upon arriving I put all my stuff in a locker, went out to buy a keychain that attaches to me at all times due to a premonition, and promptly lost the key before I could attach the two. There is no spare of course. I’m beginning to twig there’s a theme here… it sounds a lot like the rest of my life. For that reason I’m not bothered. I’m sitting in the same clothes I’ve worn for days and imagining that the key will magically reappear and what I will do once I have my stuff again. I think shower.

In other news I really like watching the guy who sweeps, carries laundry around, maintains the network and generally mills about around here with a curious monkey on his head. I’m sitting at a brightly painted table in a space thats under a roof but outside with light streaming all over me. It feels better than a cold shower. Though by lunch time when this key turns up, which it will and I’m certain of this, even though I have checked every single place I’ve been in here, I’ll be hot and sweaty and LOVING a cold shower and having my locker open again. Yes, that will be wonderful. Manifesting…

Dinner last night, with the family that owns Hospidaje Central, was, incredible. A feast. All vegan. There were moments I wanted to capture forever but in capturing them they’d have ruined the moment. So instead I just soaked it all in. I feel so welcome and so comfortable around this family that has traveled together through various countries for years. They are part of an ancient tribe with an incredible heritage but is whittling down in numbers.  This particular family is created from blood-ties or a sense of belonging. I felt so privileged to be sharing food and discussions with such beautiful, alive and warm people in their native French, a little English and Spanish, just flowing from one language to the other, and I was so relaxed I understood and spoke in all 3 at times without any embarrassment. After dinner we looked up all the plants that were used in the dinner, identified them in the different languages and learnt about all their medicinal properties. Then I was handed a djembe which thrilled me to bits and others picked up drums and guitars and we just thumped and sang and danced our hearts out out for hours, drowning out the sound of the bar music next door.

I slept well. In the cocoon I made out of the bunkbed. The predictable tick tick of the old fan protecting me from mosquitos landing, whispered me to sleep. I woke up to breakfast of cinnamon banana tortillas and papaya.