My Arm Hair Changed Color - 10/9/06

One of our favorite fruits here is apple bananas, as I think Melissa has mentioned previously. The mother of one of my students asked us to come over to their orchard and pick a bunch of apple bananas since they have so many. So generous! We went to Earl’s house and walked around the banana section looking for a ripe enough bunch to take. He chopped down the tree that had a bunch of green bananas with a machete. Each time you harvest a bunch, you have to cut down the tree it’s on. Then two to three more will sprout up from the base. Otherwise, the plant will die. Don’t ask me why, I didn’t design it...

We learned there are several different kinds of bananas including plantains and crazy purpley bananas, along with the regular kind we get back home and the sweet, tart little apple guys. Those are the crack bananas! I also learned that Earl has not been telling his mother the whole truth regarding his homework and how much he ACTUALLY has. Hmmm….somebody’s busted! It’s so nice when my students’ parents invite us over for some real conversation…

While we were there, he also loaded us up with white grapefruit, red grapefruit, and Washington oranges. I hope he doesn't think this is a bribe to lighten the homework load, because that sure won't work! They also have apricots, a kind of blackberry that grows on a large tree, cherries, and coconuts. The blackberries look like small purple raspberries with a soft stem that you eat with the whole berry. They were really sweet. Freakin’ sweet! The berries are the only fruit we’ve seen with actual color. I want to take a picture of all of them side-by-side for you. The grapefruit, oranges, lemons, limes, and plums are all the exact same color. Green. My students still try to convince me that my life has been a lie; that fruit in North America is dyed and painted to look that way.

We have been quite the hit with the kids lately. We took our PS2 over to a friend’s to play Dance Dance Revolution (the video game at the arcade where the kids are jumping all over the pads on the floor). It was such a hit that somebody brought us a spare television to borrow so we could play it in our own apartment. We couldn’t do it before because there is a small cable Y-adaptor (readily available in the U.S. for $1.25) we needed for the sound. Now, kids shout up to us, “Can we play DDR? Hey! We want to play that dancing game!” Now the Americans have the Mennonites dancing! Gasp! It’s funny, too, because so few of them actually want to try it, but when they do they can’t get enough. Even the “tough guys” are hittin’ the floor and planning on buying their own for their playstations. Too funny.

Oh! We were also offered a microwave to babysit until we leave! The kindergarten teacher has a daughter in my 8^th grade class and two high schoolers in my Spanish class. She’s going to let us use their spare until they need it again. Add that to the fancy “beanless” bag chairs we got in Mexico and you’ve got yourself the beginnings of a comfortable home! Add a little Sirius (on its way soon – thank you Lynda!) and we’re going to forget that we’re not in the U.S.! Except for the heat. And the humidity. And the geckos. And the vultures. And the fact that the Caribbean is nearby and Mexico is to the North of us. And the crazy tropical fruit that looks like this...