Friday, October 9

I’m still waiting for details so I haven’t booked a flight yet. I don’t want to bother the family more than I have to so I’ll just continue to wait. I went back to the shoe repair guy and told him I thought I owed him more money because he was probably right about which flip flop flopped. He was tongue-tied. I’m trying to give gringos a good reputation. Although both Daniel and his baby mama Heysell told me the dentist (whom I had liked and respected as a professional women) was charging more because she knew a Nica wasn’t footing the bill. They said everyone sticks it to the foreigners because they think we can just suck it up. Which is why I just let Heysell go to the dental appt. w/ Michell without me. Let the Nica negotiate with the other Nica. I told her my largesse ends in December. Heysell pointed out that the dentist wants to file Michell’s front teeth so they’ll be even, as well as another cosmetic procedure which will cost an add’l $70. I nodded yes and then realized her teeth are straight now; how perfect do they need to be? She’s never going to be Giselle. Let her have uneven front teeth and I can keep my seventy bucks. Heysell does a lot of hand wringing. Then she called at 10:30 p.m. to ask Daniel to take her to the hospital because she was having heart palpitations. Last week she also called him to take her the hospital because she was short of breath. The woman can’t get out of her own way. There was a large turtle by the pool this morning. I wonder why we’re not afraid of turtles. They’re pretty ugly if you don’t know they’re harmless. And slow. My new student Javiera is a little chub with a very pretty face and the hairiest arms I’ve ever seen on a girl. During our classes all I think about are dipilitories. She’s a beginner and it’s fun to teach at a different level and watch her progress. She’s so proud of herself when she catches on. My favorite thing is making my students laugh. YOU try being funny in Spanish. People ask me how I like retirement. I don’t feel retired. Mondays and Wednesdays I have comparatively short days, but at the end of the other three, you could wring me out. The owner of the hostel next door to my house laughs when I literally drag myself up the stairway after the walk home. Today I bought a tortilla filled w/ cheese freshly made on a street corner grill to enjoy while walking. One of the perks of being in Nicaragua. It cost less than a nickel. That fucker is still winning Jeopardy. There must be SOMEbody who can knock his self-satisfied ass off.