I'm usually not a quitter (for example, one time I spend 45 minutes trying to make a stupid TV remote function so I could watch a DVD - my sister and Annie can attest to this) but tonight I'm throwing in the towel. I'm done! What am I quitting? Trying to sleep. Here has been my night since laying down to bed at 9:15: roll to one side of the bed...take off the covers...flip to my left side...put the covers back on....flip over to my right side...sprawl on my back....hear a bug by my ear...SMASH, maybe if I swing at my ear hard/fast enough I can kill it...roll back to the other side of the bed...one leg up...roll to my stomach...ah, stupid mosquito at my ear again...SMASH - missed him again...SMASH. Stupid bug...covers over my head to hide...to hot...covers off...bug in ear...SMASH SMASH SMASH...man my head is starting to hurt....
Donzo. It is pointless for me to keep trying to sleep when it's obviously not going to happen. So here I am, laying in bed writing instead of getting my much needed beauty rest. I'm thinking about my alarm that will go off at 5:20 and realize this might not be the best decision, but come on people what's a girl to do? Tossing and turning all night won't do me any better.
Let's talk about my bed. Maybe this will subconsciously trigger something to make me sleepy. I'll give it a go. So, my bed is a double sized bed.Woo hoo! The biggest bed I've had in my life! In theory this is great, but I have a slight problem. For my entire existence I've been sleeping on a twin size mattress and it is ingrained in me to take up about a 3 foot chunk of bed. Now that I have a "big bed", I still cling to the side and remain in that area until morning. Some nights I feel rebellious and make myself sprawl across the bed, but it feels unnatural. I always find myself back in my comfort zone on the outskirts of the mattress. What a waste.
Speaking of waste, I realized I've never explained my garbage. Well, I use plastic grocery bags for garbage can liners (I have a plethora of them from the supermarket) and take my trash out about once a day. I know that sounds like a lot, but considering what I throw in the garbage, it's completely understandable (I'll get to that in a few). To take my garbage out, I just tie my bag, walk down the hall of my apartment and drop it down this shoot. Clink, clank, bam,booom! I'm not certain where this leads, but it's really not that important - I just know where I need to throw it. Today, as I left for work I grabbed my garbage and when I opened the little shoot there was a feather clinging to the metal. A legit bird feather. Maybe someone got angry at their bird and threw it down the shoot? Maybe someone's pet died and they disposed it? Maybe a bird spontaneously generated from someone's trash? At least it gave me a springboard for making up some interesting stories on my walk to the bus stop!
Now for the reason I take out my garbage so frequently. It's kind of gross, but it is what it is. Colombia doesn't have incredible city sewage systems or waste water treatments plants like the United States. The pipes are smaller and they just don't have the capacity to deal with extra material in the sewage. Therefore, we cannot flush toilet paper down the toilet - it must go in the trash. Beside every toilet in Colombia you will find a garbage can, and that's where the used paper must go. I'll tell you what, at first it was awfully hard to remember. It takes a while getting used to it, but now I very rarely have "accidents" with the paper. What happens if you throw paper down you may be asking? Well, a few times isn't a big deal but our director told us a story of a gringa friend of hers who always flushed toilet paper. Eventually it clogged up the ENTIRE sewage system of her apartment building. They traced it back to her and she was a wee bit embarrassed...pun intended!
By now sleep feels much closer than beginning so off I go. I'm hoping the little mosquito monster that was driving me crazy early has found the land of sleep as well. It's not likely, but a girl has got to hope. It he's still awake it will be back to the SMASH. Maybe this time I'll get him. Worth it every time.
Donzo. It is pointless for me to keep trying to sleep when it's obviously not going to happen. So here I am, laying in bed writing instead of getting my much needed beauty rest. I'm thinking about my alarm that will go off at 5:20 and realize this might not be the best decision, but come on people what's a girl to do? Tossing and turning all night won't do me any better.
Let's talk about my bed. Maybe this will subconsciously trigger something to make me sleepy. I'll give it a go. So, my bed is a double sized bed.Woo hoo! The biggest bed I've had in my life! In theory this is great, but I have a slight problem. For my entire existence I've been sleeping on a twin size mattress and it is ingrained in me to take up about a 3 foot chunk of bed. Now that I have a "big bed", I still cling to the side and remain in that area until morning. Some nights I feel rebellious and make myself sprawl across the bed, but it feels unnatural. I always find myself back in my comfort zone on the outskirts of the mattress. What a waste.
Speaking of waste, I realized I've never explained my garbage. Well, I use plastic grocery bags for garbage can liners (I have a plethora of them from the supermarket) and take my trash out about once a day. I know that sounds like a lot, but considering what I throw in the garbage, it's completely understandable (I'll get to that in a few). To take my garbage out, I just tie my bag, walk down the hall of my apartment and drop it down this shoot. Clink, clank, bam,booom! I'm not certain where this leads, but it's really not that important - I just know where I need to throw it. Today, as I left for work I grabbed my garbage and when I opened the little shoot there was a feather clinging to the metal. A legit bird feather. Maybe someone got angry at their bird and threw it down the shoot? Maybe someone's pet died and they disposed it? Maybe a bird spontaneously generated from someone's trash? At least it gave me a springboard for making up some interesting stories on my walk to the bus stop!
Now for the reason I take out my garbage so frequently. It's kind of gross, but it is what it is. Colombia doesn't have incredible city sewage systems or waste water treatments plants like the United States. The pipes are smaller and they just don't have the capacity to deal with extra material in the sewage. Therefore, we cannot flush toilet paper down the toilet - it must go in the trash. Beside every toilet in Colombia you will find a garbage can, and that's where the used paper must go. I'll tell you what, at first it was awfully hard to remember. It takes a while getting used to it, but now I very rarely have "accidents" with the paper. What happens if you throw paper down you may be asking? Well, a few times isn't a big deal but our director told us a story of a gringa friend of hers who always flushed toilet paper. Eventually it clogged up the ENTIRE sewage system of her apartment building. They traced it back to her and she was a wee bit embarrassed...pun intended!
By now sleep feels much closer than beginning so off I go. I'm hoping the little mosquito monster that was driving me crazy early has found the land of sleep as well. It's not likely, but a girl has got to hope. It he's still awake it will be back to the SMASH. Maybe this time I'll get him. Worth it every time.
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