I slept like a log

My first night in my place we great. We had a meeting to discuss our plans of action for today. Each of us will go to our own clusters and gather more information from the teachers. Also have to find one of the schools, which was evading my eye the other day.  Only a half day today, so life is good.  BUT last night as Jeff left my place and I was turning off the lights there was huge cracks of noise and flashes of light.  I thought we were in a war zone.  Red flashes and huge booms across the road!  Turns out that some happy citizens are still celebrating Chinese New Year.  We were told at the school yesterday that it was the last day of Chinese New Year (I foolishly thought that such a celebration was only ONE DAY, however over here they celebrate for ONE WEEK)  Anyway, I hope this is the end.  At the hotel, the evenings would come to life until at least 2 am and I found it difficult to sleep before the celebrants went home. Last night was only the big bam, and then over.  I dragged my mattress down to the main floor and slept there as I could not figure out how to turn any kind of lights on upstairs.  I will figure that out today in the daylight.
Now I have this lovely watermelon, papaya and dragon fruit in my fridge but I can't find my knife.  It is like having a tin of tuna when out on a camping trip without a can opener.  I guess I will have to forfeit the fruit until I go shopping or take the time to find either the knife or my leatherman. Oddly, the food stores seem to only sell eggs at room temperature. I go into my gagging mode when I see this because my lovely imagination leads me to all sorts of visions of rotten eggs. It also makes me gag when I think of the eggs I have consumed while here and gag some more.  I definitely drew attention to myself when I was trying hard to deep breath to stop the gag reflex while envisioning these sights while passing the egg section. I will  know enough to not walk past that area in the future. Jan knows what I am like, she has seen this dramatic gagging on many camping trips.
I also handwashed some clothing from this past week. I was going to wash my white linen blouse that has been recycled several times to see if it would ever come clean. Amazingly it is clean as a new shirt and hanging on my patio.  Not really sure if I need to buy a washing machine now that I see how easy it is to do hand washing.I have managed to score points to use Jeff's new washing machine. I was smart enough to take my lease with us so we knew where to tell the delivery people to bring our new appliances. Then I also had the cashola to buy gas to fill up our cars,  and it was also agreed that since I bargained down the cost of the fridges, I got a couple of more free washloads banked. I think considering the way I have been wearing clothing lately I should not have to be concerned about a washer for a few months. AND, we both have discovered that we may not need to buy one of those water heater thingys.  The locals don't heat the water for showers and I was skanky enough to try this out myself. Surprisingly, the water is good enough as is.  Maybe I will invest in one for any company that arrives but for me, I must have become a local in that respect because the shower was just fine. 
We managed to see two of those huge lizards when we were down south again yesterday. All the locals keep telling us that most people never see them because they are too timid around people. They must not recognize us as people, because we have seen more than our share. A teacher down there also said that in that area, they have found the odd cobra in the school property.  Then went on to say that when they leave their home in the evening they must close up all little holes so that cobras and lizards cannot enter while they are out.  Hmm, I am glad I am not living in that area.  However, I noticed the outside door in Jeff's wet kitchen has about a 2-3 inch gap which means many critters can enter there. I am too much in denial to check the gap on my own wet kitchen, as that is the headquarters of Mr. Lizard, and I have given him a wide berth.  Oh, yes the teacher also told me that the locals sprinkle salt around their homes and snakes and critters will not cross that line. So if you want to visit, you would be wise to bring a pouch of salt to fend off the critters.  I am definitely going to buy a sack of salt on my way home today.
Now to actually put on some clean clothing and head out to the countryside.  Yay for Friday!