I think I've eaten more egg here than I have in my lifetime.

Don't get me wrong, the food here is great, but almost every single meal has some form of egg in it. Scrambled, fried, boiled, omelette, eggs and beans, eggs and chicken, eggs in tortilla with mince, eggs on the enchiladas, eggs and rice. Worst thing is, I hate eggs. I eat the meals because it's what we're given but I can't wait til next week when we are able to cook our own food! Mali can eat all the eggs she wants, I will avoid them like the plague.

Food wise, today for breakfast we had tortilla with scrambled egg, beans and mantiquilla (almost like sour cream but cheesier) orange juice, coffee and two biscuits. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day here, and we had chicken marinated in spices, rice and peas, and a green vegetable (that we have yet to find out its name) covered in mantiquilla. Usually we have fruit but today we had a banana custard/mousse. For dinner we had beans, eggs again (this time in the form of an omelette), fried plantain (A banana that's green before you cook it) and a singular slice of white bread. Photos below!

Last night we had an amazing thunderstorm. The lightening lit up the sky as if it was day but with a purple tint. The thunder was deafening shook the house. Then came the rain. Incredibly heavy, the noise it made on the roof made having a conversation with Mali near impossible. The storm continued late into the night. It was by far the most spectacular we've witnessed since arriving.

Accompanying the frequent storms are even more sporadic power cuts. They can happen any time of day. But usually in the afternoon and they're much more likely to happen before or during a storm. When this happens, we lose the function of our fan. This may not seem like such a big deal. But it's SO hot in our apartment, we literally cook without it! Thankfully our power cuts haven't lasted more than 3 hours, yet...

We headed to Santa Barbara this weekend to meet up with Ashley and Emily, two other project trust volunteers teaching in the one of the barrios of Santa Barbara called Gualjoco. The bus journey over was spectacular. We jumped on a packed american style yellow bus, found seats and spent the whole journey staring out the window. The scenery was fantastic! Luscious green mountains, swollen rivers, and then all the villages we passed on the way. Houses lined up along the road side, all painted bright and colourful but very poor. Driving past a gas station I was astonished to see a security guard standing casually on the forecourt with a shotgun resting over his shoulder, a belt filled with cartridges and a handgun in his belt. This is the norm for banks but I'd never seen it before at a gas station!

After we met the girls, went for ice cream and bought supplies we headed to Gualjoco on another yellow American schoolbus. There was confusion from Emily and Ashley about where to get off, so once we did they didn't know where their house was. Cue trekking about Gualjoco in the intense midday sun with lots of shopping. Finally, after half an hour they finally worked out that the house was 2 minutes from where we got off the bus. The watermelon was well deserved when we eventually arrived!

WE'RE GETTING A FRIDGE!! I don't think anyone can understand our excitement at this development, unless they've lived in a tropical country for nearly 3 weeks drinking lukewarm (sometimes extremely warm) water. B This is an exciting day, it also means we will be starting to cook for ourselves very soon. Which adds to the excitement as I will not have to eat eggs. Ever again. Well not quite but much less frequently than now. The wonderful invention, that is the fridge, should be arriving at our little apartment by Friday. This gives us plenty time to work out where on earth we will put it. We're pretty pushed for space, already having the wardrobe in the kitchen due to lack of space in the bedroom....