The Post I Should Have Posted A While Ago

When I wrote about breaking into the house, I realized I haven’t really told you about my living conditions. Maybe that’s something I should explain. I think I covered the basics on the family- mom, dad, Merlyn (19), and Christopher (11). Maybe I didn’t. Well here’s the quick run-down: Merlyn is my best friend here. She’s 19, but she could easily pass for mid-20s. She’s gorgeous. She’s studying business at the local university. She’s taken me on a few adventures down here- the zoo, shopping, the grocery store. It’s great to have her around. Especially when you do stupid stuff like leave all of your makeup at Marjorie’s before some important event. It’s nice to have someone with your skin tone in the house to help you out. Merlyn’s English is about the same level as my Spanish- we can choke out what we need to say in order to get by. Haha. It works though! Christopher is 11. He seriously cracks me up. He does typical boy things (eats about seven bowls of Frosted Flakes hourly), and he loves to play with Rocky and the chickens. Just this morning he somehow covertly snuck the majority of breakfast to Rocky and Blanket the Chicken outside the window. Skills. I think he knows more English than he lets on, but it’s cool. I just make a fool out of myself using Spanish instead. Mom and Dad are so chill. I think she starts working on my dinner around 8 am. When I show up for breakfast around 5:45, she’s already done like four loads of laundry and made an extensive meal. It’s really insane. Dad works on the farm (see past post) a few days a week, and sits around watching soccer the rest of the time. He thinks I’m hilarious because I obviously don’t know what the blazes is going on about eighty percent of the time. Every time I start looking particularly puzzled he giggles.

With that being said, they are an adorable family. It’s apparent that mom and dad are obsessed with each other which is soooo cute. Merlyn and Chris get along pretty well too, considering their age difference. She’s always howling at him for doing stuff, but in an endearing way.

The house itself is awesome. We have a pool, indoor gardens, pool house with a full bar and kitchen, mango trees, coconut trees, chickens, dog, it’s amazing. I have my own room (Merlyn’s room) and bathroom. Only complaint—haven’t taken a warm shower since I left Maryland. That sucks. It’s my motivation to go running, though. If I’m sweating bullets when I get home, the cold shower feels refreshing. At any other hour, it just makes me want to die.

It’s nice staying with a family. It seems like you aren’t really a zillion miles away in a place where you don’t know anyone or the language if you get to come home to a family every day. I worry when Chris isn’t getting to the bus fast enough in the afternoon, and I like watching soccer with dad when I get tired of schoolwork. It’s cute. I’m going to miss them to pieces when I get back to the US. Hopefully, Merlyn and/or Chris can come up to the US at some point. I know they would love my crazy life at home!