Oct 31 - And To Think I Was Worried We'd Never Get This Finished On Time

The calendar's done
It's both pretty and useful
I feel competent

Oct 30 - Wine Night Makes Me Whine

I keep on trying
Why? To be social? Just 'cuz?
I don't like the guy

Oct 29 - Nora Day Always Goes A Bit Strangely

Paul's gone to Tegus
I wait for Nora, and buy
underwear from her

Oct 28 - The Truth Is, I Just Don't Like Working In An Office

I'm back at my desk
Hating Monday's long meeting
Hot rice milk for snack

Oct 27 - The Dog Finds Another Pile Of Super-Smelly Stuff To Roll In

Beagley's only flaw
Is her love of fresh manure
At least she likes baths

Oct 26 - The Upside Of Being An International Volunteer: Cheap Pedicures

Is it too shallow
To admire my own toenails?
So damn elegant

Oct 25 - Filet Mignon At Our 2nd-Favourite Table

Julie doesn't come
We eat steak and drink doubles
In her memory

Oct 24 - All Day Making Moskitia Movies

Video spirits
Wake me early, urging me
To assemble scenes

Oct 23 - Two And A Half Weeks Is A Long Time To Be Gone

Home at last, hungry
for Paul's fine sausage pasta
and the Copan life

Oct 22 - In Which I Visit A Cacao Finca And Puzzle Over Who First Thought To Ferment And Dry Seeds

How it happened is
the mystery of chocolate
Too complex for chance

Oct 21 - How The Mornings Go When You Have To Get Up At 4 A.M. In A Hotel Without Electricity

Applying makeup
in the dark, headlamp shining
Another new skill

Oct. 20 - Final Day In The Moskitia

We float in the sea
for three hours. My fingers
wrinkle, but I'm pleased

Oct 19 - Head Down And Working On The Moskitia Movie

Puzzle assembly
Music here, film clip there. Now
the story is told

Oct. 18 - A Most Marvelous Day Trip to Brus Laguna

From the dawn's first light
I know this will be a day
Of aching beauty

Oct 17 - Quite A Day

Mice die, orchids robbed
Mom gets many birthday calls
And I sweat buckets

Oct. 16 - The Universal Language Of Running For Election: Juan Francisco Bulnes Version

A politician

Seems to look and sound the same

All over the world

Oct. 15 - One Night In The Hotel Moskitia Bar

The drunk young narco

Shows us photos of his son

Will he see him grow?

Oct 14 - Making Grape Wine With The Esperanza Microempresa

Marta squeezes grapes
like she means it, but notes she
always washes first

Oct 13 - And It Only Took An Hour Of Tender Brushing, Blowing and Silent Prayer To Get It Working Again

The kids remain mute
On how the poor camera
Got covered in sand

Oct. 12 - Swamped By The Kids in Batalla

Finally, the beach
Peaceful but for the six boys
Who I just can't shake

Oct. 11 - Just Another Day In The Moskitia

Sunny skies darken

When a boatload of masked men

Order us to stop

Oct 10 - The Problem With Wearing Flip-Flops For A Photo Shoot Of A Jungle Garden

The ants are feasting

I kneel down, a big mistake

They burn like fire

Oct. 9 - Supper Beneath The Trees In Batalla

Drinking nance wine

Fireflies twinkle, sea breeze

Lifts my cares away

Oct 8 - What The Rainy Season Looks Like In Tocoa

Great cracks of thunder
Shake the car alarms to life
Streets turn into lakes

Oct 7 - Two Entire Weeks In The Moskitia? Really? And Nobody Thought To Mention This?

I'd like to think that
Nothing surprises me now
Yet today still does

Oct 6 - Back At The Hotel San Patricio

My hotel routine:
A swim, some yoga stretches
Eat a hamburger

Oct 5 - You'd Never Catch 22 Little Kids Eating With Such Solemn Dedication In Our Land

Biggest pool day yet
So strange, their silent eating
Intent on their task

Oct. 4 - The Ongoing Search For Kid Shoes That Won't Fall Apart

Burros for the boys
Work boots of a type - let's hope
they can take abuse

Oct 3 - Feeling Kind Of Proud Of Putting On My First All-Spanish Workshop

Thank you to my brain
Which now feeds me words quicker
And thinks in Spanish

Oct. 2 - It Only Took One Year And Nine Months For The People I Work For To Discover I Could Be Helpful

One more Facebook page
And videos - loads of those
More work than hours

Oct 1 - Could Somebody Please Give These Kids Something To Do?

There are few things worse
Than bored-dead practicantes
Hanging round my desk

Sept 30 - The Thing About Calendars Is That They Can't Go Out Late

The CASM calendar
Will be full of useful tips
If we get it done