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Another Sunday morning in Hardeman. For the first time in a long time, this is my second consecutive Sunday morning here in my pueblito. It has been a pretty wild last few months. I think the last time you heard from our hero, the craziness was about to begin. At some point I hope to catch all of you faithful readers up on all that has transpired since then, but for now I will recount little of it. Because while there are certainly days that are more interesting than others, my life is not one adventure after the next. For the past ten days or so I have been tranquilo here in Hardeman, sipping my instant coffee/hot chocolate mix in the mornings, munching on delicious home-made bread in the afternoons (quite literally, hot & fresh out the kitchen), sitting and chatting with my fellow Hardemeños about the heat, the likelihood of rain, as well as the weather. It has been quite a productive week in the office, catching up on documents I have been neglecting and making plans for future projects.

Hardeman is anxiously awaiting the rainy season…more anxiously than in years past due to the current construction they are doing on our road. In order for them to be able to lay asphalt in the future, they have been digging on the road since may, carving out large ditches on either side and piling and packing the earth onto what will be the new road. In order to allow vehicles to pass, there is currently a one-lane “detour” right next to the high flat road-to-be that is by all means passable in dry weather. But when it rains, this byway fills with water and goes from being a temporary road to being a permanent river. They then close the road until there is sufficient draining of the road to at least allow lightweight vehicles to pass. This system has been serving us more or less sufficiently for the past few months. But during those months it has rained for only a few hours at a time. I shudder to think what it’s going to be like once it rains for a week or so on end. It will be another week before the road dries out…and even then it will be so packed with enormous semi trucks hauling soybeans which without fail will get stuck that it will become doubly-impassable. What does this mean for me? It means I should stock up on Ramen Noodles and West Wing DVDs to last me until February. Yes, I am being a little overdramatic, but literally just a little. I will be able to get out of my site but it will probably end up taking me a day or two. And truth be told, I am looking forward to it. It has been way too long since I have spent an extended period of time in my site and with the realization that time is winding down, right here in Hardeman is where I want to be the most.

It’s quite comforting to be content here. I guess one could say I’m living a “simple” life but for some reason it doesn’t seem all that different some days, although that may be a little hard for you to believe. I think the most striking difference for me is my lack of a car. But perhaps even more striking is the lack of NEED of a car. If I want to go visit friends and chat, they are a mere 2 minute walk away. If I need food to cook, the store is just as close. My office is two doors down. I don’t consider it a hard life, but I would definitely call it a simple life…one without excess. Except for an excess of dust or perhaps rice.

The latest bit of good news around here is that cell phone service has finally arrived. It is a whole new world, just like I imagined. I am proud to announce my first phone call from the states was from none other than my good pal Steph (Woody) Goetz. It was incredible. Just an average Wednesday afternoon turned into a fantastic day after talking with her for about 45 minutes. I can only hope I get a call like that every couple of weeks to keep me in a perpetual good mood. Muchas gracias mi querida amiga. So, anyone with a calling card and a little patience can give me a ring, anytime you feel the need. The number is 591-77871737. Those first three numbers are the country code and the numbers after that pertain to my cell phone. If the phone rings and I don’t answer, try back again in a couple of minutes. If the phone doesn’t ring at all and goes right to the nice lady speaking Spanish, it means I am out of range (out in the jungle drilling or something) and you can leave a message. Messages are always welcome. Like I said, a nice lady will start talking to you in Spanish, then it will beep. Then she will say a couple more things and then it will beep again. It is after this second beep that you should leave a message. I should get the message and can either give you a call when I get it to let you know I’m free or whatever. The point is, if you want to talk to me, it’s not that tough. George Wang figured it out and he’s only a Stanford PhD student.

So yeah life is good. Christmas plans are still a bit up in the air and everything depends on the road of course. The adventure continues.