The smoothie lives on!

nyc-style smoothie

Granted it's not made with coconuts and bananas found in the "backyard" but it's still smooth and creamy nutritious good.  I think Natalie would be proud. 

Shower redux

Coming home from Nepal, 2010

I take my first shower back home at my dad's house in Queens because he and Esther pick me up at the airport the night before despite a delay in Miami that gets me in at 2 am.  Thank goodness for such parents.  I see him looking for me in the passenger pickup area at JFK before he sees me so that when he turns around I am standing right there and his face breaks into such a smile before he gives me the biggest hug. This part never gets old.

My shower the next morning is a classic perk of home, with water set at exactly the right temperature and a white porcelain tub with nary a remnant of crusty soap or its previous inhabitants.  I have two plush towels to dry off with and a fluffy mat to step on to as I exit. Lathering up on this first shower back home makes me recall the wide variety of other showers taken on this trip:

Biodegradable toiletries

• The first and much beloved "sun shower" of my bungalow casita at Equilibrio, set at the end of a narrow stone path outside my back bathroom door and tucked among the banana trees. The water was always one temperature - near scalding - because April was still dry season and the pipes always exposed to the sun. I sometimes wondered about openings in the bamboo fence surrounding my little backyard but that didn't prevent me from drying off just standing there under the hot sun afterwards. The slightly cooler night showers were also nice especially when the stars were out. 

• What can only be called the "volcano shower" at Inan Itah with its full frontal view of Volcan Conception. I tried to keep my eyes on it as much as possible while showering in order to make the most of the opportunity. The shower's only downside was the ledge crammed with long forgotten soaps and shampoos, and having to bring mine up from the hammock dorm instead of being able to store it there. Also sometimes my feet would get muddy again if I accidentally stepped off unto the unpaved path instead of one of the rocks.  Still, having a volcano to stare at more than made up for such things.

Showering at Inan Itah

• Dirty hostel showers like the one at Hostel Oasis in Granada - unless you were the first one in after the cleaning crew which rarely happened.  By the time I usually got into it, it was obvious about 20 other people had beaten me to it. 

• The weird shower in San Pedro. Although my room was cheap and included the luxury of a private bath, the shower totally sucked.  Getting wet enough to lather and rinse involved walking around under the nozzle to accumulate water. A mysterious appendage attached to the nozzle did nothing but spray the entire bathroom (as opposed to me) when I tried to figure it out, and dismantled it by mistake instead.  I'll take dirty shower over shower with shitty water pressure any day.

• GOOD hostel showers like my last at El Hostel in Antigua before coming home. Despite being communal (there was one for boys vs. girls though!) the shower stalls were clean, tiled and the water temperature and pressure perfect.  By now the nights and early mornings were quite chilly so having hot water was key. When I left Antigua to visit Laguna Atitlan for a few days, El Hostel's hot showers was a big factor in my decision to come back - along with the beautiful complimentary breakfast and amazing people that worked there, of course

Thinking about my various shower experiences over these past two months conjures up as well as anything the experiences themselves - where I was, who I was hanging out with, what the weather was like, how I was feeling. My wide variety of shower experiences is also a helpful reminder that the comforts of home - as clean and luxurious as they may be -  are just one of many potential other experiences just waiting to be had.

:)