Weird Weather, Earthquake, and Food

This morning I was laying in bed and the ground began to move a little. I heard the water cooler outside my door slosh around. When I got up, I asked the woman I live with, "There was an earthquake this morning?" She said, "No, not an earthquake, just a tremble. Earthquakes are dangerous." Hmm.

For the past week or so, we have had beautiful days and then, right around 5pm, dumping, dumping rain with thunder and lightening. They say that this is very strange for this time of year. I wonder if it is connected to Haiti, and Iceland, and Nostradamus.

Quite a few people have asked me about the food at my homestay, so here goes. I get breakfast Monday through Saturday, and lunch and dinner Monday through Friday. Breakfast has included the following things - fruit, yogurt, and granola; pancakes; eggs; many, many tortillas folded and grilled filled with cheese, tomatoes, and/or whatever is left over from the night before (including spaghetti); always coffee; milk, strawberries, and sugar whipped into a smoothie; other fruit including mangoes, papayas, and pineapple. Lunch is usually some sort of stir fry of rice and vegetables or a big bowl of soup, and sometimes there is salad. And dinner, for me, is a vegetable and rice, or ramen noodle soup. One night there was nachos with guacamole. There is almost always tortillas or bread for with the meal, and then sweet bread to have with coffee at breakfast and tea at lunch and dinner. There seems to be a lot more salt than I am used to in everything, and they also put quite a bit of sugar in things like juice, smoothies, and coffee. On the whole, I am carb-loaded but happy. And in case you don't know, I get housing plus all this food for $75 a week. When I go out to eat, I get normal stuff - breakfast foods, bagels, pizza, sandwiches. I am missing huge homemade salads.