Maybe the weather is changing. It rains less. The temperature is pretty consistent though - hot - but today mushrooms were available at the wet market (in season?) and the ants are marching in. Aaron and I returned from holiday to a steady stream of ants from our second story ceiling winding down, over the front door, down the bathroom door, along the floor, up behind the fridge, behind the cupboards, and then out the back door. Aaron has applied poison and a bunch died. A few hours later, the route had deviated to both avoid the ant-killer and retrieve the fallen bodies that had piled up. I put Terry on the case and she wiped them all up, but it wasn't an hour later that they started their march again. And that's not all.
The plugs around here deliver 220 volt, instead of the 120 standard in the US. When I plugged in my Mac today, it had that familiar, slight electricity running through it and that sent over 30 ants staggering out of my keyboard to my horrified finger smashing death. They are in everything.
Reading about my friends and family talk about the new time change and seeing my dad in his woolen cap inspired yet another seasonal change here in the relatively unchanging tropics: I made squash soup last night. All locally sourced ingredients, all ridiculously cheap, and all healthy. Tonight was Aaron's turn to cook and he went with a one-pot nacho. We don't have an oven or microwave, so this entailed him sautéing tofu, fajita veggies, and black beans and then dumping them all on top of a layer of corn chips and diced mozzarella in a saucepan covered with a lid. I made a pico with local pepper, tomatoes, onion and kalamansi. While I passed on the toasted coconut topping that Aaron added to his, it was one heck of a good meal. We both had seconds.
It's nice to be home, but also nice to travel. Good thing there are a few trips on the horizon and I'm hoping I get my Chinese visa this week. It looks like the trip to Shanghai is from Wednesday afternoon to Monday evening. Until then, I'm working, helping Aaron in his classroom, and trying to use the same groceries in new and Western style cooking.