Yesterday was a learning day.

Yesterday we had a ferria to celebrate San Carlos, the region where I live. A day off from school means extra study time for the FSOT, which is coming up this Saturday! However, instead of studying I spent the entire day walking into bad luck.

My host bother asked if I wanted to go see the pig he is going to buy for Christmas dinner in Santa Elena. I agreed, because he said it was a quick there and back deal. (Note to self- it is never a quick there and back trip, always allow for 2-3 hours extra) He seemed kind of in a hurry so I jumped in the truck with my flip flops instead of actual shoes. After all, its a quick trip, right? On the way we picked up a few of his friends, arrived at the farm with the pigs and walk around for a bit. It started to rain so we waited under a tree for the heaviest part to pass. As we were waiting I kept feeling something pinch my heal. I thought it was a fire ant, but could never brush it away. Turns out it was a chunk of wood that went through my sandal and kept stabbing me in the foot. I should have respected the foreshadowing. Instead of going home where it is dry and safe, my brother and his friends decided to pick mamones chinas from the trees. The best trees where at the other side of the farm, so we hopped in the car a drove over. To get to the trees we had to jump up a dirt hill and climb under a barbed wire fence. As I was climbing under I hear my shorts rip...right in the seat. NO! Okay not awesome, but maybe my host mom can sew them later. Up the rest of the hill we go and fill two bags with mamones. It continues to rain and my flip flops are now muddy and slippery. Instead of falling down the hill on the way back I take off my flip flops and walk barefoot. Yep, barefoot right into a huge pile of cow poop! The most disgusting part about having cow poop on your foot is the feeling of it squishing in between your toes. I'm screaming, my brother is laughing and everyone else is just plain disgusted. I wipe the poop off best I can and then threaten to wipe my dirty foot on my brother if he doesn't let me back into the car. We drive back to where the pigs are to say hi to yet another friend of my brother's. There are lots of puddles now so I try to stay by the car, determined not to get even more dirty. But as luck would have it my brother says, "hey all you need now is to fall in this puddle," as he pretends to push me, I fall. In the puddle. Thanks. My flip flop gets sucked into the mud and breaks, so now I only have one shoe, even better.

Fortunately that was the end of my bad luck for the day. I laugh about it now, but a the time I just wanted a shower.