This is the second time that I've written a post for today. The first time was this morning, when I spent about a half an hour writing a fairly long and detailed post... And then the computer shut itself off and everything was lost. I must admit, I was pretty angry. It's taken me most of today to get over losing all of that post, much of which I felt was quite good. Anyway, I'm going to try a second attempt, and make sure I don't hit any of the little buttons on this keyboard that like to turn off the computer suddenly...

Today has been mostly a battle with the heat here in León. I really became aware of how hot it is here yesterday, as I only arrived in the late afternoon Saturday and it wasn't particularly hot then. The thing about León is that it is quite hot, quite possibly 100 degrees or close to it, and the humidity is quite high. Now, one must remember that Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere; there's no air conditioning. This makes for a rather miserable day if you are a newbie and don't know how to work around the heat and adjust. And I'm a newbie.

But the heat brings its own lessons. For example, it taught me the value of siestas and minimal clothing. After my little incident with the computer this morning, I was quite upset and the heat didn't make things any better. I eventually went to eat lunch and read a copy of the New Testament that I had bought that morning. About that: After all of my thought about Jesus and what he means to me, I found myself a little bit disappointed by the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus sure seems to talk a lot about Hell, about separating out the wheat and burning the chaff, about the Day of Judgement. That kind of language doesn't fly with me at all, but Jesus sure seemed to be quite into it. I don't know what to make of Jesus, frankly.

But back to the heat. I found myself, after my meal, sitting in a café drinking hot coffee and trying to write something, trying to elicit some bit of inspiration from my heat-stroked brain, but I just couldn't do it. I finally gave up and went back to my hostal. I put on a bathing suit and sat in a hammock. At first I tried to write, but soon gave up, realizing the futility of any action in that heat. I finally collapsed and slept for a couple of hours in the hammock.

When I awoke, the air was much cooler and the light outside was less intense. I woke up and, despite the fact that I had fallen asleep on a fairly full stomach, I felt very good. I got up and put some clothes on and headed out to a café I had visited last night and which I had enjoyed. I had dinner there, a falafel, coffee and hibiscus tea. It was quite expensive by local standards, I won't eat there again, but it was nice for a one-time thing. Now, having had that nap and awaking to a somewhat cooler environment, I feel notably better, both physically and mentally.

Today I learned some important lessons about the heat, about taking shelter when things get extreme. Siestas are essential. I think I'm going to take one during the hot part of the day as long as I remain here, because I think I fare a lot better by avoiding that part of the day altogether. I also learned about loss today. I learned that, as stressful and upsetting as it is to lose a big chunk of my writing, there's always more where that came from. I just needed to cool down (literally and figuratively) and come back to it. Although, I must point out, my readers are indeed deprived of a story about my trip to the meat section of the market today...