This morning I took a taxi to school, the taxi driver took yet another route, but this one I'm sure I'll remember. We climbed up an incredible hill - easily as steep as anything San Francisco has to offer, yet here there is no tarmac, but loose rocks and gravel. In 4 wheel drive, grabbing onto potholes we revved our way to the top. The view from the school is incredible - my pictures won't do it justice. Miles of green and rounded hills sinking away to the Gulf: water so reflective of the sky it's sometimes hard to see, except for the wooded islands which tower out of it and the penninsula beyond.

I got bitten by an army ant yesterday. I saw the line of ants and stepped across, but one kamikaze little bugger managed to launch himself onto my foot. It hurt intensely for 5 minutes - like stinging nettle pain focused on one place, but that one tiny place managing to pulsate, throb and burn like it was all through my leg. I must take care not to wear flip-flops in the forest.

There are so many dogs here, all thankfully seem friendly and approach with stupid grins and wagging tails. Most are strange mixes - like labs and german shepherds with corgi sized legs and St Bernard sized heads. They seem to live independently of their owners, nosing around in the streams or futzing along the roads. They wander through the supermarket or sit in cafe doors.

Tonight I walked home and only got lost once. My way was lit by lightning bolts which were too far away for me to hear and by fire-flies which were close enough for me to hear. They zig zag blinking through the air like tiny strobe lights. Wonderful.