There are smashed oranges here and there on the street where cars ran over them. The Down's Syndrome guy next door was yelling "EEEE-OOOOO-EEEEE-OOOO" in a falsetta voice, before 8:00 this morning. I laughed. That's better than wanting to murder him, which is how I feel sometimes, when he pounds on my and Marta's wall, at the slightest provocation. It's hard to remember that he has a valid excuse for doing that when you are stuck living with it.

I rode part way to the studio and dodged the crowd of parents, grandparents, Latina nannies and kids waiting to get into "Colegio" (primary school), then walked past the dog shit in the huge arched passageway through the building into the gravel lot behind. The whitewash and dirty electrical cords inside the arch framed blue sky and a huge palm tree sticking up beyond shack roofs. I open the garage door and leave it open, since no one except a lady who sweeps and washes the rough pavement, is around in the morning. I sweep out the dust made by many nailed toes and heels, in plywood, along with the mouse poop that is there in the morning. I cover my face with the wet towel that I then use to clean my feet before I put on my shoes. I use the same cloth to wipe my body down after, and hope to have a chance to wash it out before class, so I can do the same thing.

Esa era mi mañana.

Today I took a shower between practice and class, though I have very little time. I wanted to stop by where a chico guapo works, and didn't want to look "fatal" (in Spanish, that is a bad thing!) after sweating twice. We worked with baston today, a wooden cane that you can tap on the ground to add to the percussion already going on. During class I wear full length tights, the long skirt over top, and cualquier kind of top, but often one with long sleeves or a sweater over something. All dancers dress this way, no matter how hot the weather. When you sweat that much and then stand around, it's a bad idea. Even without air conditioning.

Yesterday I took three showers, though other times I just take a siesta all sweaty and then practice on the rooftop and get even more sweaty and only shower later. My room is the only one with light in the whole apartment. The rest of the blinds are pulled down and even the windows closed during the day. You'd think it was night time. I've had to deal with cockroaches a few times. There were a pile of them with their feet up in the lobby yesterday.