Jungle Mold
The call to a "less is more" life can be summarized in this one photo.
Our hats, socks, backpacks, shoes and some clothes have started to mold, so this is our next learning curve. Not the scary black mold that we all fear at home. This is a whitish-green mold that thrives in the warm, wet environments abundantly available here. Apparently there is an art and science to sunning all of your belongings 2x per week to prevent mold growth. This is also a hat tip to the “less is more” approach to life here. The less you have, the less you have to manage. The simplicity of it all is palpable here. It’s taking some getting used to, yet the deliciousness of the simplicity is undeniable. It’s bringing with it plenty of opportunity to unlearn a lot of my American ways and relinquish many of the expectations of the world I didn’t even know I had.
To say we overpacked is an understatement. I suspect I will wear 1/2 of what I brought in my one checked luggage bag. The same goes for Dave and Trace’s wardrobes. The remaining half, may or may not survive the trip if it’s eaten up by mold. Time will tell.
We were invited to one of Trace’s classmates houses last Friday and had the opportunity to see the life they chose to create here over 12 years. We drove 35 minutes in the rain to their tiny jungle home that had two muddy hairpin turns to access that both required 3 point turns to navigate. More than once we wondered if we could possibly have gone off track somewhere. Once we arrived, Trace’s buddy met us in the street to show us where to go because we never would have found the house without him. We trucked down the slippery tree root lined steps, in the mud and rain to get to their house. It is a well ventilated work of art surrounded by dense jungle. In under 900 sq ft, they house 5 humans, 2 dogs, 2 cats, and do all the laundry and management for their hostel next door with NO dryer. They chose this life and love it and spend most of their time between school, home and the beach which is a 5 minute walk away. I’m humbled and in a constant state of re-education in this place.
When we asked about the mold, she nodded and said they take a 2 month trip back to Germany each summer and know when they get back that they will have to contend with cleaning the mold out of everything. It was the complete acceptance and lack of annoyance in her response that really struck me. It’s just part of life here, and all the greatness that this place has to offer is bound to come with a few quirks.