#Lakenicaraguaproblems

Call em what you will, chayules or sayules, some horrible little creatures paid their annual visit to San Miguelito recently.

I went to go watch my team play soccer, because I wasn't feeling well enough to play. Turned out we didn't actually have a game, but I stuck around to watch the boys play with my sitemate and a Nica friend, Kleydi. 

Life in San Miguelito had already been pretty awful that week, hotter than verano, so hot I'd broken my "no wearing shorts outside" rule. We were watching the game as pleasantly as one can when it's a bazillion degrees with 100% humidity when sudddenly, a brownish yellow blur appeared on the horizon of the lake. Christina and I were oblivious to the impending doom until Kleydi groaned. "Chayules!!" A giant cloud of decidedly biblical proportions headed straight for the town, blown across Lake Nicaragua from Costa Rica. The chayules soon arrived in force, distracting players and onlookers alike, as we hurried to cover our mouths and eyes with our shirts.

So what are chayules exactly? They're horrible little translucent insects. They don't bite, but when they arrive in such a giant storm, they smell like fish, especially when they die or get rained on. They don't do well with the concept of personal space, getting all up in mouths and eyes and food and laundry and anything they damn please. They die and pile up on everything, like a foul, thick layer of dust.

That was my cue to get of town. Luckily, I was headed to Managua for some medical appointments and a talk about "Teaching Vocabulary" to the new group of Peace Corps volunteers. Never had more propitious timing.