I admit the 3 days growth is anything but attractive - but it get's me sympathy from the motherly types who see me - ask me where Annette is and when i tell them she's gone they have mercy and me and feed me.

For example... today i was invited to have "comida" with the Leon family ("comida" is the big mid-day meal eaten around 2:00-4:00 in the afternoon). Here's a bit of what I wrote to Annette about that meal:

"i had rice in a light tomato sauce (first dish) and then a plate full of chopped hotdogs in a tomato, red pepper and green pepper sauce accompanied by a hard roll. Financially they are hurting now, so any meat is a luxury."

Hey - I'm not complaining. It's better than my three meals of cereal the day before :-)