I woke up early today to do my laundry before work. I could walk the four minutes it takes to get to my landlady’s house and pay the cleaning lady 3USD to wash my things in a washing machine, like most people do here, but I just don’t bother calling her and having to wait for my things.

Also, frankly, washing by hand and ironing are things I really enjoy doing. They are kind of like meditation – calm, detached and putting me in a state where I can’t occupy myself with other things and have to resign to thinking of nothing.

So I asked my landlady to hang some cords in my patio so that I could wash by hand and let my laundry dry in the sun – it takes only a couple of hours in this weather and has been a perfect solution where everything is dry when I get home from work.

Today, however, Managua suddenly decided that rain would be a splendid idea. My laundry couldn’t have agreed less.

At least the city smells beautifully now. I will open my windows, relax, light a candle and play La Femme D’Argent by Air to accompany the rain.