Olfactory insult

You get home after a day in the OR, pass through the door and take a deep sigh, ready for a little down time. The sigh involuntarily catches in the back of your throat. What is this you just inhaled? The body coughs, and you take a tentative breath through a slightly open mouth. Once you verify you're still able to breath; you enter and round the corner.

Jake looked up at me from where he was working at the table. The smell had permeated the entire apartment. I shooed him into the bedroom to change stat and set about opening the windows as wide as possible. We subsequently learned that changed clothes could not be left in the hamper either as the bedroom would then carry the odor as well.

The past two months have been a journey to conquer the smell. It's very warm; true to May's reputation as the hottest month of the year. A slow gentle walk will produce a nice glistening sheen of sweat. It's inevitable, and we accept it and adjust. Past trips have likewise had warm days, which require multiple showers to rinse off. However, we don't ever remember the smell quite as bad. We've spent time experimenting with different wash cycles as well as deep diving through Google. Is it the multivitamin we are taking or some food item we've added to the diet. One unverified and unresearched but possible answer that we have found is the local produce. The chemicals, minerals and byproducts in the ground where the onions, peppers, carrots, etc are grown. We purchase from the local produce stands, and then consume (yes, we wash them first!!). Like I said, to actually research that option we'd have to eliminate what few local vegetable options we have, and I think we'd both rather just smell then do that. I mean we like peanut butter, but two meals of that is already enough for one day!

We will wash everything we bring home. (We plan on leaving most items here.) If at this point we can't rid the odor, we may have to recycle. As generally accepting of smell as people are here in Honduras, we probably wouldn't get such a pass in the States.

Enjoy something a little better smelling than nosotros right now.

Much love.