a thud along the half-paved/half gravel road in Hopkins informed me a mango was ready to collect
Food is everywhere here on the trees. Just from the bench outside my cabin, I could see almond trees, mango trees, cashew trees, plantain and banana trees, papaya trees, orange trees… and on the ground there was chia (a 6-foot tall plant with leaves sort of similar to spinach), kolantro (similar to cilantro) and wild oregano right beside my door.
Mangoes and cashews were strewn smashed across the road. Hopkins smelled sweetly of mangoes. They were the most delicious mangoes I had ever tasted. I awoke every day really early when the heat and sun was bearable, and walked from one end of Hopkins and back again. As I went, the mangoes that dropped from the trees became my breakfast. I tried at least 5 different varieties. At first I would come home with them all in my hands, peel them and wash them. When I told my friends I needed a knife, they looked at me, puzzled. They showed me to peel mangoes with my teeth, and from then on their sweet juice dripped all over me as I walked around, throwing the pit at the side of the road, and providing me with more than enough provitamin A.