Anywho, when I last left you it was Tuesday morning, and there was no water (just in the shower) at the hotel. Each day since, there has also been no water in the shower. Which stinks. I guess they are still working on fixing some filter or whatnot. The sink water runs very weakly though, so it´s enough. By the time I get back in the afternoon from whatever I´ve been doing, the water is usually back on. So no worries about my lack of showering.
Tuesday afternoon I went back to the supermarket to take a real good look at what all I could find there, so that I would know what I might be able to make on Wed. night. I ran a few other errands and when i got back to the hotel, Freddy called and invited me to come to his English class. He teaches English at a private school in town; he also teaches English at a local academy, he also does a lot of tutoring outside of school, AND he now teaches another class. It was set up through the US Embassy here. The students had to apply for the class, and must be low-income, high-performing students, ages 14-16, at the beginning English level. Freddy was helping a few students with their applications and decided to apply, and he got the job. I was happy to go, as I´ve gone to his classes before and they are lots of fun, because the kids love practicing English with a ¨real¨ English speaker - not that Freddy is not one, but since he is the teacher, they´re too used to him. Also, I was sort of excited to speak English for a while.... It´s so NICE not to have to think so much when you talk!
Freddy came and picked me up on his motorcycle (ride number 2). The class is held at a local school run by an orphanage in a beautiful, tropical location sort of hidden from the main road. I waited outside while Freddy reviewed with the kids and told them that I was there. He told them that I didn´t speak Spanish, so they had to speak to me in English. I could hear them all saying they were nervous and scared, and it was pretty funny, because as far as scary goes, I think I´m not.Then I went in and as a review for their tests the following two days, they practiced asking me questions about myself and my life. They thought of some really good questions, and their English was REALLY good, for the most part. I already mentioned how Twilight came up. They also love to ask about if you´re married, how many kids you have, what your hobbies are, what your favorite movie is, etc. They also had some original humdingers!
The kids started asking if I was going to come back on Friday, when they receive their final grades. Freddy and I talked and decided that I would make chili and bring it (because of the upcoming 4th of July) as a sort of celebration. (I digress, but I have to insert here that the Nicaraguans that have been to the States are fascinated by chili. Tina cooked it for them when they were visiting, and they just loved it. So they all now consider that a ¨typical¨ U.S. meal, which I guess in a way, it is).
After getting dropped back off at the hotel (ride number 3), I showered and got ready for church. The longer I´m here, the more Nicaraguan I feel, and that shows in how late I start arriving at things. There was a time when I would show up at church at 6:30 no matter what, because that is what time it ¨starts¨, and my anal gringa head tells me I must.be.punctual. But this day I didn´t go until about five minutes before 7:00. There I saw Jim, who I met a few years ago here wiith the group from Georgia. He is sort of like me, as he just comes when he can with whatever money he can. Unlike me though, he is leading the building of a church in an area called La Graxa, which is heavily gang-infested. He is pretty tough, as he was in Vietnam and also has lived in villages with cannbials. He has lots of interesting stories, to say the least. After church, the pastor and his family treated Jim, me, Freddy and Liza to dinner. We went to a Mexican place that has delicious tacos. It is on the corner of a road and a highway, and it sits up high, about two flights of stairs, which gives it a really neat view. The tacos were great, although a little too onion-heavy for my taste.
The next morning, FINALLY, I headed to Villa Catalina to see my people. I hopped in a taxi and was there by 10:00. Of course, the rain finally stopped and this was a bona-fide hot Nicaraguan day. I stopped first at Zayda´s house. If you recall, Zayda was the first Nicaraguan friend I met, and she is my age. When I met her, her oldest daughter Eli was a little under 2 years old, and she was pregnant with another. Now, Jeni is almost 5, and she now has a three-month-old boy, Andy. When Jessica and I were in late March, we saw and held Andy when he was just 9 days old. He was so tiny. That is certainly not the case now. He has the
rolliest polliest legs and arms, and he is just adorable. And no, I know what you´re thinking, he wasn´t looking for nutrition from me. He´s just really squirmy. Upon leaving Zayda´s house, I walked down about 10 houses to Emilio´s house. I knew the family wasn´t there, because during the week when school is in, they stay in town in Chinandega, at a house that their dad is watching, along with some cows, for some dude. But I knew Oscar was there because I had seen him walking home from school. Oscar is 16 and he stays to watch the house and go to school in the Villa. I went and talked with him for a while, and then he took me into town to go to the house where the family was, which is actually only a few miles from my hotel and from the church. The two little boys were a little sick, so they were sort of mopey, but still glad to see me. The land they´re staying on is beautiful, and they´re not the most social family, so I think they really like being away from the millions of people in the Villa. It was decided that the next day we´d do our ¨day in town¨ like we always do, and I left.
I went back to the hotel to get ready for cooking dinner that night. I decided to make chicken piccata, which I´ve made once before, mashed potatoes, which I´ve actually never made but of course know how to make, and corn, which of course I´ve made tons of times, as it comes from a can! I was even able to buy the same exact brand that I buy at home. I made my list and went to the supermarket to buy all the cold ingredients I didn´t buy the day before. Chicken piccata has lemons, but they only have limes here, so I used those. From the store, I went to Liza´s house and started cooking. Everything turned out well, and they really love butter, so we loaded up those mashed potatoes good. Liza said she liked how in the States we serve all the food in the middle of the table and eat from there, whereas here they just leave it on the cooktop and serve the plates. I explained to her that I eat my dinner on a plate on top of a pillow on my lap sitting on the couch watching TV, so there are all types. Although when I lived with my parents, we did eat a little more formally...
After cleaning up, we went to the church. There was a group of American kids on a mission trip to Managua, who came to Chinandega just for the night to have some fellowship with the church here. I didn´t realize until that night that it was Americans coming. I thought it was Nicaraguans from Managua. So I felt bad that we came just about when all the fun was ending. But it was still nice to get to meet them and again, speak English. The group was going to spend one night at a local hotel here, but didn´t know how to get there, so Freddy was going to lead them on his motorcycle, and then take me home afterwards. The group was hungry though, so we stopped at On The Run for them to load up on some essentials, and I got a cup of coffee. To go. On a motorcycle. I watched as all the gringo teenagers looked at me like I was absolutely nuts as I climbed up onto that motorcycle with a cup of coffee in my left hand. And I rode that way all the way back to my hotel. One-handed. With coffee. I thought it was awesome.
Thursday´s ´day in town´ will have to wait for another post. I´m in desperate need of a shower and am hoping the water is back on by now. I need to go buy all the stuff to make chili and then head over to Liza´s to cook it, and then to bring it to the school.
I hope you all have a fabulous 4th of July weekend!!!
1 comment:
You cooked for the Nicas and I dont even get a shoutout. You should have made doughnuts. You should tell them about the american tradition of super sizing when we eat, then throwing it all away.
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