Nicaragua, day nine
Today we waited for Sara’s family to come and learned a bunch of things in the meantime. My Aunt Rosa taught me how to wash my clothes in their washbasin and my Abuela taught me how to grind rice into dust using a little machine. Then I used the knowledge I’d already earned to make refresco de pitalla. I love pitalla and I hope I can find it when I get back to the States cause it’s amazing! I took a picture just cause it’s so beautiful!
Then my Abuelo took me and Sara around the property to see all the different things – he’d planted a whole field of beans and corn in one day – the field was enormous and he did this at age 73! Incredible. He also chops wood without a problem, and does a ton of other things around the property. He showed us the rice and beans as well as the yucca he’d planted. Then I got to see their coconut tree, their papaya tree, their orange tree, their tamarindo tree, and their banana tree. Everything was just amazing. I bet that when all these things are in season, they hardly ever have to buy anything except rice! How awesome.
We waited and waited and waited and Sara’s family never came, but apparently we had to go, so my Abuela and I rushed out – but not before I had to change like 3 times to be approved. That was somewhat funny. I guess they’re not used to dressing casually when you go to the market. Whatever… I figured out later that maybe it was because she was going to introduce me to a bunch of different family people at the market – so maybe that’s why. The bus finally came and we headed towards the market in Masaya. She was so cute because she wanted me to take pictures of everything – all the little pulperias where her friends and families were working and all the interesting things – they’re really getting a kick out of me using my camera... fun times.
Then we met my two Aunts, DaMaris and Aracelli to go to the lagoon. We met my Uncle Javier there and just soaked up the peace and incredible beauty of the lagoon. It was the first time I’d seen a body of water in a while, and I was pretty excited. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed seeing water and ocean – this was so nice. I just sat and enjoyed the time there… It was pretty incredible. Then we got some coffee and some dinner and ate some more typical food – fried platanos with fried cheese and salad and fried banana chips. Yummmm… Oh golly. Then we danced some Cumbia in the restaurant which was fun – I’ve never been so spontaneous in my life. I feel like I never know what’s going to happen next, but I’m always just doing it and having a blast. I seem to be learning that spontaneity can be a lot of fun. I don’t know if that’ll change my obsessively-planned lifestyle, but LASP and especially Nicaragua has been a time of total uncertainty, but a great experience…
After returning back home pretty late, we hung out the rest of the night with most of the family, since it was my last night there. My cousin/sister, Tomasa, had made me an incredibly beautiful blue purse that she brought to me and then my Abuela brought me a purse that she had as a gift to me. Both were sweet, but the purse was amazing because she had crocheted it with her own hands. Just amazing. It even says Nicaragua on it! I can’t believe how much work that took… I’ll never forget it. We all sat around after that, drinking the pitalla refresco that I’d made, and talking about what they were like as kids. It was so neat to finally be in a position where my Spanish was developed enough to have more profound conversations than, “What’s your name?” or “What’s your favorite color?” How sweet to share with them and laugh and have an incredible time. All the family together – just enjoying each other’s company. I went to sleep with a bittersweet feeling – I’d had an incredible time, and I didn’t want to leave…
I can’t imagine being accepted and loved so quickly in any other place – but maybe I have yet to see that… I think my prayer came true, that having gone in to learn instead of to teach, I’d become more of a blessing than a burden… Gracias a Dios.
Right before I went to sleep, my Aunt DaMaris called me into her room to try on a pair of jeans that she’d bought. She’d explained to me earlier that she buys clothing at a certain price and then sells it to people and they pay her back little by little at three times the cost. Anyway, so I tried them on and they were quite snug but she thought they looked great, so I wore them as a gift from her. It was so precious – what an incredible family.
Then my Abuelo took me and Sara around the property to see all the different things – he’d planted a whole field of beans and corn in one day – the field was enormous and he did this at age 73! Incredible. He also chops wood without a problem, and does a ton of other things around the property. He showed us the rice and beans as well as the yucca he’d planted. Then I got to see their coconut tree, their papaya tree, their orange tree, their tamarindo tree, and their banana tree. Everything was just amazing. I bet that when all these things are in season, they hardly ever have to buy anything except rice! How awesome.
We waited and waited and waited and Sara’s family never came, but apparently we had to go, so my Abuela and I rushed out – but not before I had to change like 3 times to be approved. That was somewhat funny. I guess they’re not used to dressing casually when you go to the market. Whatever… I figured out later that maybe it was because she was going to introduce me to a bunch of different family people at the market – so maybe that’s why. The bus finally came and we headed towards the market in Masaya. She was so cute because she wanted me to take pictures of everything – all the little pulperias where her friends and families were working and all the interesting things – they’re really getting a kick out of me using my camera... fun times.
Then we met my two Aunts, DaMaris and Aracelli to go to the lagoon. We met my Uncle Javier there and just soaked up the peace and incredible beauty of the lagoon. It was the first time I’d seen a body of water in a while, and I was pretty excited. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed seeing water and ocean – this was so nice. I just sat and enjoyed the time there… It was pretty incredible. Then we got some coffee and some dinner and ate some more typical food – fried platanos with fried cheese and salad and fried banana chips. Yummmm… Oh golly. Then we danced some Cumbia in the restaurant which was fun – I’ve never been so spontaneous in my life. I feel like I never know what’s going to happen next, but I’m always just doing it and having a blast. I seem to be learning that spontaneity can be a lot of fun. I don’t know if that’ll change my obsessively-planned lifestyle, but LASP and especially Nicaragua has been a time of total uncertainty, but a great experience…
After returning back home pretty late, we hung out the rest of the night with most of the family, since it was my last night there. My cousin/sister, Tomasa, had made me an incredibly beautiful blue purse that she brought to me and then my Abuela brought me a purse that she had as a gift to me. Both were sweet, but the purse was amazing because she had crocheted it with her own hands. Just amazing. It even says Nicaragua on it! I can’t believe how much work that took… I’ll never forget it. We all sat around after that, drinking the pitalla refresco that I’d made, and talking about what they were like as kids. It was so neat to finally be in a position where my Spanish was developed enough to have more profound conversations than, “What’s your name?” or “What’s your favorite color?” How sweet to share with them and laugh and have an incredible time. All the family together – just enjoying each other’s company. I went to sleep with a bittersweet feeling – I’d had an incredible time, and I didn’t want to leave…
I can’t imagine being accepted and loved so quickly in any other place – but maybe I have yet to see that… I think my prayer came true, that having gone in to learn instead of to teach, I’d become more of a blessing than a burden… Gracias a Dios.
Right before I went to sleep, my Aunt DaMaris called me into her room to try on a pair of jeans that she’d bought. She’d explained to me earlier that she buys clothing at a certain price and then sells it to people and they pay her back little by little at three times the cost. Anyway, so I tried them on and they were quite snug but she thought they looked great, so I wore them as a gift from her. It was so precious – what an incredible family.
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