Life in Bella Cruz

I am back for a much-needed update – the past few days have been ridiculous. We moved in to our host families on Friday evening. We nervously packed all of our belongings (not as efficiently as the first time we packed our bags) and trekked over to Bella Cruz, our new barrio. The first stop was Sarah’s house, the one painted bright flamingo pink with tons of ankle biting dogs around. Becca, our liaison to the hosts, yells inside “BUENAS!” Chaos ensues and we are let in the gate. We are introduced to Sarah’s family, Dona Mierta y Don Paulo. I swear that Dona Mierta is a long lost Green. She looks like a Green, thinks like a Green, and most importantly she LAUGHS and TALKS at a level to rival the Greens. We should check out her family tree and see if the Saldana family branches off into Nicaragua. Very sure there is a family connection there somewhere. ANYWAY, Sarah lives in a small room in the back of the garden. There are 4 rooms in a little building, all with doors to the garden. She has people living on both sides of her room, and access to the outdoor shower and pila. Becca told us Dona Mierta y Don Paulo were like characters from a Roald Dahl book, and she was right on.
Next is my turn to meet my new family, Dona Yeny y her hijo Alexander. Dona Yeny lives right next door, sharing a wall with Dona Mierta y Don Paolo, the only distinction is one side is BRIGHT PINK and the other side, Dona Yeny’s side, is BRIGHT RED/ORANGE.
We walk next door and “BUENAS!” a few times before Dona Yeny appears. She shows we right to my room, painted BRIGHT TURQUIOSE. I have a huge bed, a little candle for when we lose power, and a little lock on my door. My area of the house is separate from the rest of the house (you can tell because my side is the turquoise while everything else is the red/orange) complete with its own bathroom and door that locks. It is nice to have the privacy. Of course the bathroom all to myself is also nice. It is modest with a toilet and an area designated shower where you can dump the buckets of water on yourself. Works for me.
The food is really good, traditional Nica food. Most of my meals so far consist of gallo pinto, platanos y tortillas. The tortillas are made across the street and come to me still piping hot. Delicious. I think I will be getting gallo pinto cooking lesson tonight, as I have asked to be trained.
Dona Yeny’s is the place to be for all the barrio children. As I sit on the front porch I am surrounded my many children coming and going. We are they coming from? Most likely across the street at the pulperia/tortilleria. Where are the going? Same place. What do they do while at Dona Yeny’s? Nothing, just like me.
So our weekend was left wide open to see what our families do on the weekends. Not much. Things start EARLY, like when the rooster caws, everyone is awake. Breakfast is at 7a, and I always eat alone. When and where Dona Yeny y Alexander eat is a mystery. But that is how it is. Then the day begins; there is a lot of time to do a lot of nothing. Coming from North America, it is strange to have an entire day in front of you and seriously have nothing to fill it with. Nothing. This is poverty. The people in the barrio hang out, visit each other, play cards, wash clothes when there is water and shoot the breeze.
The best part of our new families is the conversation. Befriending the barrio kids is an easy task, and a great way to start learning Spanish. They think it is HILARIOUS when you can’t say something right, but will always correct you. And it isn’t as nerve wracking to look at the 12 year old girl and say… “Debo decir ‘la comida ES sabrosa’ o ‘la comdia ESTA sabrosa’?” No shame in asking her because like any 12 year old girl, she loves telling you the right way to do something.
So living with the families was the best idea for us at this point. A delegation moves into the dormitory on Wednesday and we really didn’t want to have to share bunk beds with them for 2 weeks. This way we are completely immersed in the culture, in Spanish, and we both get away from La Ciudad.

One final note: with the computer situation being as such (where I do not have daily access to internet anymore) my blogging and emailing will slow do considerably. I think I am going to aim to update my blog twice a week. Probably once on the weekend, once we find the internet café, and then again during mid-week when I can type on a laptop and then in one swift ninja move, upload to the internet. Please keep the comments coming, they make my day!

Hasta miercoles!