Monday, May 14, 2012

I was exhausted, so I went to bed at 9pm when my host family did. However, I could not sleep because the family next door had their tv on and the roosters started crowing at 2:30 in the morning at the literal crack of dawn.

I was out of bed nonetheless at 6am because I finally gave up on sleep. I got ready and puttered around in my room for a while before breakfast at 7am. I had beans mixed with rice, cheese, and a yogurt substance. The yogurt substance did not taste good at all. I also had coffee. Then, I sat outside and watched the children walk to the school across the street before deciding to review some Spanish before my first class at 9am. My teacher, Alcedes, met me at the home where I was staying, and we walked to the cabanas in the park for class. The cabanas were small bamboo huts that had large windows, a roof, as well as a stone floor. They also had two student desks and a whiteboard in each.

We talked for two hours about agriculture in the US and Nicaragua, prices of things in both countries, weather, our families, and other things. He made the same comment as many others; I have great Spanish speaking skills, but I lack confidence. He talks slowly and clearly, which is great.

After two hours, we broke for lunch and agreed to meet at 3pm in the same cabana. He lives just down the street from where I am living. I had only been home for about 5 minutes when he was at the house to get his son, Carlito, who Francisca watches since his wife is a teacher in a nearby town.

I had lunch around noon that consisted of rice, a tortilla, shell pasta with a little tomato sauce on it, and some sort of mild-cocoa cold drink. It was pretty good. I read my book outside even though it was really hot because the smoke from the stove was unbearable. Then, when the heat outside became too much, I took a shower.

At 3pm, I returned to the cabana. Alcedes took me to the library in town and showed me where I could find books in Spanish to read. Then, we started to walk outside of town, so he could show me the town’s pumping system. They use a pumping system in the summer since there is no surface water for drinking. It used solar panels with direct energy (ie no batteries) since they only need the pump during the dry season when there are no clouds. He also introduced me to a bunch of people along the way. Upon returning to the cabana, we reviewed some of the more complicated verb tenses in the Spanish language.

At 5pm, class was over, and I met up with Nicolia. She switched host families and now lives next door to me. We talked for a while, and then helped some of the adults move some bamboo for the construction of a new cabana. I then went home for a supper of quesadillas and coffee. I guess I am a coffee drinker now since I drink it twice per day. Marcelano, Francisca’s husband, talked to me about the government of Nicaragua. He had a lot of interesting things to say. For instance, Largartillo began as a cooperative before the contra war. Marcelano moved to Largartillo when the cooperative was started. Six people from Largartillo died during the contra war, including one of Francisca’s sons. After the war was over, Daniel Ortega dissolved the cooperatives, and Marcelano received some land.

Then, I read my book outside using the light from the house and wrote in my journal. Marcelano noticed that I was writing in English and not in Spanish and asked why. I realized that I did not have a good answer, so tomorrow my personal journal will be in Spanish (translated back to English before blogged).

Traditional Stove