I can hardly believe I have only been here a week and a half. Not even! I realized that last night, it seems like it has been at least three!
My spanish is coming along slowly, but steadily. My vocabulary is growing exponentially, which is awesome! My favorite new word is enchufe, which means electrical outlet. I have had a few slip ups since being here with my spanish, which, of course is only to be expected. I will regail you with some of the more memorable, embarrassing and entertaining ones.
The very first night I got here, my host mom´s sister was here and I told her I needed to pay the driver, it appeared as he was leaving. She asked me something about paying somewhere, but I couldn´t figure out a word she was saying. I thought maybe it was a word for bill that I didn´t know. She kept saying the word ecuela, ecuela, ecuela. She was saying don´t you pay the ecuela? I am like WTF is an ecuela??? I said I didn´t know what an ecuela was and she looked at me a little confused. Then she said, you know, where you are going to take your classes, en la ecuela. Finally, I realized OHHH ESCUELA!!! Which means school. Nicaraguans drop the ´s´ on every word which makes things immensely confusing sometimes. I have definately gotten more used to that in the past week and a half though. We finally figured it out and I was able to pay the driver.
Today, I went to a nearby town called Masaya. It has an enormous market with lots of crafts, clothes, hammocks and lots of fun stuff. I didn´t end up buying anything because I told myself unless I absolutely loved something, I couldn´t buy it because I have a looooot more time here! So I was able to restrain myself, but ended up in a bakery. I was overwhelmed with my choices because the food here is pretty plain. Sweet stuff is very rarely eaten, pretty much only on special occasions (other then fruit) and this is actually the first bakery I have seen in Nicaragua since being here. Anyways, there was tons of stuff, but I eventually decided I wanted a piece of cherry cake and a tres leches. FYI, cherries in spanish are cerezas. Beer in spanish is cervesa. I accidently asked for a piece of the ¨beer¨ cake instead of the cherry cake. They looked at me half laughing, realized I hadn´t said cherry but had instead said beer, then laughed and corrected myself. I am at the level where I know when I have made a mistake like that so I can correct myself rather then them saying you mean.... But it is pretty embarrassing. The entire bakery, which consisted of around 8 people, were laughing their asses off. Haha. It was pretty funny looking back, but I was pretty embarrassed!!
I don´t remember what I was trying to say when this happened, it was during spanish school. I was with one of my teachers and said something to the effect wanting to eat someones balls. We had a good laugh about that one. I immediately realized what I had said and corrected myself. Haha. Oh the life of a non-fluent spanish speaker living in Nicaragua...
I took the bus (a chicken bus, aka old US school bus) to Masaya today all alone. I was a little nervous before doing it because I didn´t want to get lost. It ended up being fine and I didn´t get sick!! When I needed to take the bus back, I got in a cab to take me to the bus station from the market because it was a pretty far walk and I didn´t want to get lost. I asked him to take me to the bus station and he dropped me off at a ¨bus station¨on the side of the road. He assured me the bus would come. I knew it would, but also knew that by the time it got to me there would be like 368 people on the bus and I would be smashed in. I am an American and am still adjusting to not having any personal space and not having my bubble! I like my bubble. I got on and immediately a ton of guys got up to give me a spot, sometimes it pays to be the gringa! It is funny, personal space here. Eventually people got off and there were many empty seats all around. In the US as soon as that happens, people move to have their own seat. Not so in Nicaragua! There were three of us in one seat (I was by the window). Why would you move to your own seat when there are three empty ones right next to you instead when you could sit three to a seat when it is a186 degrees outside and you are completely drenched in sweat! Fun times.
The other day my spanish school took a field trip to La Laguna de Apoyo. It is a very clean, beautiful swimming hole. Myself, my new friend Jeff, and older man from the Netherlands, his son, the owner of the school, his son, and their two dogs all went. In one Bronco. Yes, one. We were packed in. But the owner insisted that I, the only female, have the front seat. Haha. Yes! It was probably for the best though as I am prone to car sickness....I didn´t take any Dramamine because they said it was going to be a short ride. Rule # 1: Nicaraguans defintion of time are much different then Americans. ¨Short¨ turned into 45 minutes of windey roads, highways and crazy turns. Thank god I was in the front or probably would have puked. I had to have my head out the window and my eyes closed the entire time. I am sure I was quite the sight as we were driving through town. People were probably wondering what the crazy gringa was doing. Haha. All was well, I ended up eating my way through an entire roll of Rolaids in 45 minutes though. Better then the alternative though! We got to the swimming hole and it was muy bonita! It was amazing and the warmest water I have ever felt! It was a little refreshing but not as much as I had hoped. I can´t wait for the ocean in SJDS!!!
The owner and his son, who is 21, have two perros. They are actually normal weight! They are very loved and spoiled. One is a golden retriever, but about half the size of Sadie and Sam, so I am guessing he is mixed, but the son swears hes not. I went swimming with the doggies, it was fun, but it makes me miss Sam and Sadie muchisimo!
Fiona and I (the family perro) continue to be best buddies. She has quite the fear of rain which is unfortunate for a dog that lives in Nicaragua. She always cries, its sad. So when I am home I know sit with her and pet her until it stops so she isnt so scared. She cowers under me, its so sad! Fiona waits next to me at the table for food. Raquel, my host mother always gets mad at her because she is waiting for food. I think its funny though! haha.
I walked around the city a bit the other day with Jeff from the language school. We went in some churches, parks and to a grocery store. One of my favorite parts of traveling is going in grocery stores! It is so neat to see all the different stuff and how things are arranged.
A girl from Switzerland arrived the other day. She speaks near fluent english but next to no spanish. She is around my age so I have been talking to her. We made plans to go out last night (Friday) and meet in front of a hotel, we leave about two blocks apart. Well, she never showed! I dont know if I didnt communicate it well enough, or I didnt understand her or what... She may understand less english then she can speak. So, that sucked because I got all ready to go out and then didnt end up going because I didnt feel comftorable going to a bar alone. Oh well, maybe next week!
I have been talking to all my teachers here about teen pregnancy, abortion, birth control and all that fun stuff. It has been really interesting. I have two male and two female teachers. They think its funny how comftorable I am talking about such ¨taboo¨ subjects. I forget that these topics make people uncomftorable, its just part of what I do! Anyways, I have had some really interesting conversations. Generally speaking, men and women NEVER talk about this stuff. Even if you are in a relationship I was told that you often dont talk about birth control or anything like that. Which, would explain that extrordinarily high teen pregancy rate! The guys have been less forthcoming with information, they were pretty uncomftorable about it in the beginning, but have gotten much more comftorable. One of my teachers started talking about Sex and the City, he asked if I ever watched it. I was like, it is only my most favorite show ever! He thought it was great to talk to me and he said he and his friends always watch that show because they cant talk to women about that kind of stuff. So he has enjoyed I think being able to talk to me and me being comftorable. I have found out that all forms of birth control (condoms, the pill, IUD, Depo, morning after pill, sterilization and others) are all completely FREE at the centro de salud (health center). I could even get whatever I wanted for free. All medical care is free. It is only when you need something like an ultrasound (which I found out are extremely rare) or a special treatment or to see a specialist that you have to pay. But it is VERY cheap. You can go to a private clinic if you dont want to wait. You cant make appointments at the centro de salud, but you just have to get there in the morning and you will be seen at some point during the day. I was really suprised to learn that all forms of birth control are free....yet teen pregnancy (we are talking YOUNG, like 12-14 for first pregnancy) is so common. Well, I found out for starters, that sex ed isn´t taught in schools until 15!!! The country is predominately catholic, which contributes to this. There are a ton of girls that already have children by the time sex ed rolls around! My teacher I was talking to about this, a female, said that you really dont know about the free birth control until sex and unless you have an older sister. It is extremely taboo for mothers to talk to their daughters about sex or birth control. So there are a lot of very young teen pregnancies here and then there is a gap when they learn about stuff and start using some form of birth control. I find it very fascinating. I cannot tell you how many girls I have seen in teh 12-14 year old range pregnant here. It is very sad. All of my teachers (all in their 20s, all in school or have bachelors degrees) have made it a point to tell me they do not have children. It is so common for young people to have many children that many Nicas make it a point to point out that they do not have any. These conversations will help immensely with what I will be doing in SJDS!
Well, I think for now that is about all I can think about. I go to SJDS in a week, I have decided to ride the week out here. I have become friends with some of my teachers, even though it is against the rules and enjoy talking with them. It is hard to think that I have to leave soon when I have just started creating relationships with some of the people here! I will really miss two of my teachers, so hopefully I can stay friends with them!
The internet situation will be better in SJDS and hopefully I can skype with some of you there!
Hasta Luego!
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