It has been a busy few days and my body and mind are already feeling worn out from absorbing so much new information and speaking Spanish all day. I arrived on Wednesday around noon and had orientation with the group at a retreat center until Friday. There are only 5 students in the program, so it is easy to get to know each other. Last night was my first night with my host family. They are a friendly and definitely talkative bunch- eager to help me, as I obviously need it. My host mom is an older woman named Donya Mirna who is probably in her late 60s. She is Catholic and rather serious-faced, but loves to talk- and talk. It makes it easy to get to know her, as I don’t have to endure awkward silences thinking of what to say. Then there is her brother, Raul, who I am to call “abuelito” (like grandpa). Then there is Mirna’s daughter, Carla, in her 30s, her husband Mario, and their daughter Grecia, who is almost 11. Carla is energetic and likes to joke around. She has already told me story after hilarious story about the last exchange student to live with them. I am just waiting to see what stupid things I do that will end up as stories or lessons for the next person.
Of course I didn’t have to wait long. Today I had my first “Kelly stinks at directions” experience. Most of you know this about me. Well, I went out for my morning run. They told me that went in a big circle around the neighborhood, where I could run laps. That sounded simple enough, but of course even the simplest directions are sometimes lost on me. Luckily, I had planned ahead and brought my cell phone, so I called home and Carla helped me get home. Now, this was not as simple as looking at the street sign and telling her the address of where I was, because in Managua there are few streets with names. So I ran into some little store and asked the woman working there if she would explain where we were. Seriously, in the US I rely on street names to find my way around and this will be hard to get used to. My address here is literally something like “Barrio Centroamerica, next to Fatima church, 3 blocks south and half a block east.” Ha!
So my family already has something to laugh about. Then they are already making fun of me for how much water I drink… is anyone really surprised?
Other than that, I am busy learning some aspects of daily life, such as buying a cell phone and recharging prepaid minutes, or taking a taxi, which I will take instead of the bus at night or when carrying my laptop.
Last night I sat outside on the street with some neighbors and just chatted for awhile, which was fun. Sarah, another student in CIEE (my program), lives just a few houses down so she came out too and a bunch of us had a lively discussion about different kinds of toilets around the world. Mario has traveled a lot in Russia so he was eager to contribute. I have to say it was the longest conversation about bathrooms I’ve ever had, but I guess that is one topic that kind of transcends cultural boundaries. My favorite thing was to hear a grown man say with a straight face, “hacer pupu.” (hacer= to do or to make; do you get the gist of it?) All in all, the night was a good exercise in just learning to let loose, because I’ve realized that one mistake I sometimes make in communicating across cultures (and languages) is that I sometimes take myself too seriously. I want to learn about people and speak correctly, but sometimes that means that I forget to just have fun and enjoy the process.
Monday is a national holiday here, the anniversary of the victory of the revolution of 1979, which is supposed to be a fun party. Then we will have 2 weeks of an intensive Spanish class, and will start regular classes at the UNAN (National Autonomous University of Nicaragua) on August 2. I am excited to start as I am anxious to dive into university life here and meet more Nicaraguans to make friends beyond our little American group. Until then, I look forward to exploring the city and country and will keep you posted!
Another thing I stink at is taking pictures. I'll post some when I get around to it!
Con amor,
Kelly
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