It’s raining it’s pouring, I think I could have a foot fungus?

This week all 9 of my counterpart teachers gathered under one roof to discuss the goals and objectives for the following school year. Unfortunately, the conversation never progressed passed the topic of “What foods does Brie like to eat?” It has been determined that I will eat any foods (Except Sopa de Mondongo…I don’t even want to go into details concerning what this soup is made out of but lets just say it’s an acquired taste…that I hope never to acquire!) Another big topic of discussion was the fact that I am not a vegetarian. Apparently, the last volunteer (who left 4 years ago) was a vegetarian. I asked my counterparts what other details they could give me about the volunteer (for example what projects the volunteer worked on in the community) but it seems that the only thing clearly remembered is the fact that the volunteer did not eat meat. It makes me ponder, what will I be remembered as (Girl who ate everything except Sopa de Mondongo…if curiosity is still itching concerning the mysterious Mondongo soup, I suggest a Google search with the key words: “mondongo” “Central America” and “Pictures”!). All of my counterparts laugh when I tell them how much I enjoy Gallo Pinto (rice and beans), crema (thick milk cream) and other typical Nicaraguan foods. I am not quite in on this joke, and still haven’t figured out what they are all laughing about, but I assume the jokes on me! After the teachers planned out whose house I would be eating at for the next 5 weeks, we finally discussed our goals for the upcoming school year and then ate a lunch of rice, salad and Res (beef). Once again I was laughed at while eating, and I am starting to think that this reoccurring cackle could have something to do with the manner in which I eat my food? Still not sure, and I am looking into exploring this topic further in upcoming blogs titled: “The Gringa Eats Again” and “Eating isn’t a Laughing Matter, Unless There Happens to be a Parasite the Food.”

Before the rooster had a chance to crow and long before the neighborhood kids had a chance to set off the morning dose of firecrackers (both of which act as my usual alarm clock) I awoke to a real alarm clock at 4:30am. Beep, Beep, Beep…I and almost forgot that I was suppose to wake up to that weak beeping noise. Why on earth would I wake up so early? To do laundry of course! I share a wash basin with two families (around 7 people). Every morning a lavandera (woman who washes cloths) arrives at 6am to wash around 20 pairs of pants, 30 shirts/blouses, sabanas (bed sheets) and underwear galore. Now due to the fact that the water stops at around 7am this leaves me with a small window of opportunity in which to do my own laundry. Therefore, I woke up super early to wash my clothes, sheets and toallas (towels). It never ceases to amaze me what I will do for clean clothes. However, I am smelling good once again and will have to repeat this laundry fiasco for the next few weeks (just until I get my own wash basin). But until then it’s a race to beat the laundry lady.

The lion of León. This fountain is in the central park of León. There are 3 more identical lions that surround this fountain that I was unable to ¨capture¨ in this picture (because they were so fierce).

I am taking cooking classes every Friday from local families in the community so that I can fully integrate. So far I can make cheese, tortillas, tacos, enchiladas, nacatamal (a tamale), indio viejo (translates into Old Indian, however the name does not faithfully reflect the flavor of this dish…it tastes more like a beef stew with cornmeal). I am compiling the recipes for my own use and finally finding out how much time and effort goes into their specialty foods. Since I enjoy cooking, I find it helpful to have hands on lessons. Plus, I always walk away with lots of goodies. For example, after my lesson I was fed lunch and then given 2 fresocs, enchiladas, tacos, 1 nacatamal and beef to take home with me for cenar (supper). Yum.

The weekend couldn’t have come soon enough because a group of business volunteers (including myself) gathered in León (the city of the lion…roar/grrr) to take a bit of a break from our various sites. It was nice to see everyone, as well as to talk about the different successes and difficulties we are all encountering (trying to teach and integrate are the two main problem areas). León is a fun colonial city in Nicaragua that has beautiful cathedrals and colonial buildings. However, I did not go to León to be a typical tourist, I went León to dance. Think of my dancing style as Napoleon Dynamite meets Frankenstein, because that’s the extent of my dancing capability, some flailing stiff arms and maybe an occasional moon walk or robot. Maybe, I am a little better than that but it’s hard to overlook that fact that I am a white girl in a Latin American country…and quite frankly when I dance next to these Latinos that is how I believe they view my unique American dancing style! I do not have the rhythm of the Salsa and I am certainly no Shakira, but I suppose I have 2 years to work on it!

A view of the top...this picture shows the upper part of the main Catholic Cathedral in León.

The past few days have been very rainy, probably backsplash from the hurricane that bypassed Nicaragua and headed towards México. Every afternoon around 3pm a heavy rain falls and continues to fall throughout the night. It floods the streets while simultaneously clearing the street of all inhabitants. No Nicaraguan in their rightful mind would go walking around in this weather. Good thing I’m a gringa. While in León the rain came pouring down, and like a typical American nothing could stop me from my pre-planned agenda. The rain started out as a drizzle but soon turned into a monsoon. I was wearing flip-flops and had no umbrella or raincoat. As the water surged out of the gutters and flowed down the street I was forced to walk through a river of germs. (Note: I do not consider myself germ phobic, but in Nicaragua the streets are not very sanitary…think big city + animals roaming the street + big open markets with meat/fish/food products = dirty streets). As I waded through the water in my flimsy flip-flops it occurred to me that I probably was contracting all sorts of bacteria, fungus and various forms of mutated diseases. During the next few weeks the germs will incubate and I will find out for sure what I have contracted. I will provide the necessary updates and can only hope that my feet will not have to be removed. Seriously, I doubt I have foot fungus but there is always a chance (I swear I am not turning into a hypochondriac). I have learned yet another valuable lesson: When it is raining follow suite with the Nicaraguans, and just stay inside where it’s dry and sanitary.

A full view of the main Catholic Cathedral in León (the upper part of the cathedral can be see in more detail in the picture above).

Dracula’s Cousins: Los Murciélagos (the bats) are Living in My House

Monday was a rainy overcast day. I had planned to do my laundry but due to the lack of sunshine and lack of running water my plan was foiled. Instead, I decided to do some lesson planning, study Spanish, read and hang around with my new family. My family invited me to have lunch with them (muy amable) and they were serving Sopa de Cerdo. In Nicaragua, I have noticed a common meal for lunch is soup (Sopa de Pollo o Sopa de cerdo…translation: chicken soup or pig soup). Los ingredientes son (the ingredients are): repollo (cabbage), zanahoria (carrots), patata (potatos), cebolla (onion), plátano amarillo (yellow plantain), tomate (tomato), cerdo o pollo (pig or chicken). The vegetables are really chunky and the soup is boiled until it is steaming hot. In fact, it is so hot that you cannot possibly eat it without burning your tongue and inner organs. Here is the challenge: Have I integrated enough into the culture that I am able to eat boiling hot soup, in a boiling hot country, during the hottest part of the day (12pm) and dig into the soup the moment it is served while keeping up with the soup chugging Nicaragüense? The answer is…NO! I have to let my soup cool and/or stick it in the refrigerator. It is just too hot. This is yet another cultural idiosyncrasy that I fail to comprehend. Why serve hot soup? How about a sandwich or chilled pasta salad…just a suggestion. After sweating into my soup I successfully completed my task…eating the entire bowl …mmmmmmmmm “muy rica” (very rich/good)

Sopa de Cerdo (my favorite vegetable is yellow plantain because it is sweet and tastes wonderful in soup).

Later in the day, I discovered there were 2 murciélagos en mi casa (bats in my house). I was told that these bats were not blood sucking vampire bats but simply fruit bats. They were “muy Ruidoso” (very noisy) and people kept asking me if I was “miedo” (frightened). I responded that I am not scared of fruit bats only giant bats that attack my neck. Bats tend to be very loud at night (emitting a high pitched squeak off and on throughout the nightime) and they are also “sucio” (dirty). After taking pieces of my tile roof off, the “chavalos” (youths) found the poor helpless sleeping creatures and threw them to the ground (about a 20 foot drop). Then children on the street bludgeoned the bats to death. To conclude, I will sleep better without the bat noise but I do feel a bit guilty that the bats were so brutally disposed of on my behalf (I thought maybe we could just relocate the bats to a new fruit filled tree).

I awoke early on Tuesday to the sounds of fireworks being shot off in front of my house. There are always fireworks at night; however, for there to be fireworks in the morning it can only mean one thing…una fiesta! In fact, I had guessed correctly because I found out that school had been canceled in order to celebrate. In Nicaragua there are celebrations all of the time for: saints, teachers, students, historical figures and other random people/events. The whole month of December is one big celebration. The truth of the matter is if there is something or someone that can be celebrated then school is canceled and a party is organized. It can be frustrating to work in these conditions, because when class is constantly canceled students don’t receive classes. As a teacher, I now have a certain amount of information I have to cover, and it feels like I never have enough time to cover all the topics. The truth is there isn’t enough time. Between canceled classes and having to review a majority of the previous class, I run out of time before I have really started.

This week I am also dog sitting for un perro se llama Clavo (a dog named Clavo). Clavo belongs to a married PCV couple. Therefore, Clavo is unlike any other Nicaraguan dog I have encountered. It is nice to have the company of a friendly dog that is not trying to chase me down the street. Clavo is very sweet. A lot of volunteers have various pets (cats, dogs, chickens, pigs, and horses). Right now, I am just happy dog sitting but in the future I will have to think about getting a chicken coup going...but I decided that I do not want any roosters because they are too noisy.

The soundtrack for my bus ride today consisted of the song “Come on Baby do the Conga,” which was skipping every other word because the bus was traversing through very rocky terrain (there is a highway being built and in the next year I expect it to be a smooth ride). There was also a T.V. on this big yellow school bus. It was a fairly large television positioned in the front of the bus. It was playing various reggaetone music videos by Daddy Yankee. Therefore, my ears were able to multi-task and listen to Gloria sing the Conga and Daddy Yankee rap about gangster life.

I taught a class called “Mi Vida en 10 Años” (My Life in 10 Years). This is a life skills class intended to get students thinking about their future after high school (where they will live, if they will have a family, further education opportunities, work, etc.). The overall class went well except for a few boys in the back of the room that were too cool to participate. The other half of the class suffers from “pena.” This is a word I hear almost on a daily basis… “los alumnus tienen pena” (the students are shy). To conquer the shyness and the “too cool for school” attitude I require the help of una pelota (a soccer ball), which I throw at kids to get them to participate. I am not hitting the kids with the ball, but instead tossing the ball to them to catch. This tactic seems to be work well, it also helps that the soccer ball is almost deflated…therefore there is no chance that I can knockout any of my students! In order to get back to my town today, I had to hitch a ride. The people were not strangers but friends of friends and they brought me all the way to my house and gave me lollypops! This is just another example of the friendly and helpful people of Nicaragua.

In preparation for dinner I went to my local bean lady and purchased 2 tazas (2 cups) of frijoles (beans). For only 3 cordobas (15 cents) I received pre-cooked red beans, which I paired with a tuna noodle casserole. I also made a fruit salad consisting of 1 giant watermelon, 7 bananas, and 6 apples all for under $1…buen provecho (bon appetite)!

To drink I had ZUKO, it’s similar to the popular Astronout engineered drink Tang. However, ZUKO is made in Chile with such flavors as “sabor a mora” (flavor of blackberry). Yo prefiero sabor a manzana y limon (I prefer apple and lemon flavor).

Thursday, I was walking down the street in search of the perfect ice cold fresco (which I will describe in detail later), when I was pulled aside by someone I had met several weeks ago. He is a teacher at another local school, and he had an urgent question to ask me…it was far from what I expected. He pulled numerous printed emails out of his backpack (bolsa or moleta). Turns out he was sent “spam” regarding a get rich quick pyramid scheme supposedly based out of San Francisco, California. He thought it was a legitimate company because there was a phone number and an office address. He was ready to send what little money he has to this company, and he was asking me for advice. I was immediately alarmed, and told him to never send money to these fraudulent internet/email based companies. I explained that no money can be made from these schemes and the truth was he would only lose all of his money (no matter how much money the “spam” company promised he would make). He heeded my advice, but now I am concerned that other people could also be had by these spammers. Therefore, I am going to try to start a computer class that will inform people how to use the internet while alerting them of possible internet predators. It is helpful that there are cyber cafés (4 internet cafés in my small town alone), but I feel people do not have the necessary knowledge to guide them safely through the World Wide Web.

Now back to that fresco…a fresco is a popular iced beverage, which is made from fresh everyday. They can be purchased from street vendors in the neighborhood, on a bus, on the side of the road…basically anywhere! There are an infinite amount of flavors but some of the most popular are orange, pineapple, milk with banana, guava, cacao, and chocolate. They cost C$3 to C$7 (cordobas) or $.16 to $.40 (U.S. cents). A fresco is always served in a thin plastic bag tied shut with a knot on top and sometime a straw. To drink the beverage you bite into the side of the bag and squeeze the drink into your mouth or simply sip through the straw. It is refreshing and delicious. I finally found my favorite fresco vendor, and I bought an iced cold freshly made banana milk fresco, which was perfect for a hot day.

I Have a Machete…and I Don’t Know How to Use it!

I do own a machete. They are very popular here and therefore to fit in I decided I needed one too! Just kidding…I inherited the machete from the volunteer before me and it makes a good wall decoration. It also works well when I need to climb the coconut tree in my backyard to chop down breakfast! Then I use the machete to crack open the coconut too…fresh and delicious! Nicas use machetes to cut their lawns and to cut down various plants. I often see people hacking away at tall grass with their machete…a very tedious process.

At night around 6pm (if it’s not raining) I go for a walk around town. This serves to let people know that I live here, and hopefully I will make a few friends in the process. I simply walk around saying “Adios” to everyone I come across. Instead of saying “Hola” people say “Adios” as a greeting. I haven’t heard anyone say “hola” it’s either “adios,” if you’re passing someone in the street, or “buenas” if you are greeting someone and entering into their home. Therefore, my walks consist of saying “goodbye aka adios” to everyone I meet. However, I am often surprised by how many people know my name as well. I will hear people yell after me “Brrrrrrieee” and I will turn around and talk to them! Unfortunately, I never know the people who know me, but that is quickly ratified as I start up a conversation with them and get their name. I feel like I’m on an episode of Cheers, “where everybody knows your name,” now if only I knew their names as well.

On Tuesday, I started up my exercise routine…running. Running in Nicaragua is virtually unheard of unless you are running from a wild pack of dogs! Of course, I did encounter some wild street dogs (they are unavoidable) but I was able to sneak by them…the ole’ dodge and roll move. My run did go well, early in the morning there is a fog that covers the hills and the volcanoes. As the sun rises the fog burns off but for the beginning of my running adventure it creates an eerie calming effect. However on Tuesday, I was everything but calm as I discovered a scorpion had snuck into my shirt (which I forgot to shake out). Two scorpion bites later I had finally flung the thing out of my shirt…1 Alegra allergy pill later I was feeling muy alegre (translation: very happy/much better)! Also, in the mornings are people riding their bikes into work. I have one man who likes to encourage me to run faster by saying “corriendo, corriendo…más rapido” (running…go faster) and he acts as my coach for several minutes until he speeds-up to go to work at a finca (farm).

This is a picture of the Volcan Cerro Negro, which is the second hill from the right.

One of the co-teachers I am working with has a lot of pre-conceived notions about the United States. The following are all questions I have encountered:

-Why don’t you live with your family…you don’t love them?

-Are there lots of gangs in America…why is it so unsafe?

-Why aren’t you married and why don’t you have children?

-What are your dreams…don’t you dream of having a big family?

-Do all people in America act like the Simpsons? (referring to the cartoon family from Springfield)

-America is violent, right?

-Americans are materialistic and not family oriented, don’t you agree?

-Do people from America have different accents? Can you imitate all the different accents for me? (I cannot and I did not!!)

I blame some of his preconceptions on the fact that MTV and other programs of the same nature are broadcast repeatedly on local Nica television. Everyone in Nicaragua has a television and they seem to watch it religiously (just like in the U.S.). The pre-teens are mostly the ones who watch the translated MTV shows, but it seems that the teacher I am working with has also tuned into the programs. The teacher thinks Americans do not value family, and doesn’t understand why American teenagers leave their families when attending college. In contrast, in Nicaragua the age range for “jóvenes aka teenagers” is 14 to 28. These jóvenes don’t leave their families…they will live with them for a long time…even if they get married. In rare occasions they do move out of their parent’s home but they either move next door or a block away.

The teacher was also concerned with the fact that when Americans come to Nicaragua a lot of them do not eat local food (which usually consists of bread, beans and rice). As I have already dealt with my fare share of stomach ailments I have steered clear of most local food (street vendors) for the last few weeks, unless I know the cook. My new neighbors made a savory meal for me this past weekend which consisted of tortilla, rice, and marinated orange flavored meat. Hands down it was the best meal I have had in Nicaragua to date! The people are very gracious and wonderful hosts…they always want you to sample their food!

By the time Wednesday rolled around, I gave another mini-lecture to the students and then I observed the teacher for the remainder of the class. The topic of the class was “Qué es lectura” or “What is Literature.” I was a baffled by this topic and so were the students. It was a really broad topic for a class discussion. I thought maybe the teacher would narrow down the conversation but it seemed to only get broader. It ended with the teacher encouraging his students to read more…only problem is that there are very few books available to read. Classes are structured with the teacher standing in front of a classroom reading from the one and only book available, while the students copy the information fervently. The teacher used me as an example and asked what book I was reading…of course I pulled out my “emergency bus (got stuck in a river, can’t go in reverse, just stopped working, there is no bus coming) book” and in Spanish explained the basic plot to the students. After the class commenced the teacher noted that I was reading another new book. I explained that I read on the bus and since most of my bus rides are around 3 hours roundtrip I get through quite a few novels. The professor couldn’t get past the fact that I was reading a book on a bus! More questions ensued concerning how I read on the bus without missing my stop. Considering that there is only 1 stop, it is very hard to miss! Still, it is a novelty to see a gringa on a bus reading…oh well I already stick out so maybe I can try to start a new craze…reading on the bus…now if only there were more books available for the people to have access to and read.

The two dogs are my new pets. They live with the family that I´m renting the house from and their names are Escott and Pinky.

Thursday tested my ability to walk in 90 degree desert like conditions. I went to a small community an hour away, taught a class and then watched as 40 students copied their homework assignment from 1 book. Again it is discomforting to see the lack of supplies (especially books). This is where my job comes into place, because with the LEC course we help teach the teachers how to use limited resources to make a class dynamic, interesting and educational. When the class finished around 2pm, I was told that the bus back to my town was not returning and my choices were to wait (and be stranded with no place to sleep) or to walk. I started to walk…it was a 7 mile walk back to a road where I would be able to catch a bus…if I got to the road around 5pm. I also had a heavy backpack full of books, water and food. Luckily a woman named Darling came to my rescue. About 2 miles into my journey, sun blaring and me sweating like I have never sweated before in my life, Darling drove by me stopped and told me to hop in her car. She drove me to the highway…I was saved. I grabbed the first bus to my town and made it back before nightfall.

Finally the end of the week, Friday, and my day started with making tortillas. One of my students is skilled in the art tortilla throwing. I was lucky enough to watch her make tortillas from scratch and then I also learned how to “throw” tortillas. To keep the tortillas from sticking to the skillet, cheese fat is used instead of oil. Also, the tortillas are cooked over a wood burning fire, and the only ingredients used are maíz and water. After the tortilla lesson I went to another student’s house to watch her mother separate fresh milk. I saw how the cream was separated from the milk and then I watched the cheese making process. I participated in making a very popular crumbly and salty cheese, which Nicaraguans eat with tortillas (for breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner). After my morning cooking lessons were finished I walked with the girls to school and taught class! I did encounter some problems during my lesson because it turns out that the school’s drum majors were practicing 10 feet away from my classroom. All I could hear was the beating of the drums, which made it rather difficult for the students to concentrate and for me to be heard. However, it is always noisy in the schools. For example, students at recess are always disrupting classes in session, students play soccer or volleyball in the courtyard while others are in class, fireworks are being shot off for no apparent reason and animals of all sorts can be heard barking, mooing and crowing! All of this noises are nothing compared with the sound of rain on the school’s tin roof. The only time class is halted is if it rains because it makes such a racket that even shouting is futile. After class, I was waiting for my bus to come and I was then approached by a young women and her older brother. I got the usual questions (are you married, do you have kids, how old are you) and I knew the girl was trying to set me up with her brother but luckily I dodged that bullet for this week! My day ended early because my afternoon class was canceled and therefore I was able to go home and make banana pudding from the fresh cream and eggs I was given by my students. I purchased the bananas at the local outdoor market and for $1 (18 cordobas) I bought 28 bananas for my cereal and for my pudding!! For dinner I ate the tortillas along with the fresh cheese. Finally, I enjoyed the pudding I had made earlier in the day for dessert. ¡Muy Rico! (Translation: Very rich…ff ever you are given food just say “muy rico” because it’s a big complement to the chef).

In my backyard I have a giant Rancho for studying and reading under. It is very nice around 12pm, because it is coolest outside and in the shade.

No hay agua, an earthquake and plenty of barbed wire

My week started off with a few minor glitches…Monday I observed a few classes. Nothing out of the ordinary happened and the students were all tranquil. Then came Tuesday…I woke up to find out the there was no water (No hay aqua), which meant no shower. I took a long dusty bus ride to a rural school, taught a class in español sobre La Epresea Creative (LEC), mi familia en los EE.UU. y que es Cuerpo de Paz (quick translation: LEC is the business course, my family in the U.S.A. and what is Peace Corps). The Nicaraguan people are very family oriented and they are always amazed when I tell them that I only have 1 brother. Also, they are surprised that I don’t have at least 20 first cousins. I also get some laughs when I talk about my golden retriever (Zoie) because everyone here owns at least one dog as well (and they probably also own some chickens, a pig, and of course a rooster). Anyway, I finished teaching the class just as a deluge started, right in time for my walk back to the bus stop. There was a big mud river (note to self buy some goulashes) and water running everywhere. The mud was gooey and deep. I tried to hop around desperately looking for dry spots…but that is when I started to slip and fall.

Another quick side note, all around Nicaragua you will see barbed wire. It lines the houses, acts as a fence, protects animals and of course you can dry your cloths on it as well. It keeps people and animals from breaking in or out. Quite frankly, I’ve never seen so much barbed wire in my life!

Therefore, when I started to slip in the mud and lost my balance I reached out to steady myself and what did I grab…barbed wire. My hand was bleeding, it was raining and the bus still had not arrived. Around 30 minutes later, plus a 1 hour ride home I was able to bandage up my lesion. Luckily, no stitches were needed and my shots are all up to date. I learned a valuable lesson…better to get muddy then to get barbed.

Moving on to Wednesday, still no water. I took a three hour bus ride only to find out class was canceled. If they had phone service in the town they would have called me! I did make a new friend on the bus and at least had someone to talk to on the ride back to my town. When I finally went to bed, I was awakened shortly after around 10pm because my bed was shaking. At first I thought I was dreaming. Then I thought something was under my bed making it shake. And finally I just went back to sleep…because I was half asleep as it was. In the morning it was confirmed that there was a small earthquake. So I was not loosing my mind…but in fact was awakened by a small quake. No big deal I guess, but I hope in the event of a major disaster I decide to get up and not just go back to sleep!

Friday was an eventful day…still no water…but I arrived at my final school for the week only to find out that I was going to be judging a contest! I had to judge a student project about “Cooperation in the Work Field.” Students had drawn beautiful posters with pictures of people working together throughout Nicaragua. There were 3 places and the primero lugar (1^st place) went to a group that used creativity and context to convey their message. Segundo lugar (2^nd place) went to a group that drew a picture of Nicaragua and people throughout the country working together…again very creative. I gave a brief lecture to the students, took a break for lunch and got to judge another contest in the afternoon session. I was a little confused about the topic of this contest “Alternate Means of Energy and Wine.” I suppose energy is the new cheese! For this project, students explained different methods of energy used throughout Nicaragua such as wind energy and thermal energy. After their presentation, they taught me how to make homemade wine, which I was then able to sample. The energy projects were well done and the wine was sweet. I sampled apple, pineapple, milk with cinnamon, wheat, and orange wine. Don’t worry I just took a sip of each and my favorite wine was the pineapple wine.

Next week, I am going to learn how to make tortillas and hopefully I will make some new friends as well…si, Dios quire. The phrase “si Dios quire” (aka if God wills) is heard all over the place. Here are a few brief encounters I’ve had with people concerning this phrase:

Situation 1:

I am shopping at the local outdoor market and buying some eggs from my usual egg lady vendor (Doña Eva). She sells me the eggs and then I tell her I’ll see her again in 2 days (as I buy eggs every 2 days) and she tells me “Si, Dios quire.”

Situation 2:

I am leaving one of the small local towns I work at and I tell the teacher I will see her again next Friday and she replies “Si, Dios quire.”

Situation 3:

I get off the bus and tell the bus driver I will see him again tomorrow morning and he responds “Si, Dios quire.”

I’ll be honest it scares me just a little when people use this phrase because it makes it sound like something horrible is going to happen to me and that is why I won’t return. Of course, I have learned to take it as simply meaning “Adios.”

Therefore, I will update this blog again in 1 week and hopefully I will have showered by then as well… Si, Dios quire!!