The Family

It´s hard to believe I have been here for almost a week! I am having a great experience here and I think my host family is a really good fit. Doña explains things to me and lets me ask lots of questions, and she talks to me a lot. Her son is very nice and highlighted a lot of points of interest on my map of the city the other day. His wife is also really friendly, she starts conversations with me and encourages me not to be shy. Their daughter is really cute and keeps things lively in the house.

Doña also takes care of two of her other grandchildren while her other daughter-in-law works in the market every day. The children´s father, Doña´s son, is away working in El Salvador for a few months at a time. His wife starts working at 6 AM, comes home for lunch, and then goes back to the market. She is very friendly as well and I admire her hard work. She has invited me to join her at the market whenever I would like to, so I think I am going to go on Saturday since I have the day off.

In the front of the house, Doña has a beauty salon. She has had the salon for many years, and for most of that time she worked all day every day. Now, she told me that she works enough to make some money so that she doesn´t have to ask anyone for anything, and also so that she feels useful. She is also goes to church, is involved with a bible study group every week, and volunteers with the red cross.

A few days ago, her hand started hurting her very badly and she has to travel to Masaya for an ultrasound later this week. She explained that her tendons are strained from so many years of working with her hands. The day that it hurt her, she still did a haircut and styling for a young woman´s wedding, because she has been cutting this woman´s hair since she was a little girl and didn´t want her to have to go somewhere else for such an important day.

Doña is a lively woman who takes good care of herself and her family. I feel very comfortable living here and I enjoy talking with her. The other night, she told me a lot about her family and her life. She also makes an effort to be accommodating, even though I usually don´t ask directly for anything. For example, the second day I was here, she served me coffee in the morning and noticed that I didn´t use any sugar. After that, she started to give me pure fruit juice with ice rather than fresco, which is made with fruit, sugar, and ice. She also gives me a lot of advice when I go out about how to be safe and comfortable.

On Monday, I went with Doña to the market, which I loved. There are so many colors, different things to buy, sounds, smells, and people. The market is huge and gets more crowded as the day goes on. I was surprised to see that the streets are still open to traffic, and people just try to move to the sides to let cars and buses through. Doña showed me the best places to buy certain foods, and also showed me places to buy make up and clothing. We also visited her daughter-in-law´s store, where she sells all kinds of things like rice, corn flour, sauces and jellies, and household items. When we returned to the house, Doña told me about different foods, how to prepare them, and their histories. She also had me try a lot of different fruits which were delicious. I had a ripe mango, which was small and yellow as opposed to the green and red I was used to and it was a lot sweeter. Next, I tried jocote, which is a small green or red fruit that looks like a tomato on the outside. It can be eaten green, which is tart, or red and ripe, which is yellow on the inside and very sweet and has a nice texture. My favorite was nispero, which is brown with large black seeds and tastes like brown sugar.

I tried another plato tipico the other day, called baho. It is made in a large pot with a banana leaf on the bottom, filled with yuca, meat, and platano maduro, and then another banana leaf is placed on top. The pot is covered and cooks for three hours, so afterward everything is flavored nicely. The baho is served with rice and salad and it is really good.