During the ride, 3 times some preacher or seller was standing and expounding a long time. Then they would take up a collection. Once a young handicapped boy did this also. Peter gave him some money. In Estelli we got an express bus to
Ocotal but it was about the same. The families where we stay--side by side, have lovely homes. But we now have seen others that are even nicer, by glimpsing through the doors. From the streetyou would think this is a dirty dusty town. But people are wonderful.
The language programme is intense. We each have separate young teachers for a full 4 hrs/day. Same lessons. It is quite tiring. We are fully immersed, so we are understanding what you and TJ went through in Ecole Ste Sacrement, and the experience of foreign students at Carney. The ladies of our homes are very eager to help us practice, and to correct our normal errors. Peter´s "Madam" is a retired special education teacher- district director, so she is still a "teacher"; the other lady owns a small bookstore "tienda".
For a few things, I am actually thinking in "Espanol". I feel we have learned so much already, what more could there be for 2 more weeks? I will have fun conversing with you in "Espanol" and see if we use the same "palabras". Given we are only 2 students, we are amazed at the personal tours, etc. built into our week. Tomorrow we go to a small mountain town, Cuidad Antigua, for a celebration at a shrine of miracles. There will also be a mass. Don´t know about next week.
We really enjoy the visits to "los ancienes", the "hogar" for the elderly. Last time I took some small package of yarn and a crochet hook. The one alert lady was overwhelmed, but also asked for good scissors. She fears her things are pilfered, so she wears her scissors around her neck on a cord. Their room is an open dorm, with no real cupboards for possessions. There are few there who are alert. But some of the guys have such a light in their eyes.
Peter printed out the lyric to a Stan Rogers song, "Barrett's Privateers", and sang it to them. They loved it, even without knowing English. We also had time to read to them from the magazine "Selecciones", Readers' Digest, which I had brought from home. The one alert lady loved it. She's also is a consummate teacher, and would correct my pronunciation and explain it to me. Too bad she has glaucoma. It makes her even more paranoid as she is not sure of who is doing what.
There are "cyber cafes" all over the place. Apparently few people have their own computers. Another thing that is hard for me is the dim lights in the homes. My bedroom has one bare fluorescent bulb in a high ceiling, and no windows. So knitting is nearly impossible, unless it is outdoors in the daytime. They also have one incandescent bulb high in the kitchen. Very dim light. But this area is so prime for wind and solar power. An entrepreneur could make a killing here by setting up small generators so people could have cheap power. The wind blows constantly, and often sounds ominous at night.
But the greatest night sound is the dogs that seem to never sleep. One dog barked last night for what seemed like hours.
The food is wonderful. It is not spicy, but often sweet. Today we had soup at noon with vegetables, plus slices of plantain, and that does taste like banana. Try soup with carrots, zucchini, onions and bananas. It was delicious.
We also have often a drink made from oatmeal,
Aveno, and it looks like milk and tastes very sweet. They don't have our type of oatmeal. Water is scarce, so about every other day, there is no water in the taps or toilets. At my house, I always have to take a bowl to flush the toilet. My laundry was done by hand by the house maid, a young woman who is very sweet.
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