Hoy en Nicaragua

I awoke to the sound of people waking, and following the example set by my roommates I turned over lazily, letting the fan blow lukewarm air across my body. In a few minutes I would get up, check my email on my iPod and hop on the bus to the market in Masaya...
The fan shut off and I lazily noted that I hadn´t sensed anyone near the switch when it happened. Hot air settled oppresively across me and the sheet clung to my skin. I sat up, resolving to climb down from my bunk in a minute, and heard a voice say, "there´s no electricty; the internet´s not working." darn it. I climbed down and threw on a shirt, grabbing some córdobas from my locker that refuses to lock and shoving them into my cargo pocket. Ready to leave.
Wait. That´s no way to start the day. I sat down and prayed, then found my pocket new testament. 1 Timothy. Proverbs 12.. then 13. then 14. I find it hard to stop reading Proverbs once I start. Matthew 5-6. Psalms 10-11. I suddenly realized that the sound I had been hearing, which I thought was rain, was actually th fans which had turned back on in the other room. I wanted to check my iPod. Psalms 12-15. A little meditation. Alright.
Check email, talk to Erica, a girl who explored the bible with me a couple days ago, and reply to email after searching out some recently noticed verses. It´s afternoon, but the morning seems to have been quite well spent.
For some reason, I was not excited to go to Masaya, but I was excited for the day. Yesterday I realized how proundly good of a friend God is- He doesn´t repeat matters but covers our transgression. Each day is a new day, but sometimes its hard to feel that it´s truly a chance to start over, as if nothing in the past matters whatsoever. But today that´s how I felt. My attitute was turned around. I thanked God for my opportunity to be in Nicaragua, for the opportunity to love long distance, and for the beautiful day, and I truly meant it all. And I asked Him to show me how to make the best of my time here, because this is where I am, now.
I got on the bus and the elderly driver left. People sifted through the doors and sat down. When the same woman who came on yesterday to sell her baked goods came on again today, I did not ignore her like yesterday out of embarassment over my Spanish.
"Cuantas?" I asked cheerfully.
"Dos córdobas." That´s about ten cents US money.
"Me gustaría dos," I replied, handing her a ten. "No necesito esto," I added as she pulled out a plastic bag. She handed me two small pastries in the bag as well as six córdobas back.
The bus sat there for a long time without the driver and I began to feel more and more than thi wasn´t the day to go to Masaya. A man with a hugely inflated neck stepped onto the bus. He spoke clearly to the passengers, and to my surprise I understood almost everything he said.
"I have a large tumor," he told his audience. "It´s only through the grace of God, and of you all, that I am alive and can afford medicine." His speech was short and too the point, and his delivery was gracious, polite and matter-of-fact. At the end of his speech I removed my hand from the pocket that had the ten in it for the bus fare, which I was going to give him, and instead reached into my cargo pocket and gave him most of the money I was going to take to the market in Masaya. As he passed onward I stepped off the bus and walked away.
"Vas a Masaya?" Asked a vendor. Often rightly so, the people here tend to assume I have no clue what I am doing and explain in simple terms how to go about getting on the correct bus, only occassionally implying that it would be nice if I gave them a small tip in exchange for their tips.
"No. No voy a ir a Masaya hoy. Posible voy a ir mañana." Maybe tomorrow.
I walked convictedly in the direction of a bakery I saw during the bus ride yesterday. As I got closer I took a detour into a park to loiter for a while. After all I had the whole rest of the day to fill.
A man motioned me and I hesitantly approached. He spoke only in Spanish, but I´ll try to translate what I understood.
Where are you coming from, he asked. Costa Rica. Here for two more weeks, then going back to Costa Rica. He explained something, and the jist of it seemed to be that Nicaragua was more relaxed and less expensive than Costa Rica. Aqui, solo necesito dos córdobas para comprar pan y uno para agua. Si, si. He only needs three córdobas to buy a meal. Necesitas ahora, señor? Do you need a little money right now? I pulled out the six córdobas I recieved as change.
He only needed two. Es bien, you can take them all.
He was trying to tell me something, and I noticed that I was refusing to understand as a safety mechanism. He was definitely saying that I should come with him and he´d buy me something to eat or drink with the money I gave him. Cautiously I followed, keeping a keen eye on my surroundings and him. He stepped into a store. Stores here are tiny rooms guarded by massive metal gateways. Sometimes you can´t go in, but can only hand cash through a small opening in the gate and have your purchase handed out. This store had two gates, one at the entrance that was open and one in front of the counter which was not. My soon-to-be friend opened his wallet, pulled out a 50, handed it in and recieved change as well as two glass bottles of Coca Cola. We left the store and sat on the curb just outside. He seemed truly to just want to enjoy a conversation.
I told him more. I was from the US, and was going to return by plane from Costa Rica in two weeks. He has never been on a plane, but has walked all over his country. Solamente de pies. Only by foot. He has three children, who live in Costa Rica now. I have a sister que vive en las montañas de los Estados Unidos y esta una estudiante. Y una novia que no he visto para tres semanas. And a girlfriend I haven´t seen in three months.
"Tienes una novia!" He seemed truly overjoyed and slapped me on the back.
I don´t remember how the conversation progressed, but a minute later he was crying. I thought his wife had died a year ago, and his heart had died with her. Finally I understood. He had a heart condition and would die within a year. His eyes were red and tears streamed down his face. I hated that I had to ask him to repeat it several times before I understood. Then I just put my arm on his back, trusting that it was the right thing to do. A few minutes later, and we had shared our belief in God and eternity. I struggled to translate a portion of Psalm 103. Las dias de hombres estan como un flor... pero el... el... bien del Señor es para siempre y siempre."
"es eterno."
"Si.. la alma.. es eterno."
Shortly he apologized and wiped his eyes on his shirt.
"Cuando vuelves a Estados Unidos, que cases a su novia." When you get back to the US, marry your girlfriend. Tears lingered in his eyes, and I felt some forming in mine.
"Si, me gustaría a.. a.. hacer eso." Yeah, I would like...uh.. to do that.
The conversation moved on. "Be safe," seemed to be his primary message. En la día, I´m ok. Por el noche, I need to stay in the hostal. "Porque--" He pointed to my eyes, then to the blue building across from us. He pointed at the skin on his arms, then to his short black hair, then to my long brownish hair. It seemed he didn´t think I was getting the point, so I wondered if I was getting the point. Using almost entirely hand motions, he repeated the same gestures and smacked the back of his neck, then one hand into another. I began to equate that motion with some form of violent death. "Me entiendes?" He seemed to be wearing himself out in fear that I didn´t get what he was saying. "Entiendo," I insisted. "No voy a ir afuera del hostal en la noche. Porque quiero a volver a los Estados Unidos para-"
"-para casar con su novia."
"Si. por eso razón voy a usar..."
"su inteligencia."
"exactamente."
"Y no salgas afuera en el noche." Finally seeming satisfied, he continued. Why am I in Nicaragua? I want to learn more Spanish and travel outside the US and Canada for the first time. Maybe I´ll go to León.
"Don´t go to León." He smacked his hands together. "Stay in Granada. If you want to learn Spanish, I have a friend who can teach you. She´s a profesor at a school here. We went to his friend´s house together. A middle-aged woman opened the locked metal door and we went in and sat down on rocking chairs near the doorway. He explained that I wanted to learn Spanish and she explained that she already teaches at two school and has no time. Eventually she directed us to a nearby school.
Manuel, my friend, came inside with me and we were asked to sit down on rocking chairs. "I´ll talk first, since it is easier for them to understand me, and then you talk," Manuel told me. "Entiendes?" Do you understand?" Si.
The kindly man who seated us returned with paperwork. Manuel spoke to him, then I took over, explaining that I want to study for a week and stay with a family, if possible. Somehow this man, who introduced himself as Juan Carlos, made me feel as if I could speak and understand perfectly already. We conversed about everything and unlike Manuel, who spoke loudly and choppily in an attempt to help me understand, he spoke deliberately and clearly at a moderate pace. I would start on Monday at 8 am and would study for four hours each day. My host family should avoid cheese and all dairy products if at all possible, and I would be able to volunteer teaching English or working with youth in some other capacity with my evenings.
"Muchas gracias," I said to Manuel as we left. "Estas mi mejor amigo en Nicaragua." I was slightly overcome by the fact that my sucess in signing up to study Spanish left him completely overjoyed. We walked back to the park, and a few things stick out from the rest of our conversation.
Manuel works in construction, but he himself lives in a plastic shack. For him, it is important to do what he can for those who have less than him. I told him the story of the man on the bus, and how I had given him most of my money but was glad that I did because then I left the bus and met him and got to sign up at the school.
"Si, solamente me gusta ayudar los otros que tienen menos que yo."
"Me tambien. Y es importante tambien para mi novia. Es una de los cosas sobre ella que me gusta mucho."
I wish, said Manuel, that I could afford to fly to the US to be at your wedding. It´s going to be una gran fiesta. Look up at the sky, he told me, and wave hello.
I will, I promised. Siempre voy a recordarte. I´ll take a moment away from the party to wave hello to my best friend from Nicaragua.
But for now, I hope to see Manuel again each day of next week. We agreed to meet at the park a cinco y media - 5:30 - so he can see how my progress is going in school.