I live in a small four bedroom two bathroom house, but we only use three bedrooms and one bathroom. We have a living room and a room that is more or less designated for my host mom’s salon, nail painting and hair cutting. We have a small kitchen that has a refrigerator, stove and countertop. We have a back porch area that has a table that we sometimes eat at on the weekends when there is nothing good on television. Past the porch there is the patio that has a concrete floor but has two trees growing also. There in the left corner is the only sink in the house where we do all the washing of dishes and clothes. To the right on the patio are clothes lines where we hang our clothes to dry.
I work in the nicest building in Ciudad Sandino. There are actually two buildings both have two floors and are connected by a walkway on the second floor. It’s protected by a gate and a guard station but anyone can walk in and out. The environmental office is on the second floor in the right hand corner. This office consists of three cubicles and there is another desk/office in the main open part of the office. The walls are white and the trim of the cubicles is a dark wood.
Since I’m working on this absorption tank project part of my job site is in Oro Verde which is a community on a hill side across from the entrance of Ciudad Sandino. They mainly have dirt streets but there are two main streets that are “paved” with cement blocks. Generally it’s a mixture of home types. There are nicer ones with tile entrances and then there are ones with dirt floors. These two homes could be found right next to each other, I’m not sure how this happens. All the homes are close together and the people of the community are generally friendly.
Where I play? Well most weekends we take trips to other cities like Granada, San Juan del Sur, Masaya, Jinotega, Leon, etc. That’s where I do most of my playing. But I also have some downtime and special experiences here in Ciudad Sandino. My neighbor, Paola, is 13 and one of my host sister’s friends. She is super mature for a 13 yr old and I enjoy hanging out with her…plus her dad works for an import company so he brings home boxes of samples like snikers, twix, juices ….you know “good ole USA” stuff. She invited me and my sister to the opera in the National Theatre in Managua the other night. That was quite an event. She had free tickets because her music teacher was playing in the orchestra. The show was Madame Butterfly and it was pretty amazing to say the least and my first opera experience ever…I know Signe would be jealous. I’m pretty sure we were the only people from Ciudad Sandino as there were famous new casters there and other rich and famous Nicaraguans. My host sister dressed me again and they some how found 5 inch heals that fit my big foot and I WORE them, I almost fell…a lot. But it was fun none the less.
Where else do I play? Usually once a week two other interns here in C.S. and I go out to ice cream and talk about our week. I took my sister and Paola out to a fair the other night and they convinced me to get on a mechanical bull where 100s of Nicaraguans were watching as I almost fell on my face…but my sister promised to do it if I did it, so she got on it too, but rode it more gracefully. I also went with Paola and my host sister’s choir to a town outside of Managua to attend a special mass and enjoy the concert my sister’s choir was giving. That was super fun and I got to meet some more people who live around my area. I basically take any opportunity I’m given because I know the other option is to sit at home and be a tasty feast for some zancudos…which is another word for mosquitoes in Spanish. I wrote an ode to them:
Los Zancudos
You bite
You suck
I’m out of luck
I see you
Hordes of you
Hovering
Landing
Playing tag
I’m watching you
You can’t get me
Covered by the net that protects war torn skin
You’re out of luck
So that’s how I play…
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