Bienvenidas A Tu Casa

A noche pasada we met our host families for the first time over some freshly cooked nacatamales by Doniá Nidia. As a “get to know su nombre" excercise, we passed around a football (an american football, no futbal, which I found to be ironic as an american in a foreign country, especially considering our invasive political history in Nicaragua). It is both fascinating and amusing how beautiful spanish names morph so easily into treacherous tongue twisters for beginner spanish speakers such as myself, always a little fearful I am going to say something innapropriate by accident.

My host family consists of Oscar, the father/head of the household and leader of the Marmalina soap stone carving workshops, his son Xiomarn who’s 20, and his daughters Cesia and Angeles who are 15 and 11. Cesia reminded me of my step-sister Olivia, maybe because they are the same age but they share the same sweet smile. Maria organized an exercise with our host families where we were supposed to draw an hybrid-animal that represented our family. Oscar drew an ant with wings, walking on a leaf with a rock on its head, to symbolize that they are a family of hardworkers who depend on nature for survival.

Once we got to Oscar’s house, he opened the door and his arms and said “Bienvenidas a tu casa!”.
I am beyond happy to feel at so at home in a beautiful country far away from where I originate.