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I chatted with an Italian businessman at the airport, while we were waiting for the mini van to acquire enough passengers to depart. He spoke a little English, so we used mainly Spanish. I understood perhaps half of what he said, which is a lot better than in Nicaragua. His English was good enough to tell me a version of an European joke (chiste in Spanish). It goes like this: UNESCO conducted a survey in various countries in the world. The question was..What is your honest opinion about the shortage of food in the rest of the world? The Scandinavians asked, What is ¨shortage¨? The Ethiopians asked, What is ¨food¨? The Chinese asked ¨What is an ¨opinion¨? The Italians asked , What is ¨honest¨? And the Americans asked, What is ¨the rest of the world¨. Hmmm
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My First Family
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My first school, Probigua, assigned me to the Ixcamey family in Antigua. Most families are associated with a particular school, which pays the families. This is a good system, as the Spanish school system is very competitive and each school values its reputation. Therefore, the school tries to ensure that each student has a pleasant home stay.
.Thomas and Delcia have a boy Andres 6 and girl Fatima 9, plus an aunt Sandra and niece Carmen (12?) plus two dogs. One (a fluffy terrier) is already my buddy, the other (a boxer with a loud voice) is trying to decide. Thomas says the latter has a liking for carne de gringo but he may make an exception with me.
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Delcia, Fatima, Andres and Copi (little white guy).
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.Thomas and Memo.
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Thomas has a post similar to associate director at the school, and Delcia is a teacher at the school. However, she only worked one of the two weeks that I was there, as there weren’t many students.
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.The street outside the Ixcamey home. Their entrance is the small door to the right of the light blue door. It leads to a narrow passageway about 30 yds long, to a second door, which opens onto a courtyard with their home. This is a rented home - their own home is about a half hour away by bus. They rent this to be able to have students stay with them, and to be close to Probigua school (about 10 minutes on foot).
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.My buddy Copi.
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.I have a simple but spacious room (opposite) with a fluorescent light and a table and chair and a bookshelf for my stuff . The bed is queen size which is great. I can spread out my Spanish books. There is space for my bicycle which I assembled and which impressed Thomas. They are wondering if I am going to bike all the way to Nicaragua. I tried to suggest that I was but they called my bluff. Traffic was very busy coming the 30 miles to Antigua and would have made for a tricky ride. But it would have been spectacular. This country is very green and scenic.
.A View of our backyard from my bedroom doorway. Que flores mas bonitas.
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.After lunch on the second day, I asked if I could wash my clothes in their outside sink (or "Pila"). This is the concrete structure about 4ft high, below and behind the clothes line in the picture to the right . Every family has one, if they have running water. If not, they use the communal Pilas near the parque Central. The dishes and clothes are washed here.
Aunt Sandra gave me a lesson. Cold water worked fine, using some soap powder from my stash. I washed my 3 shirt, 3 pairs of underwear and 3 pairs of socks (I wore the rest of my clothes - longs and polypro). Took all of 10 minutes. I hung all up on their line, with all the family washing. It is a relief not to have much stuff. Actually, I could have brought fewer clothes. I doubt anyone has heard of washing machines. Besides, electricity is too expensive and is used only for a few fluorescents and on-demand slightly warm water for showering and (very occasionally) TV. I have not heard the TV since I arrived.
.Memo waiting patiently in the morning for the family to emerge from their bedroom. Copi is more interested in playing ball. Taken from outside my bedroom door.
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.Dinner time at the Ixcamey home, with the other 2 guests - Rachel (21, from Switzerland), and John, from Sun Valley, Idaho. The family speaks almost no English (they know only a few words) so we have to work at Spanish. Actually, it is not that bad. By agreement, we avoid English between ourselves.
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Rachel speaks German, French, Italian, enough English to get around, and is now almost fluent in Spanish (after 2 months). She is a middle school teacher. Interesting young woman. This summer she visited West Africa for several months as a volunteer teacher, and even spent some time in the Congo. I have got to know her a bit. She is a great gal, with a fine sense of humor and refreshing world view for someone so young.
Juan sells clothing and other items and has traveled widely in the world. He is a strict vegetarian and believes that Obama is the best thing that has ever happened to the USA. He is appalled at the excessive consumption and poor eating habits of Americans. A picture of health, he runs up the steep hills in the neighborhood. I enjoy his company.
One nice thing about living here is that I fit right in. My eating habits and world view are not much different from the locals or the students at the school. We are a fun community. Amy will be interested to hear that, in the interests of saving water and electricity, (both of which are expensive) and of not tying up the bathroom, which is shared by 7 persons, I spend less than 60 seconds under the shower head (20 sec to wet myself, 40 to rinse off), and under 5 minutes in and out of the bathroom.
I have greatly enjoyed mealtimes with everyone - Thomas usually joins us. He speaks slowly in clear Spanish, and helps us with grammar and pronunciation. Sometimes we have lots of laughs when Juan and I have to resort to hand waving to get our ideas across.
.Food is usually quite good, and is excellent value for money. ($12 per day for room and 3 meals and family togetherness). One night I asked for beans (frijoles) so now they are also part of the menu. The sister in law Sandra cooks excellent patties, with cauliflower or other vegetables. Tomatoes are much tastier than our regular ones - more like our expensive on-the-vine varieties, probably because they are not picked green. We help set the table, and do the dishes afterward.
.Tomas and Rachel at breakfast.
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