First Days In Nicaragua

13 August 2012.  When I sat down to write this blog entry I was interrupted by Peggy calling me over to look at another new bird—Stripe-headed Sparrow.  We have been here only five days now, and have seen already 3 new “life birds” while looking only off the lovely deck in the back yard of our temporary home.  We are perched on the rim of Laguna de Nejapa, an old volcanic caldera that now is completely forested and has a lake in its bottom.  From the hammock on the back deck we see not only the caldera below us, but in the distance beyond we also see the city of Managua and past it is the very large Lake Managua.  It is really going to be hard to leave here when the time comes.

Our first few days here were mostly devoted to rest and details of life in a new country.  First we unpacked.  That took about an hour.  Alma, a local staff member at the Nehemiah Center, took us to a grocery store to stock up on food.  The next day we walked back to the same store, and a second one nearby to buy our telephones and a few more groceries.  Both of these stores are completely modern and fully stocked.  In them we found everything we were looking for.  Everything, that is, except my favorite sweet soy sauce, which is completely understandable since I have had to hunt all over Grand Rapids, Michigan and then again all over south Texas to find a couple bottles.  Some delicious foods are just hard to find, and I suppose that partly explains why they seem to taste so good when you finally do get to enjoy them.  I will make it a quest in the next few weeks to find just the right Asian grocery in Managua.  Today we went looking for a used car and found a couple of good prospects to consider.

Introducing ourselves to Nicaraguans, in Spanish of course, has been interesting.  Although some people have trouble with Peggy, most get it right away.  But when I introduce myself as Gordon, I most often get silence and a wide-eyed blank look in return.  I can’t tell if it’s my accent (but Peggy says it’s pretty good), or if it’s actually my name that causes this palpable hesitation.  But I am now thinking they just can’t believe their ears—because in Spanish “gordo” means “fat.”  In other words, I think they think my name is, well, Fatty.  So I play along a little.  Sometimes I add that it is like “gordito”—that being an affectionate nick-name you could translate as “dear little fatty.”  Then the wide-eyed blank stare turns into a wide grin.  I think they will remember my name after that—or at least have a memorable image in their minds when they see me later.

We are very happy to be here.