Instant immersion

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Hi all dear friends,
Well I dried the tears resulting from our cancelled flight out of Prince George and we managed to make our connection to Managua yesterday. The flight on Continental was good but unremarkable except for the fact that it took airline food to a new low.

Arrival in Managua went smoothly. As promised there was 1 to 1 Tutoring School holding up a sign with our names on it and then the gesturing and miming began in earnest. We arrived at our host family's home at 10:30 PM. Well....what can I tell you? The people are warm and friendly. Momma/poppa/daughter who is setting up a daycare in the front of the building we live in/adult son who teaches English 2 hours a day in Managua and his new bride from California who stays at home to help around the house...although we see only the maid actually doing any work. How can I describe this unusual accommodation? Well for here, it is probably very middle class. For us, it engendered a long discussion about our obligation to stay...did we have one? We had not yet paid? It really is OK, but.....it is very very basic. I was all for finding the nearest hotel with a pool, private bathroom, and airconditioning, but K's sense of fairness overruled my desire for creature comforts. Our room is very very tiny with 2 beds, a large fan and one plastic chair. All the rooms open out onto a long open courtyard. Beside us is a bathroom (cold water only). That sounds awful, but in this heat, it really was not cold, actually tepid. Across from our room is the kitchen...also very very small but a good fridge where we have stashed several cold beer! Next is the dining room. So far we have had breakfast and lunch. No sign of dinner yet tonight. We also have eaten each meal alone so far, but that may change.....so much for sitting and eating with the family. They all just seem to graze. Maybe there will be a regular dinner tonight. Breakfast was pancakes and fruit for me, eggs for Klaus. Lunch pollo ascada with rice and salad (BBQ chicken).

School....well, it was a waste of time for me today, but K seems to have learned some stuff. I only had a few hours sleep last night, so convinced each of my very young and very sweet teachers (we have 4 of them, one each hour, and it is one to one), to just tell me about their lives. I probably won't get away with that tomorrow. At home here, they are not supposed to speak English to us, however, Kerri the new bride is absolutely thrilled to have someone to speak to, so we try to chat when we can.

This afternoon we did a bit of a tour about this old colonial city which we expect we will totally enjoy. We find it true that few people speak English here, which will motivate us for school tomorrow I am sure.

So....it is fine...different...but fine...we are really immersed in real life and within just a few hours do not feel so very much like the "outisider tourist" and that is a very good thing.

Klaus and Fran

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