Well here I am in my new house. So this is what it feels like to live alone in Nicaragua. I have to start by saying I'm obviously ecstatic to be out of my host family's house...but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit freaked out by this whole living in my own house thing. Everything seems different here. Sure I've lived alone before, and I had just about as much space as I have now...a living room, a “kitchen,” 2 bedrooms, a place to wash clothes, a “bathroom.” But regardless of how ready I thought I was for this, it really is a huge undertaking. In the 4 hours I've been here, I've seen two giant roaches on my brick walls, two little mice scurrying along my newly cemented floor, and a colony of ants living in the corner of my bedroom. I've chosen to “ubicarme” in the inner bedroom – for security since my front window is just bars and has no shutters or glass or anything – but unfortunately, choosing the jail cell room with no windows means it's about 10 degrees hotter, which is painfully close to unbearable.
Of course, there are also all the other Nicaraguan rules I have to follow. Like I'm pretty sure I'm expected to wake up before 6 tomorrow (on Sunday mind you) and sweep the leaves into a pile in my yard. Then I have to sweep and water my front porch to keep it clean and “fresco.” After that, I have to “clean” aka sweep the street in front of my house, because I don't want to be known for having the dirty part of the street. Negative attention is the last thing I need, especially with folks already questioning why one girl would want to live alone in such a big house. I don't even want to go into the fact that I have no idea how to properly care for a latrine. Well I guess you live and learn!
So here I am, laying on my cheap foam mattress, which I'm already thinking was a mistake. I have to pee but I don't want to go outside to the latrine because I'm being a baby and it's dark out. I know I'm gonna love it here as soon as I feel more at home, but right now it feels like I just moved into a dust bowl to be a roommate to all the critters that were here first. I say dust bowl because the newly laid cement (which they mixed by shovel from sand, rocks, dirt, and water right in the house) smells like dirt and all the walls are pretty much caked in dust now.
Well before I go to sleep, I shall reflect on all the good that's come of this so far. My next door neighbors came over to bring me a table cloth, then after realizing I didn't have a table, she proceeded to walk straight back to her house to bring me one of hers! I was also given a baggie of rosquillas (Nica pastries), and the owner of the house left me her bed frame, blender, some buckets (to save water for the days when there isn't any...aka every other day now that it's dry season), and two sets of plates, cups, and silverware. All the neighbors have stopped by to welcome me/wish me well etc, so in that sense, I do feel at home. =)
I know I'm gonna love it here. Let's just see if I can sleep tonight.
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