O Be Joyful
On Being Tardy:
Living in Nicaragua is really quite different from life in the States. Sometimes, these special differences make me want to crawl up a wall and hiss. For example, in the US, I would never dream of being two hours late for anything (unless that thing is Work and the reason is Snow; in that case let's just be grateful my frozen ass showed up at all). Here, that kind of thing is par for the course, which makes my anglo-germanic side start to rock itself and hum tunelessly in a corner of my mind.
On The Little Things:
But it's not all bad. Actually, there is a lot about living here that makes it easier for me to be happy. Happiness is all about gratitude. When I turn on the faucet at noon and water comes out of it, I am so stinkin' happy, it just makes my whole day. I'm willing to bet that the last time you were grateful for the water working in your bathroom was: never. Because I'm also guessing that the water always works in your house and there's no reason to be thankful for it anymore than there is a reason to be grateful your toes didn't fall off during the night. That's so not true at my house; the water usually goes off around 9am and doesn't come back until 6pm (making timing one's poops more than usually important...). So when the water is still on at noon, throw a freakin' parade mijo, it's a banner day!!
Things here are so much less convenient that in that States. I kind of see it as an opportunity to appreciate the tiny wonders of every day, like coffee and cinnamon cookies in the afternoon or laying in the hammock with a good book and a cool breeze.
On Baseball:
Speaking of things that make me happy, watching baseball in Spanish is awesome. Imagine all the enthusiasm of soccer announcers for a sport I actually understand. Typical homerun call: "ALA PROFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNDOOOOOOOOOOOOO, O NONONONONONONONONONONONONONOOOO." If you can hear that without your blood a-pumpin;, you, my friend, may not still be alive. Please seek medical attention.
On Kids:
I would like to stress here that I really don't have anything in particular against children in general. I do, however, tend to avoid them in my other life in the States because I don't know anything about them. They're like small talking dogs in the sense that I think it would probably be so much fun to play and frolic about with them but I am sure, deep down in my soul, that they are going to attack (yes, I am aware that's stupid, no, I can't help it). In any case, I feel like American children can sense my unease and respond with passive dislike or complete indifference.
Here, there is no getting away from children. Also here I should mention that my total number of nieces and nephews has shot up from Angelica's 3 to a total of 19. Hot diggity dang! The other day I was walking with Claudia's oldest girl to the corner store to buy coffee and it occurred to me that this kid is my niece; I am her freakin' aunt. Dude. I have no idea how I feel about that. What on earth are my basic aunt-ular responsibilities?? But I have wandered away from my original point...
Fortunately for me, children here clearly have really low standards for whom they will like and miracle of miracles, they seem to like me! I walked into my sister in law's house and two little boys (not nephews but distantly related to me by marriage) took my hand and the older one says, "Elisa is my friend." To which the younger one (normally a 4 year old natural disaster, Hurricane Junior) replied, "no, she is my friend." I think I might have glowed a little.
See, it's the little things that make great big happiness.
Living in Nicaragua is really quite different from life in the States. Sometimes, these special differences make me want to crawl up a wall and hiss. For example, in the US, I would never dream of being two hours late for anything (unless that thing is Work and the reason is Snow; in that case let's just be grateful my frozen ass showed up at all). Here, that kind of thing is par for the course, which makes my anglo-germanic side start to rock itself and hum tunelessly in a corner of my mind.
On The Little Things:
But it's not all bad. Actually, there is a lot about living here that makes it easier for me to be happy. Happiness is all about gratitude. When I turn on the faucet at noon and water comes out of it, I am so stinkin' happy, it just makes my whole day. I'm willing to bet that the last time you were grateful for the water working in your bathroom was: never. Because I'm also guessing that the water always works in your house and there's no reason to be thankful for it anymore than there is a reason to be grateful your toes didn't fall off during the night. That's so not true at my house; the water usually goes off around 9am and doesn't come back until 6pm (making timing one's poops more than usually important...). So when the water is still on at noon, throw a freakin' parade mijo, it's a banner day!!
Things here are so much less convenient that in that States. I kind of see it as an opportunity to appreciate the tiny wonders of every day, like coffee and cinnamon cookies in the afternoon or laying in the hammock with a good book and a cool breeze.
On Baseball:
Speaking of things that make me happy, watching baseball in Spanish is awesome. Imagine all the enthusiasm of soccer announcers for a sport I actually understand. Typical homerun call: "ALA PROFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNDOOOOOOOOOOOOO, O NONONONONONONONONONONONONONOOOO." If you can hear that without your blood a-pumpin;, you, my friend, may not still be alive. Please seek medical attention.
On Kids:
I would like to stress here that I really don't have anything in particular against children in general. I do, however, tend to avoid them in my other life in the States because I don't know anything about them. They're like small talking dogs in the sense that I think it would probably be so much fun to play and frolic about with them but I am sure, deep down in my soul, that they are going to attack (yes, I am aware that's stupid, no, I can't help it). In any case, I feel like American children can sense my unease and respond with passive dislike or complete indifference.
Here, there is no getting away from children. Also here I should mention that my total number of nieces and nephews has shot up from Angelica's 3 to a total of 19. Hot diggity dang! The other day I was walking with Claudia's oldest girl to the corner store to buy coffee and it occurred to me that this kid is my niece; I am her freakin' aunt. Dude. I have no idea how I feel about that. What on earth are my basic aunt-ular responsibilities?? But I have wandered away from my original point...
Fortunately for me, children here clearly have really low standards for whom they will like and miracle of miracles, they seem to like me! I walked into my sister in law's house and two little boys (not nephews but distantly related to me by marriage) took my hand and the older one says, "Elisa is my friend." To which the younger one (normally a 4 year old natural disaster, Hurricane Junior) replied, "no, she is my friend." I think I might have glowed a little.
See, it's the little things that make great big happiness.
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3 comments:
Becky can catch you up on Aunt-ular duties, but here are a few: Buy them cute clothes and good books. Buy them treats. Give good advice, things they don't want to hear from their parents. Babysit.
Also, if I had to live with people that perpetually late, I would just die.
I have many plans (oddly enough, I was actually thinking about them this morning on my way to work...) for my aunt-dom, so get on that. hehee just kidding! Enjoy just being the two of you (plus your other two housemates) for now...and when ya'll get around to having kids know that I am going to be the BEST.AUNT.EVA! ;-) Just sayin'
And of course kids love you :-) I always knew they would if you gave them a chance! Having kids love you is simple...involves lots of smiles, tickles, hugs, and games (such as peek-a-boo, chase, etc.)...basically just making them feel loved and special.
Speaking of love...I love you!!
It is good to know the spirit of your mother and grandmother is still alive and well in you. I took it as the highest compliment when I was in Nicaragua and Eli commented on how laid back I was. Inside I was taking a lot of deep breaths and telling myself not to look at my watch!
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