Today after class I was going to up into the mountains but it started to rain at 2pm and has not stopped since. Apparently once the rains start the mountain roads can be rivers of mud and water so I have put it off, later next week I’ll rent a car to go to Condega to visit some coffee farms and the pottery studios.
It was funny the last few days in class as I had a different teacher, Elsa the past few days. She was very nice, but her English is very limited which I think Maria the school director wanted; she keeps saying to me ‘no English! LOL. However I think I was being interviewed at times other than learning Spanish as a lot of the questions revolved around if I was single or married, how many kids I had, what religion, what I did for a living, how much do we make in Canada vs. Nicaraguan etc. Elsa is married and a professional forensic auditor (master degree and she told me all about her family, her father is a police commissionaire further north and all the women, her mother, two aunts and four sisters are all professionals, dentists, lawyers, archaeologists and psychologist etc, and out of all of them only two are married the rest single, divorce3d or separated. This seems to be typical of Nicaragua because of the machismo of the men. The women seem to be more educated than the men as they need it to find good jobs to support their family or other relatives. I had to laugh today as Elsa explained her mother was very beautiful but her aunt who is in her mid-40’s and an archaeologist is ‘mucho bonita’, even more beautiful and that they all get together on Sundays. I have to be careful or I’ll get invited for dinner on Sunday, I have been warned about this by some of my friends in Nicaland! LOL.
I have to laugh about these things however I have found everyone at the school (CENAC) very professional and it is an excellent place to learn Spanish even for a stubborn person like me. Anyways I should be ok as my regular teacher is back, however he is not as good looking as Elsa!
I have found the average Nicaraguan very friendly and polite, some are reserved but even the little old ladies will smile and say good morning. It’s an interesting lifestyle but I think the quality of life overall here is good even though there is still some economic and class differences. Apparently more Canadians and Americans are retiring to Nicaragua because of the quality of life, how the dollar stretches and the good weather. I am disappointed that I missed the trip to the north today. Hopefully the rains will stop for a couple of days and I can make the trip.
It was funny the last few days in class as I had a different teacher, Elsa the past few days. She was very nice, but her English is very limited which I think Maria the school director wanted; she keeps saying to me ‘no English! LOL. However I think I was being interviewed at times other than learning Spanish as a lot of the questions revolved around if I was single or married, how many kids I had, what religion, what I did for a living, how much do we make in Canada vs. Nicaraguan etc. Elsa is married and a professional forensic auditor (master degree and she told me all about her family, her father is a police commissionaire further north and all the women, her mother, two aunts and four sisters are all professionals, dentists, lawyers, archaeologists and psychologist etc, and out of all of them only two are married the rest single, divorce3d or separated. This seems to be typical of Nicaragua because of the machismo of the men. The women seem to be more educated than the men as they need it to find good jobs to support their family or other relatives. I had to laugh today as Elsa explained her mother was very beautiful but her aunt who is in her mid-40’s and an archaeologist is ‘mucho bonita’, even more beautiful and that they all get together on Sundays. I have to be careful or I’ll get invited for dinner on Sunday, I have been warned about this by some of my friends in Nicaland! LOL.
I have to laugh about these things however I have found everyone at the school (CENAC) very professional and it is an excellent place to learn Spanish even for a stubborn person like me. Anyways I should be ok as my regular teacher is back, however he is not as good looking as Elsa!
I have found the average Nicaraguan very friendly and polite, some are reserved but even the little old ladies will smile and say good morning. It’s an interesting lifestyle but I think the quality of life overall here is good even though there is still some economic and class differences. Apparently more Canadians and Americans are retiring to Nicaragua because of the quality of life, how the dollar stretches and the good weather. I am disappointed that I missed the trip to the north today. Hopefully the rains will stop for a couple of days and I can make the trip.
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