My Family

I arrived in Nicaragua a day later than intended but that just meant that I missed most of my orientation. On Friday, I moved in with my family in the barrio Centroamerica which is conveniently close to the American University (UAM) where I am taking a two week intensive Spanish class. Let me introduce my family as they are the ones shaping my experience here.

My mother, Jackeline, loves to laugh and gossip. We have spent many evenings sitting on the side walk in front of our house talking, gossiping with the neighbors and keeping an eye on the neighborhood. She always has something to say about the comings and goings of our neighbors and any one she doesn’t know that comes anywhere near our street is regarded with suspicion. Jackeline is very preoccupied with security (she holds my hand when cross any busy streets) and my learning Spanish. She has prohibited me from reading English language books and will half jokingly threaten to hit anyone who speaks English to me.

Jhonny, 21, is my older brother and is a student of engineering and computer programming. He plays soccer and is constantly going out until late in the night (early in the morning). It seems to be a constant concern of his that I’m having fun.

Javiera, 19, is my sister and while at first she comes across as quiet, she really is a wonderful person to talk to and she usually joins us on the sidewalk. She studies business at UNICET, one of the many universities in Managua.

The last member of the household is Niler who is my cousin’s boyfriend/fiancé. He has a very loud sense of humor and likes to regale us with stories of his med school residency. Since he is from Peru, his Spanish is fairly easy to understand which makes for a nice change from the Nicaraguan Spanish that surrounds me.