Tortillas

There are many tortillas around the world, but the debate still continues as to where the best can be found.  I have to say that the Nicaraguan tortilla has a unique flavor that I haven´t experienced in other places, some say the secret is the orange juice that many Nicaraguans mix into their batter.  The tortilla here is an ancient tradition and part of the everyday life of a Nicaraguan. Always eaten and often used as a utensil, the tortilla is not only scrumptious, but is also a necessary tool!

Usually we buy our tortillas from our neighbor lady.  She charges 1 cordoba or approximately 4 cents per tortilla.  She makes them around the clock and always gives us a great smile when we arrive at her front door.  Her tortillas are the best when they are hot off the fire.

   

While I was out in the campo, I had my chance to make my first tortilla from scratch.  My first one turned out like this:

   

I had a great teacher, but lets just say that it took awhile for me to learn the art of the tortilla.  We had a great time practicing together and my host mom sent my tortillas home with me in a cloth.  She wanted me to show them to Kevin.  I am not sure if this was her nice way of saying that they weren’t worth eating?

   

Whatever the case, it was a great experience and made me feel more Nicaraguan.  But I think I should stick to buying from our neighbor lady...

Offline and Entering the Pueblos

This past Wednesday our boss mentioned that she had been thinking about our Spanish progress and was wondering if we would be interested in taking a week off from “school” to head out for a rural family visit. She thought it might be good to change our routine and allow us to practice and apply what we have been learning.

The catch: she asked us if we would be willing to go to separate places.

Oftentimes couples take longer than individuals to learn new languages because they rely on one another for the newly acquired language and talk with one another in their first language. We of course were sad to think about being apart, but know that this will be good for us in the long run.

So we are heading out tomorrow morning.  Cassie is headed to Estelí to live and work with a family who owns a second hand clothing store.  Kevin is going to La Concepcion to work on a farm and with a church.  We won’t have access to e-mail or the internet, but we will save our stories and pictures for a future blog post.

Have a great week!

“You're only here for a short visit. Don't hurry. Don't worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way.”

-Walter Hagen         

Keeping Healthy

How do you keep healthy when your host family goes through a gallon of oil each week? How do you keep healthy when most of the foods on the street are fried? How do you keep healthy when it is SO incredibly hot that you never feel like working out?  I guess that is what we are currently trying to figure out. After being here for almost four months, we have found a few things that seem to work well for us.

   

First of all, there are tons of fruits and fresh veggies here in Nicaragua. We are going to be entering mango season pretty soon and we can’t wait to get our hands on them as our minds fill with the possibilities of what one can do with a mango.

   

Secondly, we enjoy our coffee (as many of you know) but we don’t put three heaping tablespoons of sugar in ours like our friends do here. Speaking of liquids, we are drinking a lot of water. Our Klean Kanteens have been getting much use and we are happy to report that the water in Managua is safe and clean for drinking. This has been a huge blessing as many other parts of Central America (and the world) do not have safe drinking water.

  

Thirdly, we are looking forward to a time when we have a place of our own and can choose the food that we make and also prepare it in our own special way. Although currently we are enjoying the local dishes and learning how to make them, it will be grand to make a curry dish for dinner.

  

Lastly, we feel that we have gotten into a pretty good workout routine. We try to run three times a week, the earlier the better due to the heat. If you start running after 6am, Nicaraguans think that you are crazy. We have enjoyed running in our barrio (neighborhood) as well as going to a nearby extinct volcano for a good 5k route. We also live close by to a military pool and have enjoyed swimming there one morning a week with a friend. Although we did get into some trouble a month ago for not having a swim cap or goggles.  And I am embarrassed to admit that the teacher asked us not to spit in the pool!  First of all, it wasn’t intentional and second of all, doesn’t everyone spit a little when they swim?  We also picked up a yoga mat and have found several great workouts on pinterest and also brought along our P90X videos.

   

This past weekend we were fortunate to visit the ocean and had some good swims.  Riding the waves is tough work!  And as I write this, Kevin is out in the streets playing some futbol with the neighborhood guys. That is good exercise, right?  All of this to say, we have a lot to learn, but we feel like we are making good headway to living a healthy lifestyle here in Nicaragua.