Daily life in rural Nicaragua has some pretty drastic differences from what I’m used to in the U.S. For one, like I mentioned earlier, everyone wakes up around 6 or earlier and goes to bed around 9:30. They have to use as much daylight as they can. There’s also the matter of the roosters, who start crowing around 4:30am. I’ve gotten to the point where they don’t always wake me up that early, but I can always count on hearing one as soon I wake up. Another reason they wake up early, at least in my community of La Virgen, is that there is only running water from 5-11am. Every other night there is also water from 6-8pm, which is really nice. There is no hot water; sinks and showers only have one setting. If the power goes out, the water goes out with it, which happened my first morning here, so I learned how to take a bucket bath pretty quickly.
That’s one thing I’ve been surprised by; I’ve had to relearn how to do extremely basic tasks, like washing my hands, making my bed, and doing laundry. When the water isn’t running, people have a supply of water in the sinks outside there houses they use for washing. You can’t put your dirty hands in the water, because it’s the only clean source of water until the next morning, so it becomes a more complicated process. I also have a mosquito net over my bed, which has to be properly tucked in every night and raised every morning to keep bugs out. The houses aren’t closed; not all the windows have glass in them, and there’s a several inch gap between the roof and walls, so this is a pretty important precaution. There are no washing machines, so we wash our clothes pioneer style, by hand in the outdoor sink.
Most the roofs here are tin, and anything that hits the roof, from rain to tree branches to animals, echoes through the whole house. I’ve also gotten better at sleeping through those noises, but a strong gust of wind that knocks the tree branches over my room against the roof can still wake me up. They’re just entering the rainy season here, which they call winter. Its only rained a couple times, and other than the noise, its great when it does rain; it really cools down the air, and it settles the dust, which is otherwise constant.
I ride my bike to work on gravel roads. Hardly anyone has cars here, but most families have a small motorcycle. There are also a few public buses (they look like school buses in the U.S.) on the roads. You have to watch out for pigs, dogs, cows, chickens, and horses too. The pigs especially have no fear and will not get out of your way. Accidents don’t seem that common, but I’ve already fallen off my bike on the way to work. I have some nice road rash and a bruise to show for it, too. Amanda’s host family thinks its because I fell because I’m so tall, and its true that I tower over most the natives here.
There’s so much else I could say about daily life here; they watch the TV a lot, which has a lot of programs.My host dad loves to watch baseball, which is at least as popular if not more so than soccer here (he loves the Red Sox and hates the Yankees.) My host sisters like Disney channel and Nickelodeon Jr. We have dinner, which is usually rice, beans, plantains, and something else, in front of the TV most nights. The doors are always open, and friends, relatives, and neighbors stop in without knocking frequently. The community is small and tight knit, and I already feel welcomed into it. It’s been a huge adjustment, but I’m starting to get the hang of life here and enjoy myself.
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