Back in Nueva Vida

We made it back to our house last night, and it seems WAY less terrifying than it did last week. Last week we thought we were getting shot at, robbed, and that there were drug deals going on in our neighborhood. Now we understand that people throw rocks at their big metal doors to scare dogs away, our host brother accidentally got locked out of the house, and that a few households sell ice because not everyone has a freezer. That clears up some of our confusion! :)

It has also gotten a lot easier to understand some of the people we see on a daily basis, like Tomassa´s mumbling, grunting mother, and she´s not so bad! Last week she would walk over and grunt at us like we were supposed to know what that meant, but last night she came over and we actually had a conversation with her. Things are definitely looking better.

Steven-cito (our 3-year-old host brother) was very excited to see us, so he did his usual running back and forth and back and forth, sliding around on his skateboard, break dancing on the cement floor, and running around. That boy has so so so much energy!

This morning Marcio walked us to Maria and Julia´s house, and we began our 40-minute trek to work. Today we are hopefully going to do some more translating and go over our small business presentation, survey, and suggestions with a few of the co-op workers.

A few notes on culture -

*POLITICS -
Presidental elections are in November, and the current president is basically changing the constitution so that he can run again. People expect that even if he doesn´t win, he will rig the elections so that he does. While this seems crazy corrupt, most people seem to think that this is the noble thing to do. If he has the power to stay in power and doesn´t pull his rank to keep his position, he would be seen as a coward.

*RELATIONSHIPS -
Over 70% of mothers in Nicaragua are single women. Men often hold all the power, beat their wives, or leave them after they have children. This morning Maria told us that even though she has been with her boyfriend for four years, she doesn´t want to get married because men here are so unfaithful...

*SAFETY -
We talked to Yelba about safety in Managua, and even though she has lived here her whole life, she is really concerned about her safety, goes straight home from work, and doesn´t ever go outside at night. She told us about the times she has been robbed, some even within 2 blocks of her house. As twisted as it may sound, her perspective made me feel better, because it justified some of the fears we have here.